How To Take The Perfect Group Photo

Everyone has gone through the pain of taking group photos, family or not. It doesn’t have to be painful - and you can get some good photos out of the process too. These 5 steps will help you set everyone up, take the photo, and give some helpful hints to get the best pic.


First, you want to make sure there is a clear open space for the group to be situated. Thinking about it beforehand helps, so there will be less questioning during the process of set-up. Give enough space for the entire group so no one has to be jammed together.


Next is gathering the group. It’s helpful to give everyone a 5 minute warning to get ready for the photo. If people are hesitant, point out people and give them a place to stand. You should organize the group so the tallest people are in the back center. Shorter folks stay near the front, and everyone else can fan out from there. 


Here's an interesting example of how to frame a group photograph. (Source)




The most important step is to USE A TRIPOD! All caps because it’s that important. If you find yourself often taking group pictures, investing in a tripod will make your life way easier. They make cheap tripods specifically for phones now too. Here's a nice affordable option from Amazon. You don’t need a fancy camera to get a nice photograph.






Speaking of equipment - lighting is also important. If outside, stay away from direct light. High noon is maybe not the best time to take a group pic. If you have no other choice, try to be in the shade of a solid object like a house or building. Indoors, overhead lighting is important. Try to avoid using the flash. It’s never flattering for group photos. Instead, turning on as much overhead lighting will help make the faces of the group look more evenly lit. 


Finally, taking multiple photos will make your life easier when deciding which pic to choose. Set up the camera to take a burst of photos each time, and check them in between shots. Choose one person to get approval from, and keep everyone in their spot while checking the results. 


Congrats, you’ve taken a good group photo! Hopefully these tips will help anybody struggling with getting the perfect picture. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Camera Should You Use? Take This Quiz To Find Out!

Image
No matter how often you take photographs, you can take this quick quiz to find out what type of camera you should be using! (Keep track of your answers!) Do you put thought and effort into all the photographs you take? Yes No Would you call yourself an artistic person? Yes No Do you like to see results immediately? Yes No Here are your results! Find your answers to reveal what type of camera best suits you as a photographer. Phone Camera Yes, No, Yes No, No, No No, No, Yes Point-and-Shoot Camera Yes, Yes, No Yes, No, No No, No, No No, Yes, No Polaroid Camera Yes, Yes, Yes Yes, No, Yes No, Yes, Yes Digital Camera Yes, Yes, Yes Film Camera Yes, Yes, No I took the quiz too, and my result was film camera! I'm not surprised since my film camera is my go-to camera when possible. Comment below your results, or tag me on Instagram @oldimprovedphoto .
Read more

Q&A on Analog Photography

Image
With this new age of digital photography, the common knowledge of the analog process is not so common anymore. New photographers have now started off with cameras built into their phones instead of cheap point-and-shoot film cameras. In this post I'll answer some common questions beginners may have about using a film camera and the analog process. Film camera selfie 1. How does a film camera work? A film camera works in a similar way to how digital cameras work - by recording the lens-focused light that is exposed to a sensor inside of the camera. However, instead of the light information recording into a digital file, the light exposes a strip of material called film. Film strips are typically made of plastic and coated in  light-sensitive silver crystals (photographyhistoryfacts.com, 2021). The crystals undergo a chemical change based on how much light is exposed onto the sections of film. In order to view the pictures the film has to be developed in photographic chemicals. Examp...
Read more

Cameras, Cameras, and More Cameras

Image
As a photographer, I have a lot of cameras. Like, probably too many cameras. When I started getting into analog photography, I was suddenly seeing film cameras everywhere I went.  Cameras Mentioned in this Post Granted, I do a lot of thrift and antique store shopping, so I guess it's not that unusual. Over the past couple years I've built up a pretty solid collection of point-and-shoot, SLR (manual analog), and DSLR (manual digital) cameras. In this blog post I'll share a few of my favorites, and the photos they produced (with a little help from my artistic eye).  We'll start with my go-to digital camera. I didn't find this one at an antique store or anything, but it's the camera that I've used for almost everything in my photographic career. It's a Canon EOS Rebel T6. This might not mean anything to you - but it's basically the nicer DSLR beginner digital camera that is made by Canon. It has the full manual control, without the big price. It's n...
Read more