Three ways to greatly improve your group shots.
The pace at which events can move sometimes can be a little overwhelming. The wedding ceremony has just ended and you are now given the task of photographing many different groupings of family and friends sometimes given very little time to do it. These can be some of the most important photos of the event because some of our older relatives may not attend the reception or dance. They also allow the couple to remember who was a part of their wedding day.
That brings us to Tip number one. Assign someone to help you get groupings together I will always ask for this person when we are first discussing these shots at a pre-planning meeting. This gives them some time to think about it or they may already have someone in mind right away. I always like to recommend the bossy sister/brother or aunt/uncle as everyone will be more dialed into hearing their own family member direct the different groupings. Aside from that, they know who everyone is and who should or shouldn’t be a part of which groupings which really can speed up your picture-taking process at the church. Remember chances are you will not have a lot of time to get this task done but it is really important you get it right.
Clean crop taken from photo below to avoid edge stretching and improve focus
Tip number two is simple to implement, and that is connection. Connections are vital to all of us, it is how we communicate without saying a word. If you didn’t know anyone in a photo you’re looking at, it would be safe to assume that people holding hands or making some type of physical connection are closely related in some way. If you don’t believe me try and photograph a couple with no connection as described above and you will end up with a result that no one will enjoy or buy. This is easy to do, you simply have to ask for it if you aren’t already getting it. Why wouldn’t you get it, you might ask, well they may be nervous or one of the two may be shy which is not uncommon but you need to make sure you create that connection for them. They will thank you in the end.
Original photo as taken with a Canon R6 and a Canon 35mm 1.8f from about 30 Feet away. Settings are 1/125sec at F2 ISO 125. Notice that I am at F2 due to low light situation yet everyone is in focus because I stepped back and later cropped to my desired size in post.
The final tip is a technical one, which quite helps in many situations. So we don’t go too far down the rabbit hole of why, just trust me on this and I will double back on it in a future BLOG post, I promise. The final tip is to move back. It does not matter the lens or the camera you are using when applying this tip The advantage to doing so is the fact that no one will be stretched out at the ends of the photo. This can make them look awkward and taller than they really are and no one wants that. The second reason why is the depth of field. The further you step back the more your subjects will be in focus. There is nothing worse than getting your group shoots onto your computer only to find out they are all out of focus. That would be the worst-case scenario which you can avoid simply by stepping back.