Jim Bianco

I am going to take a group photo of my class reunion in a dance hall, what lens and what settings would you guys prefer at least 50 or more people., help is greatly appreciated.

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Not enough information to hazard a guess. 2 rows of 25 or 5 rows of 10?? What camera?

User ID

You need a large room, some sort of risers, a step ladder, and acoarst lights. Without those, the lens doesnt matter at all. Almost any general purpose lens will do. "Settings" for a small camera is f:11 on a very tall very steady tripod. Shutter speed not is not critical. Any snapshot speed will do.

Hopefully the budget covers the rentals, even if the budget is entirely just your personal support of school spirit.

OTOH Ive personally observed a 25th reunion group donate millions to their high school at a reunion. Maybe you can pass the hat around ?

Or you can cheap out and rent a drone !

Jim Bianco

A nikon D610, lenses are a 24-85 , 70-300, 60mm 2.8 macro and a 28mm 2.8 promaster lens, and a 135 3.5 all nikons.

User ID

if the hall has a typical 40" high stage then you get some long benches and some chairs and have four rows: seated, standing on floor, standing on benches, standing on stage. Add benches to the stage and you get five rows.

Or you can just believe that "the right lens" will solve everything cuz great lenses are magic. Im assuming that its already too late to duck volunteering for this job ?

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Given your equipment, the 24-85 would be the best choice. I would suggest F8 to F11 at at least 1/125, wit ISO as needed for proper exposure. Also consider lighting. Most important will be setting up the group and being sure they ALL are looking at the camera. The Devil will be in the details! Best of luck.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I always used risers, I usually rented them. In your case I would use three rows of16-17 folks in a row.

No risers, OK, then the first group sits on chairs in a semi circle, the next ones stand behind them, then the next row sits on the carpet.
I always shot at f11 to f16, flash aimed behind me in TTL mode. And take a bunch of practice shots to get your exposure correct. I also like to stand on a chair to get elevated.
Good luck.

KindaSpikey Loc: English living in San Diego

I have several cameras, not only my dslr, but also "Bridge and point and shoot", which have a "best-face" (or similar) setting, that basically takes a burst shot, and gives you a collection of the same scene, but with a slight time interval. In post you can get everyone standing/sitting in the same place, but you have the opportunity to "swap" facial expressions, like blinking, looking the wrong way or just not flattering for something better from the burst. This has helped me with group shots on multiple occasions. Hope it's of some help to you. All the best,
Ray.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

I'm not able to make a reasonable recommendation for "settings" with the info you provided. However, I will share a "Team Posing" chart previously shared by another UHH member. Go to the reunion, have fun and don't forget to . . . .
Smile,
JimmyT Sends

PS: I know that sitting "Cross Legged" may not be a viable option.
So, improvise and stand on a short ladder, steps, or anything else
that will get the camera above the subjects.
Regarding 50 or more people extrapolate the chart to suit.
You may also consider a semi-circle setup (with subjects staggered) instead of rows,
but for 50 folks you are going to have to get up higher than your subjects.
Finally, Ed would know what to do . . . . sigh.

kmielen Loc: Eastern NC

This guide is pure genius. Thanks for sharing.

Tomfl101 Loc: Mount Airy, MD

Hopefully you can grab chairs and shoot 3-4 rows. Sitting on floor, chairs, with a row standing behind chairs. A small aperture is not necessary as long as folks are tightly arranged near to far. Use your wide zoom at 4.5-5.6. Your distance will provide “natural” depth of field but focus carefully on the front or second row.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

All chip in and get a pro and you and others enjoy the reunion.

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

The kneejerk reaction is to go to the widest lens possible "to get it all in". The problem is that while ultra wides will achieve the goal of "getting it all in" but they will record the scene with volume anamorphosis (unnatural subject elongation towards the corners and edges)and extension distortion (subjects in the foreground are recorded disproportionately larger than the same sized subjects in the background) - both of which are very undesirable for group shots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZmI94uL4Kk

A more successful result can be achieved with a more normal lens - 50-70mm - and the best aperture, usually F5.6-F8 - on a full frame camera. Everyone wants to see themselves, so this image will likely be viewed at close distances, so focus and sharpness are critical.

The most successful result will likely be shooting this as a stitched panorama, with camera in portrait mode and anywhere from 3-5 shots overlapping them about 50% "to get it all in" without the distortions. A couple of added benefits are that your resulting image will be very high resolution - much more than if you shoot it as a single shot and if you take multiple shots for each image panel, you can pick and choose the best of each before merging.

https://www.google.com/search?q=pano+for+large+group+shots&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS908US908&oq=pano+for+large+group+shots&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160.12211j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_p8tSYtiWBfCwqtsPvJi6kAM28

Lighting a very large group is challenging with small equipment. If you can't find a nice outdoor setting with steps and the shady side of a building, then maybe the hall has lighting that they can work with you on. Try to have no more than 3 rows - to help ensure everyone is in focus, front to back.

The shot below was a difficult one, and goes against my recommendations for lighting, lens, composition etc but it was the best I could do under the circumstances. It was in a small meeting room, awful ambient light, and limited places I could photograph the audience of about 30 from. I set up 3 umbrellas, all aimed high at the walls - one behind me over my right shoulder, one at the rear left above the window, and another rear right. I used a 10-20mm lens on a 12 mp cropped camera (Nikon D300) at 11mm and F6.3, and I placed myself as far away as I could from the nearest subject to minimize distortion.

When reviewing the raw files, I was unhappy with the uneven lighting, so I used some radial and linear gradients in Lightroom to achieve a slightly better balance.

I don't have any examples of larger groups using a pano, which is why I didn't post one.


Good luck! Post results!

(Download)

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

A group this size is a pretty good challenge even for a professional, especially if the group is older adults. I've watched it being done several times and been part of it a few times.

One big thing I don't see that you've told us is just who this group is. If it's a 50th year class reunion, you may want to ditch the idea of having some of them sit on the floor. Aside from the difficulty of getting back up, it is likely to make the floor so uncomfortable that they cannot pose attractively. The front apron of a stage may or may not make things easier.

50 people in three rows is 17 in each row, if you can do it. You are going to need to focus very carefully, because heads are going to be quite small. And be aware of what you are going to do with the final image. If you are going to print to a standard size, you will need to leave space at each end.

If you use a wide lens, you are going to push the back row even further into the background and make them relatively smaller than those in front. Better to use a normal or longer lens and stand farther back to keep everyone the same size.

Also think ahead about how you are going to light everyone. However you arrange everyone, 50 people creates a large field that needs to be lit either with ambient light or with a flash bigger than the pop-up in your D610. I would probably aim for some nice open shade outside.

I apologize for raising more questions than answers, but this is a pretty complex task with many unknowns. It's not going to be possible to even identify all the challenges without seeing your location and evaluating on-site options.

**Edit** I see that Gene posted a response at the same time that I did. Pay attention to what he says. I aagree that a stitched panorama can be a solution, if you have capability and experience to do that.

Jim Bianco

Thanks