Group photographing - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

10/11/2009 02:49:16 PM · #1

I need help...

I'm asked to shoot group and portraits for a school. Portraits ain't the problem, the group photo is, especially being my first go at a group, and the group being a group of 100 people!

Anyway, here is my plan to execute this mission impossible, so feedback and tips are most welcome!

Camera: D300, I'm going to set it to exploit everylittle pixel in it. I have 12 million of em, and I'm gonna use em.

Lens: Big problem here... What lens should I use??? I tried to search online and in the forums, but I didn't find anything. My 17-55 is wide enough, but I'm afraid of soft corners and distortion since I need to fill the entire frame to get most details out of this... I'm not standing in front this group going: "oops, don't have the right lens for the job!". Maybe zoomed out to 24mm will get rid of this?

I'm also thinking primes. I've seen the AF 24mm used by some group photographers, and the results are good enough. But I think that's in the same serious as my 35mm, and that scares me. My 35mm is good, sometimes, but... I don't fine it reliable.

Other options are the new Nikon 10-24, the older 12-24 or the Sigma 10-20mm. I haven't used any of these, but I've heard they're sharp.

Light: 100 people... What do I need? I'm a sucker for speedligths, and I always look for reasons to buy more of them. As for now I have two, the sb-900 and sb-800. Those to alone's not enough, so I'm thinking of buying two aditional 900s (I'm a real sucker....). But I can get a decent studiokit for that price. I don't want to rent at this point.

anyway, my speedlight plan is this:

Idea 1: 900 on camera left AND right facing the back row (speedlights sends light everywhere), additional 900 over the camera facing the middle (mainly for removing shadows and giving the extra push needed to light everyone). 800 as a backup in case I need to put in somewhere or any of the other breaks, or as a master on camera to trigger the other (I dream about pocketwizards at night though...).

Idea 2: 900 at sides as mentioned. Finding another 800 somewhere and putting one 800 a few feet away facing straight at the group on both sides (don't like the idea of doing this with two different flashes), and maybe even another 900 as a commander or light everything from above. I must say, the 900's are awesome.

Idea 3: Run from the contry and live in exile... Or get a studio-kit. What do you say?

This was a darned long post and if anyone of you cares to read it, many many thanks and a extra good vote from me in upcomming challenges ;)

- BJ

Thanks to

ben4345 for replying before I edited my post!

Message edited by author 2009-10-11 19:40:49.

ben4345

Nikon D700

10/11/2009 07:08:00 PM · #2

I'd just use the Tammy, stop down to at least F/8. I'd be more worried about CA's and purple fringing from that lens. Possibly barrow distortion.

Message edited by author 2009-10-11 19:08:39.

Olympus 12-45mm f/4.0 Pro

10/11/2009 07:54:02 PM · #3

Just bumping this since I changed the original post....

OdysseyF22

Panasonic DC-G9

10/11/2009 09:18:53 PM · #4

Read the most recent Strobist post; it's a Q&A piece all about lighting groups in a school gym with just speedlights. Two won't be enough, but four might be if you get creative. And with the power of the SB-900s, I think you could pull it off.

100 people is a lot, even in rows of 25 or so. You're going to need distance from them, elevation above them, and enough wide angle in the lens. 17mm might be enough if you get creative. The problem is, with any ultra-wide angle, you have to worry about distortion around the edges.

pineapple

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

10/11/2009 09:29:43 PM · #5

Try this video at Squeeze the Lime for inspiration.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

10/12/2009 05:26:51 AM · #6

Originally posted by pineapple:

Try this video at Squeeze the Lime for inspiration.

I've seen this video many times. Lime has great videos. But I don't think a fisheye is the best choice for this shoot though :p

Rows of 25 will give me 4 rows, I'm thinking more like 5-6 rows at least. Maybe avoid using the edges and corners on the lens.

Thanks for answers!

Photologist

Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max

10/12/2009 12:30:53 PM · #7

Tip:

Put your camera on "rapid-fire" (continuous drive) mode and take at least three or more rapid-fire shots for each one shot that you would have taken anyway.

The reason is because chances are someone will have their eyes closed. Whether it be because of blinking, light in their eyes, etc. The more people in the group, the higher this chance is. You want to increase your chances of having all eyes open by taking multiple exposures, preferably in continuous drive mode.

Since I'm not a strobist, I'm not sure about continuous drive using strobes. You may just have to take multiple captures in order to maximize your all-eyes-open chances.

10/12/2009 02:13:08 PM · #8

Originally posted by AperturePriority:

Tip:

Since I'm not a strobist, I'm not sure about continuous drive using strobes. You may just have to take multiple captures in order to maximize your all-eyes-open chances.

Both the 800 and 900 can shoot RPT or something. Repeativly I think, continius drive. I can try that as well!

Panasonic LUMIX DMC-LX100

01/14/2010 09:15:02 AM · #9

As a follow up on this thread I have another question.

I will get a decent paycheck by the end of the month, so I'm thinking of purchasing some ligt. I think I need a total of 4 SB-900s to pull it off. I have one, I can borrow one, so I need to get two more. So I will buy three, leaving me with 5 900s. OR!I imagine you can buy a couple of pretty sweet studio lights for the price of 3 speedlights. What would you do if you had up to 2000$ to spend on light?

ETA: I have some experience with using speedlights, I have NONE whatsoever with studiolights.

Message edited by author 2010-01-14 09:15:40.

spiritualspatula

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

01/14/2010 09:26:23 AM · #10

Originally posted by BJokerud:

I think the first thing you're going to have to think about is how confident/comfortable you are with CLS. The answer to this dictates where a good chunk of your money may have to go-triggers. You can always do slaves and stuff to go on the cheap but if you're getting this into lighting a good set of triggers at this point is certainly an important thing to consider.

01/14/2010 09:28:25 AM · #11

I have 5 pocket wizards available. But I was thinking I could trigger them with my SB-800. Done a fair deal of lighting, but not 100 people at the same time.

AJSullivan

01/14/2010 09:56:58 AM · #12

Whats the room look like? I shot a 100 person swim team on Friday using 1 speedlight and the ambient. Sometimes overthinking makes a job much more difficult then it should be!!!

You could probably get away with using 2 lights shooting into umbrellas and criss-crossing the directions?