5 TIPS FOR TAKING BIG GROUP PORTRAITS

120 person group photo with limited time. Nikon D3s with SB900 (camera left) and SB800 (camera right), both controlled with an Nikon SU800 and processed in Lightroom 4.

I'm often asked to shoot large groups of people, mostly at the last minute and usually with few options as to time and location. It's as if all of a sudden it occurred to someone that while all 150 people are gathered at an event in a hotel conference room, about to break for lunch, don't want to leave the property and there is a photographer present, it would be the perfect time to get that group shot they always wanted.

Even under the best of circumstances, with all the planning time possible, photographing large groups is challenging and requires skill, patience and above all leadership.

Below are five tips to increase your success in pulling off that epic large group shot.

1. Take Charge. From the time a group shot is suggested, the requester will be looking to you to make some decisions. Don't panic. Think fast and be sure to set expectations given time and location options, the size of group and what outcome can be expected given all those factors. This is not a time to be shy or quiet. You need to make the announcement and tell the group what you are being asked to do and what you need them to do. Once the process begins, enlist help with moving people, chairs, tables, plants and generally preparing the location. Do your best to make it fun.

2. Scout a location. Unless the sole purpose of this gathering was for a group portrait it is not a good idea, and nearly impossible, to make them move very far from where they are meeting or gathering. For instance, even if a great location exists on another floor or more than a block away, asking over 100 people to take elevators or leave a building is not going to happen. Besides time is a normally a major factor, so find a place that is convenient to where they are and easy to get to. Time is crucial and you want every one arriving around the same time. Ideally the key people should arrive first (see tip 4).

3. It's all about the angle. You have two choices, elevate the group using stairs or bleachers or elevate yourself using a ladder, shooting from a balcony, or if you do have any advanced notice, shooting from a bucket lift. Many hotels or conventions have ladders and bucket lifts available if you talk to the right person. Normally I prefer to elevate the group and then back off a bit so everyone is looking more or less at me from a slightly down angle. When the photographer is elevated people have to look up which can sometimes look awkward. Ideally elevate the group and yourself in order to shoot almost straight on.

4. Arrange and position. This is where you really have to take charge. Arrange the key individuals as if you were shooting a small group portrait. If they are tall or vary greatly in height, getting them to sit might help, in fact using chairs for the first row is a good idea. Once the key individuals are positioned, your foundation is set and then you can direct everyone else can fall in around them. Set your outer limits and make sure taller individuals are to the rear. Some people need to be told they are not tall and while you don't actually call that point out, just start telling them where to stand. Also watch out for the person that wants to hide because they really don't want to be in the photograph. It's your call whether or not you let them get away with it, but make sure that they do not distract from the final portrait.

5. Take a moment. Once this large group is assembled, take a second to relax and just look at them before raising the camera to your eye. Remember you've been running around, giving orders, telling people to move and now you want everyone to just relax, let the stress disappear. Make quick eye contact as you scan the group and remind people that if they can't see you, then it is likely the camera will not see them. Make final adjustments and shoot. And shoot some more, while reminding everyone to look at the camera.

Being asked to shoot last minute large groups is not easy, but if you take charge of the situation and approach with a positive attitude, it will translate to the group and increase your chances of success.

Bonus. The hard part is over so now it is time to have fun. Ask everyone to fold their arms, cheer, indicate that they are number one (make sure they are using their index finger) or just really smile one last time or they can't leave.

AS A STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER IS TRAVEL NECESSARY?

Friday, August 24, 2012, edition of the Wall Street Journal.

I'm sometimes challenged on why I need to travel in order to cover an assignment when a local photographer might be available. Wouldn't it be less expensive? The answer is not always. How would my coverage be different? Read on.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes it doesn't make sense for me to travel to an assignment, and in those cases I'm the first to admit that it may be best to see if a local asset is available. Or it might even make sense to hand a point-and-shoot camera to the writer or exhibit coordinator who is already attending the event.

I also don't take it personally. However, if you have a professional photographer on staff and you don't use them, are you really saving money? Will the images be used beyond Facebook or internal publications? Is there national media interest or will there even be something to photograph? These questions need to be asked.

As an example, I was looking through the Friday, August 24th edition of the Wall Street Journal and immediately recognized one of my images. It was a photo of the Combat Tactical Vehicle technology demonstrator that I took during an assignment at the Nevada Automotive Test Center in Carson City, Nev., in 2008. It was being used to illustrate an article about companies competing to build a successor to the Humvee.

The combat tactical vehicle as it appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

How does this relate to the theme of this blog? When I travel on assignment for my employer, everything I do, from the way I approach the assignment, caption the photographs or edit the video, is designed to tell their story. This isn't the first time that photos taken during one assignment and for one purpose were used time and time again, often for completely different reasons. The key to this happening is that the photos were professionally taken along with a detailed caption containing enough key words that the photo can be found while doing a search, especially on a broad range of topics. That is best accomplished by a staff photographer.

As a staff photographer, from the time I receive the assignment and begin my research, I know the story, why it is important to my client and who the key players are. That all translates into how I market the image which makes a huge difference down the road.

In the end, a staff photographer is always going to have your best interests in mind and not be distracted  by other things going on around them. So when asked if I need to travel, I respond that you can't afford not to send me.

Another key that I will write about in the future is to have an approved travel budget and the ability to demonstrate what your employer is getting out of that budget.

CAMERA OBSCURA

Adirondack camera obscura in Saranac Lake, N.Y.

During a recent vacation to the Adirondacks, I came across thiscamera obscura overlooking Lake Flower in Saranac Lake, N.Y. I've been a big fan of these large camera obscuras since I first visited Scotland and Edinburgh's camera obscura, located on the Royal Mile, many years ago.

From Wikipedia: The camera obscura (Latin; camera for "vaulted chamber/room", obscura for "dark", together "darkened chamber/room"; plural.)

The simplest of these can be a pinhole camera, where light passes through a tiny hole, sometimes made using a pin, hence the name and the scene is then projected and reproduced, upside down, onto the rear of the box.

Edinburgh's camera obscura.

The more complicated camera obscuras use lenses to provide a wider aperture, allowing for more light and better focus. And if you add mirrors, you can correct the image and provide a sharp image with color and perspective preserved. As is the case with the Edinburgh camera and the one I visited in Saranac Lake, the lens is located in a turret-like structure on the roof which can allow you to rotate the camera, thus changing the scene displayed on a table located in the center of the room.

View of Lake Flower from inside Adirondak camera obscura.

I've long toyed with the idea of building a mobile camera obscura using a small 5' by 8' cargo trailer or even a small travel trailer. The idea would be to travel the country with the mobile camera obscura in tow taking photos of various landmarks. Additionally, it could be used for educational outreach, visiting schools, youth organizations, etc., in order to spread the word about photography.

Of course my family thinks I'm nuts and that may be the case. However, if you have, or ever see a used cargo or small travel trailer for sale, you know who to contact. Also, if you know of other large camera obscuras out there, I would love to hear about them.

GOING LIGHT(er) FOLLOW UP

Equipment used  to cover two day Las Vegas convention.

In the previous post I discussed the idea of going lighter on several upcoming assignments, mostly driven by strict weight restrictions on the final trip. Well as sometimes happens, that final trip has been postponed until later next month, but I do have some initial thoughts from my second trip, one that I went even lighter than I originally anticipated.

To recap, I was traveling to Las Vegas to cover a multi-day convention and made the decision to bring a minimal amount of gear. Not a stretch considering I have covered these events dozens of times and pretty much could anticipate what photos were needed. So I brought one camera body with a fully charged battery and loaded with 32MB and 16MB compact flash cards, two lenses, a flash and a Verizon MiFi and packed it all in a ThinkTank Change Up bag.

The real difference on this trip was that I also brought my iPad for all post production and transmission needs. I have about a dozen apps related to photography loaded on my iPad, but would rely on Filterstorm Pro, mostly because captioning images is a must in order to transmit for publication. Filterstorm does have the ability to post process photos as well, but if I really needed to make some adjustments, I would probably use the Snapseed app.

Getting back to work flow, I used a USB cable to connect the camera to the iPad. When a camera or camera card are connected to the iPad, thumbnails will automatically appear and you then have the ability to import all or select individual images for import. Since I was shooting an average of 200 to 300 photos a day, I choose to select individual images to import. The problem is that there is no way to enlarge those thumbnails, which makes editing a challenge and I ended up importing similar shots just to make sure I could later enlarge and see the details, such as focus.

iPad screenshot of Filterstorm Pro showing IPTC data at left.

After I imported photos, I opened Filterstorm and made the final selection of images to caption and transmit. After renaming the images I wanted to transmit, Filterstorm allowed me to save a caption template which I then applied to those images. Lastly, I opened each image and refined individual captions to reflect what was going on in that specific image. Since much of the information is the same, I did end up using the PlainText app to type the captions, then cut and paste that information into Filterstorm. This proved to be a bit clunky.

Last step was to transmit the images. Again, like caption templates, Filterstorm allows you to set up email lists. Additionally, you can determine what size the final image will be when transmitted and assign that to a specific email address. I set up several email lists, one for Navy.mil, which would receive the uncompressed original, one list of several coworkers that would receive compressed images for use in social media, in our internal publication and lastly, my email address so I could confirm the photos were transmitted correctly.

What lessons did I learn? I was not as fast working on the iPad as I am using the computer. Normally when using a computer I would have PhotoMechanic, TextEdit, and a Web browser open simultaneously, so I quickly switch between programs as I'm working the captions. You have all these programs on the iPad (well not Photo Mechanic, but that is another story), however, switching back and forth between the apps takes more time. When transmitting images the second day I tried to save time and only transmit once, so I selected the three preset emails and hit send. Navy.mil received the images, but caption data was missing, and my coworkers received the email, only the images were missing. I think the problem was since each email address was designed to send different file sizes, it somehow confused the Filterstorm. The first day, and during testing, I transmitted to individual emails and never had a problem.

It was a good experiment and in the end I had several of the photos published. This for sure was a minimal amount of gear and I look forward to working with the iPad more and refining my work flow.

GOING LIGHT(er)

Gear for upcoming Las Vegas conference assignment.

I'm just returning from an assignment and preparing for another in a few days. Three trips in three weeks, all requiring travel. The only thing I don't look forward to on these assignments is the journey itself, more specifically, moving lots equipment through airports, etc.

Let's face it, I'm getting older and carrying, or wheeling, several cases and bags is just not appealing. And when I arrive, am I using all the equipment I've lugged across the country?
So back to these three assignments.

I'll skip to the last one first which is why I'm writing about this. Due to travel restrictions during this assignment I will be limited to 50 pounds, including both photographic equipment and personal gear. So with that in mind, I decided to experiment and see how light I could go on the first two jobs, yet still be comfortable that I could fully cover the assignments.

On the trip I just completed, a still photo only job, I brought two bodies, three lenses and a flash. The trip was only three days, with two of those being travel, so I only needed minimal personal gear. I put a D700, 14-24mm, 70-200mm and a SB900 flash in ThinkTank pouches and then packed them in my carry on bag along with one change of clothes. The other body, a D3s with a 24-70mm, along with laptop, hard drive and cables, were carried in my briefcase. Pretty minimal for sure. The job was a success, however, I could have used my 10.5mm lens. Thought about packing it, but when trying to lighten the load, you have to make the cut somewhere, right? And that is the problem. There has to be compromise and while the 10.5mm would have been nice, it really wasn't necessary.

I leave tonight on another assignment, a conference in Las Vegas, and I am going to lighten up even further. I'm taking a D3s, 24-70mm, 70-200mm, a SB900 along with SU800, because I just don't like on-camera flash. There is also a possibility I will need (or want) to shoot some video so I'm also bringing a Zacuto Z-Finder DSLR optical viewfinder. But most significantly, I am going to leave the laptop at home and rely on my iPad to process and transmit imagery. This is something I've wanted to try for a while and I'm really looking forward to the challenge. Most of this gear will pack into a ThinkTank Change Up Belt Pack bag, so won't even need the briefcase.

Which brings me to the final assignment and the reason for this experiment in minimalism. Fifty pounds is not very much. and it doesn't help that this is the most challenging of the assignments. It is also primarily a video shot, so first decision I've made is to use with the D3s instead of a video camera. I've become more comfortable with using the D3s for video and since no interviews are required, I think this is best choice. The other decision was to leave the tripod at home and rely only on a monopod. Something I learned when covering FLIP, unless it is a perfectly calm ocean, using a tripod is all but impossible. I have some concerns, such as the five minute shooting limit on the D3s.

There is no doubt that I could probably go even lighter on at least two of these trips, but it's baby steps for now. Any suggestions are welcome and I look forward to updating along the way.