Kennybob712 Loc: West Chester, PA.

I usually shoot portrait, sports action, and birds, all of which benefit from a narrow DOF. I am looking for suggestions for shooting large group photos (50-100 people) sometimes in lower light conditions. Info from experienced photographers on Aperture and Shutter priority are greatly appreciated. Thanks

tshift Loc: Overland Park, KS.

Good question, I would like to know what our hogs have to say!

BJW

Arrange the group in rows of equal number, e.g., 10 people in 10 rows shaped as a diamond. Then shoot from above (from a ladder, balcony, etc.) with all subjects looking up at the camera). The bottom point of the diamond should be at the bottom of your frame. Subjects should wear same color clothing. Floor should be a solid dark surface if possible. Exposure for their faces or light colored shirts and stop down. Shoot in RAW. Tripod may be helpful to improve stability. I'd guess ranges of ISO between 1000 to 3200. F/4 to 2.8. @1/125 to 1/40, depending how low light your ambient light is. Use bracketing to be on the safe side.
I assume you're using no flash or other external light.
Good luck.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Lots of links. This will probably be mentioned somewhere, but tell the group that you'll be taking several shots in a row. With a large group, someone is bound to have their eyes close, etc., when the shutter clicks. Taking additional shots will help get one with everyone looking good. If not, PS makes it relatively easy to swap heads.

http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-take-great-group-photos/
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/14-tips-better-group-portrait-photographs/
http://www.popphoto.com/how-to/2013/11/tips-pros-posing-subjects-group-portrait-photography
http://improvephotography.com/1959/10-posing-tips-for-group-photos-and-my-cell-phone-number/

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

What you use for camera settings will be indicated by your lighting. Manual exposure gives you the best control. I use the zone system, and I determine exposure by finding the brightest feature in the scene where I want to retain detail, and adding 1 1/3 stops to the reading.

Large groups also have another challenge - your lens. The knee jerk reaction is to get the widest possible lens. This is ok for those that will be in the center of the image, but if you are filling the frame with the group, anything wider than 24 on a crop sensor or 35mm on a full frame will render those poor folks at the left and right edges as if they are candidates for gastric surgery for weight reduction.

I suggest you consider doing a pano stitch for those situations.

Where you put the people and where you put yourself are other considerations. I like an A-frame ladder for me, and if possible put the people on steps, bleachers, etc. Pose them in groupings of three so the result is a bit more "dynamic." And lastly, tell everyone that you want them to close their eyes and on the count of three they will need to open them. Your chances of getting all the eyes open at the same time go way up. A side benefit is that they all loosen up and you will get natural expressions of amusement, smiles even, over the crazy photographer making them close their eyes.

Whenever possible bring your own lighting. A couple of large umbrellas and monolights should do the trick. Phottix and Interfit make 72" and bigger umbrellas that are ideal for this application. For monolights, I like Paul C. Buff White Lightning X1600 or X3200, either will more than give you enough light, and will work with their Vagabond portable power system if you don't have easy access to electricity. You may find certain features of their other 600ws lights a better fit - all of their lights are excellent - the Einstein E640, Alien Bees B6100 are excellent and will work with portable power. They have a complete selection of wireless triggers and command units, or you can use simple triggers which would be considerably cheaper if you are comfortable with setting manual flash and use a flash meter. This is what I have used in the past and how I have handled large groups.

donrosshill Loc: Delaware & Florida

Shooting larger groups is very much like landscapes. The basic difference is that your subject is moving (Heads turned, Eyes blinking, etc) Use a burst shot mode and a higher speed. Due to the fact that the Group is further away you do not need to use a deep depth of field.
Do it, and enjoy yourself.
Don

OviedoPhotos

Can you post a sample photo?

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

You do not mention your equipment. If you are using a Nikon d3XXX or d5XXX, you will have noise problems with higher ISO for lower light and will need a good flash with around a 24mm lens. Set your aperture to 10 or above to maintain focus on all of your subjects in a group photo. Set your camera to aperture priority and let the camera set the shutter speed. Use a good tripod. As for sports action and birds, use a higher shutter speed, 1/500 or greater, depending on your stability when hand holding your camera.
If you have not yet invested in a camera, be sure to purchase a higher end camera such as the d7200, d500, or move to full frame such as the d750 or d810. All of these cameras will handle higher ISO settings, with the d500 being the better choice for a DX camera and the d810 being the better choice for a FF camera.
This would be my opinion, based on my experience, and by no means an absolute. If you are using Canon equipment, the same rules apply, find a camera body that will handle higher ISO settings well and has the highest frames per second that you can afford.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

We've covered this topic before and every thread has contained excellent suggestions. I'm sure this thread will not be disappointing. However, with many threads like this, the OP writes about shooting "50-100" subjects, and I, for one, have always had a thought go through my head about this; so this time I'm going to state my concern.

There is a ΗΕΓΓ of a lot of difference between 50 and 100 people. It seems to me that it would be helpful in giving advice if the question could contain more specific details, e.g., 45-55 subjects, adults or children, humans or ostriches, level of mobility (can some sit or kneel) and an assumption as to attire. I know this information is often unavailable or complicated, but estimates would help. Thank you.

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

Ditto on the earlier mentioned suggestion of bringing a utlity ladder for yourself. Also, one way to counteract "blinks" is to ask the group to close their eyes, and on the count of 3 open them.

GraveyDave

Seems like we get one of these every other month. Maybe some of you more astute Hogs can tell me how I can link back to previous replies.
Anyway, I'll try to post a variety of photos and comments.The thousands of times I've been asked over the 4+ decades of doing this always required a lot of recon work as well as a very loud voice.
Bring a ladder or have a janitor get you one. It's better to get on the top of an office inside of a factory or in a very sturdy lift so you can use a tripod. Gotta have it so you can have the exact spot and same mm lens so heads/eyes can be replaced. No matter how many shots you take someone will have their eyes closed. You can bet it will be one of the most senior people in the group who will not appreciate looking bad. My tripod is very sturdy and has leg extensions so I can get it up to 15 feet high if I'm on a ladder. I was a lot sturdier when I was younger and could hand hold in a pinch but try not to.
Do not use a lens wider than 35mm unless it's absolutely necessary. Back out of the door, go way above, do whatever you have to so the front row and the back row heads are the same size. (I'll try to put one sample in where the head sizes are noticeably different - something we notice but our clients usually don't). If there's no way out of it, make sure peoples' legs are in close to their bodies in the front row or they look really giant and amplify the wide angle distortion. You might want to try two shots (left side of group and right side of group with enough overlap in the center) and putting them together in photoshop to avoid a really wide angle lens.
Executives or military should always be somewhat formal. The minute you try to sit someone down or have someone kneeling, you'll get barked at. With kids, I tell them all to stay there and I take as many shots as possible before they start to mutiny but tell them that afterwards we can do a funny one as long as nobody blocks another person. Even the coaches and teachers will sometimes participate and it eliminates gang signs and middle fingers which I tell them not to do even with the funny ones at the end. Office party or class anniversary groups are the worst as there is alcohol and loud music involved so be prepared.
I try to always use a minimum or 125th @ f/8 at no more than ISO 800. 200th or 250th (whatever the max sync speed your camera gives you) is preferable and you can probably get away with f/5.6 or even f/4 if your are far enough away. If it's a group of 100 or more school kids on bleachers, focus about 1/3 of the way in (21 rows, focus around row 7).
As far as indoor with flash as the main light source (not just fill flash), I put two lights above me with umbrellas or some type of diffusion to avoid hot spots and have them face straight ahead (not down) and each one facing 45 degrees left and right. This takes a lot of practice and the back row or the edges that are dark can easily be lightened with a brush in lightroom. I always try to stay away from long lines of people with one or two or 3 rows unless the background and overall scene warrants it. You have to fill the frame with something and it can't be floor and ceiling so it must somehow enhance the photo. I've done nice long photos (472 kids) for the top of the glass trophy case in the entrance of the school. Most of the time, I want to fill a 10x8, 14x11 or some other size so I try really hard to get a lot of rows. I even had a hockey team back row stand on the bench (it had carpeting on it) just to fill the frame. Don't get old people standing on folding chairs unless you have an ambulance standing by (you could probably pay the lawsuit by submitting it to funniest videos). Most companies I've shot for have me set up two lights above and a good distance away from me on each side. This works too but you can't have any spaces in between people on the top row or the crossing shadows become very distracting. Watch shadows! A quick scan on your monitor can really help. Some of my friends use WiFi and send it to their phone which is attached to an ipad to get a better view.
In the more formal photos of classes, teams, etc. you MUST have each person in the next row behind be IN BETWEEN the people in front. Pictures with long vertical rows of heads on top of each other look terrible. Check out an old yearbook or local newspaper for good ones.
You're in control ! Every young photographer who's asked me to come and help already really knew what was needed to be done but was too timid to ask for a ladder or help moving a table or setting up chairs.
Sorry so wordy but just pulled another all nighter to finish up before traveling for another shoot.
GOOD LUCK !!

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Go to "Search" and enter one word, groups, in lower case. Choose advanced options and select MPD (if you don't want a mixed list). Then hit search. You'll find a multitude of threads on the topic.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

My first question is: what don't you know?

Your camera doesn't care what you point it at, birds, people, one bird, 200 birds, 1 person, 100 people.

Do you know how to make a proper exposure with your camera?

Do you know the effect of aperture on depth of field?

Do you know the effect of changing the shutter speed?


What part of this are you having trouble with?

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

I love the Sikorsky images! (I work in the aircraft industry.)

GraveyDave

Sikorsky was one of my favorites. The engineers were so smart my head would hurt after I shot one of their meetings. Two pix of the air to air shots of the X2 (Radar). Fastest rotor wing aircraft.