Group photos

Hi, would appreciate if anyone could advice on taking a good group photo with 30-70 people in a classroom with white light and in a restaurant with low yellow soft light.

My photos always turned out to be distorted people at both ends and also bad in lighting and sharpness.


Thank you
Etsuko

Hi Etsuko,

I'll do my best to help, but I need to know what tools we have to work with.

- What camera?

- What lens?

- What (if any) lighting equipment?

What shutterspeed and aperture have you been using? Do you have a tripod?

Anything you can stand on?

Thank you for the quick response,
I am not a professional photographer, only as an hobby.
I use Sony DSLR a550 with Len 18-200 with built in flash and alway use an tripod when taking group photos.(I normally adjust to 18 whenever taking big group of people)
This is my first DSLR camera and I hope to have better result in future.

With appreciation
Etsuko

Hi Etsuko,

Hmmm ... not much in the way of lighting to work with, and 30 to 70 people is a LOT of people.

All I can think of is ...

- arrange them in about 3 rows - tallest at the back, shortest at the front

- find some way to get a bit of elevation (eg stand on a ladder)

- be sure to shoot at a narrow aperture (eg F11 or F16)

- Focus on someone in the middle row

- Increase the ISO of the camera if your shutterspeed is getting too low (below about 1/30th)

Hopefully others may have some additional ideas.

Hi Etsuko
I find my wee step ladder invaluable - light enough to carry around, but essential with big groups.
I had a group of 35 recently all holding musical instruments as well - and without the ladder, I would not have got the faces of everyone.
Good luck with your project and we look forward to your results.

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Originally Posted by Chillikopi

Hi, would appreciate if anyone could advice on taking a good group photo with 30-70 people in a classroom with white light and in a restaurant with low yellow soft light.

My photos always turned out to be distorted people at both ends and also bad in lighting and sharpness.

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Hi Etsuko,

Welcome to the CiC forums from me, great to have you join us.

When you say that previous attempts have been "distorted people at both ends ...", I suspect that is one of the design compromises of the lens rearing its ugly head - I have (a Nikon) 18-200mm and I know it isn't brilliant at 18mm. To address this, which can affect distortion, light fall off and sharpness...

If you can, get back a little further, and either leave it at 18mm so you crop off the edges in PP aand with it most of those effects, or bring the zoom in to say, 22-24mm, where it is likely to perform a little better still be a bit generous with not getting people too near the edge of frame though - perhaps try both methods if there is time and the crowd will cooperate - it won't take long - you shouldn't need to move, just zoom out a bit if you managed to frame up with the lens set at 22-24mm.

Colin's advice to shoot at f11 will help with these factors too, as all the lens defects will be worse if you're wide open (max diameter aperture) - not that I know if you were previously. Lenses are like humans, they usually don't perform best at any extreme; focal length (wide or telephoto), or aperture. ;)

The other thing to be aware of is that the built-in flash may not illuminate the full angle of view that an 18mm focal length gives, so yet another reason not to be too close (and have to use the full 18mm) as it may be contributing to the light fall off at edges you've had previously.

The other advice, from both Colin and Kay, should also to be followed.

I am not experienced at group shooting, but I would suggest shooting small bursts of 2, 3 or 4 exposures, as that may allow some latitude in PP (post processing), to clone out a blink on someone's face. It seems a good 'safety measure' for the minimal extra time taken. Obviously, when using flash, that won't be possible due to the charge recycle time.

Hope that helps,

Dear All,
Thank you for all your precious advice with deepest appreciation.
I will take note and try out on my next group take in June.

Regards

Estuko:D

Dear All,

I have recently purchase a new Canon 1000d and with the support of you all will be able to capture some real good photos
Thanks

Sharad

I just shot this year's class and staff photos for the year book. We have 50+ students and about 30 staff.

I set the D200, with the 28-80 lens set to 28 and ran the tripod up to its full 72' height. I set the ASA to 200, to gain a little shutter speed. Then, using my two-stepper, I focused on the center and shot as fast as the camera would reset. I would fire 2 and then lift my head and make eye contact with the crowd. In 12 sots, I have a couple which can be used (all eyes visible, open and mouths reasonably closed.)

I was outside, on the North side of the building, but we had to shoot early. The clouds broke just as we were setting up, so I did have some direct sunlight on the extreme left subjects. That won't be a problem, for this bunch.

Having that little two step stool or the three step ladder has been a life saver more than once. Sometimes, when I don't need to use it for the extra height, I will plop it down and put the camera on it. Faster than the tripod.

I strongly recommend getting an extra strobe (flash, speedlight, sun gun, whatever you wish to call it today.)

Pops

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I set the ASA to 200, to gain a little shutter speed.

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You can always tell all the old toots on here....

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Originally Posted by MiniChris

You can always tell all the old toots on here....

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And, one can always tell the young whippersnappers, here. ;) (Not that they listen to what you tell them. :D )

Pops

I've had to catch myself on more than one occasion using ASA in place of ISO, so certianly don't feel like the Lone Ranger. :)

ISO - International Organization for Standardization. The folks who are so organized, they couldn't get their acronym in the proper order. They introduced the term "New and Improved" to the sales world. In the Quality Control world, we often refered to them as ICO - International Confusers Organization. Usually, when trying to make sense of their published "standards." The ones who can take 512 pages to say, "It shouldn't burn until after 5 minutes of applied flame." The ones who have stated that a particular part should not fail at "5 volts DC +- 110%" The + 110% we could test for. The - 110% we had trouble with.

Should I go on? :D

Pops

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Originally Posted by PopsPhotos

ISO - International Organization for Standardization. The folks who are so organized, they couldn't get their acronym in the proper order.

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Sounds great ... except that ...

... ISO isn't an abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization: http://www.iso.org/iso/about/discover-iso_isos-name.htm :)

Well, it is and it's not. An acronym's usage is dependent upon the people using it to a specific end. In this case, since ISO's differ in different languages, the use of the Greek word ISO for equal works as well as IOS. It's the same thing, just different. As per popsphotos, having worked for a while in the pipe industry for the German company, Berg-Rohr, I can attest to the incredible inanity of ISO standarizations. Sheese!

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Originally Posted by MiniChris

Well, it is and it's not. An acronym's usage is dependent upon the people using it to a specific end.

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Well I guess that people can make up and use whatever they like ... but when the people at the International Organisation for Standards publicly say that ISO isn't an acronym for "International Standards Organisation" we really can't hold them accountable if others think that it is.

But, when we got steel in from Brazil, it all had ISO stampings on it...and we were told the same thing concerning the acronym...go figure!

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Originally Posted by MiniChris

But, when we got steel in from Brazil, it all had ISO stampings on it...and we were told the same thing concerning the acronym...go figure!

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Perhaps is was made by the International Steel organisation? :)