In this post I thought I’d share some tips for group portraiture. These tips will apply more for Family and Rite-of-Passage (weddings, graduation, etc) portraits as opposed to editorial and commercial photography.
1. Look for Patterns. Patterns and/or symmetry is a beautiful thing when it comes to group portraits. You’ve probably seen wedding photos where the wedding party is intricately arranged by gender and clothing. Having these elements in place draws our eye almost instantly to the visual story interaction of what’s going on within the frame. And to top it off, there’s always going to be room for laughter and excitement.
2. Photograph several frames of each pose.If you’re trying to fit a larger number of people within the frame chances are someone’s going to blink. If you get really unlucky and have someone blinking in each photo then at least you’ll be able to fix it in photoshop by painting someone’s eyes from one photo into another.
3. Shoot in the shade if it’s too sunny. Usually the goal here is not to be too fancy with lighting but to get a good variety of poses, something you’ll have a harder time with if you’re battling against the sun by compensating with your own lighting. Sometimes there’s no other choice but to shoot in the sun, but do what you can when there is.
4. Capture people in smaller groups within the larger group. In a group of twelve for example, you’ll want to break it up into smaller groups to get some variety. Take some time to shoot just the men and just the women, shoot people in pairs, take pictures of couples, siblings, individual shots, etc.
5. Keep the energy going. This is a challenge whether or not you’re the outgoing type, because after shooting the same people for over an hour your jokes and phrases start to sound old. If you find the energy starts to die down, remember that’s it’s okay to take a quick breather and let the group talk amongst themselves. You might also take this opportunity to shoot some individual portraits of everyone.
Here’s some photos from a photo session I did recently that inspired me to make this post.
