group shot

david1701

david1701

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David
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Hi guys,

I was messing about with my new toys before I set up for a gig shoot (might post some of those pics) and the organisers asked me for a committee group shot (it's a charity gig). So I grabbed my (1 day old) brolly and stand stood just off to the right of where they were sitting held out my arm and put it down with the flash on quarter power and the reflective umbrella above and angled down and in (bricking it at this point).

I only took 3 shots and they are below the first has had the saturation pulled down and the hue put up to give it a funkier look as the guy on the end is blown. Please crit them as I want to get this done better

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Well the first obvious thing is that the girls at the back should have been positioned between the guys (or in front of them)! For groups of five you should have been taking loads - a dozen at least to try to make sure you got one with good expressions from all of them. Forget about processing for a 'funkier look' until you get the basics right. They look on the dark side. Hands/arms cut off is not to clever either. Not sure what you can do to rescue these. Reshoot?
 
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No real option to reshoot, luckily not that important to them, it was a spur of the moment thing soI had 30 seconds ish and they put themselves in place with the girls kneeling on the stage I unfortunately bricked it a bit so didn't try to move them about.

I should have had the light in a different place, more in the middle what would you recomend for such a thing.

I needed something wider than a 50 on apsc but that is on the cards as soon as really
 
Flash In The Pan said:
That explains his expression then :naughty: :exit:
Click to expand...

:LOL:

Seriously though - most important thing in these situations is directing the people - then even straight on-camera flash would have given you a great shot.
Black shirts/black b/g make it a little tricky too. I'm sure they'll be happy enough with the result.
 
ok, pay more attention to the people, I have been paying too much attention to the kit and the technical aspects


know for next time

the processing was only a way to rescue a dodgy shot :p

LMAO @ flash
 
Don't worry - comes with experience - you just have to get to the point when you know the kit inside out and can use it without thinking about it too much! :)
 
The problem with using flash on group shots is the shadows cast from one person to the other. If you only have the one light source then I would have placed it elevated directly behind you. The other problem of having it to the side is the fall of in power across the group. Still the best way to learn is to practice and learn from your mistakes.

How were you triggering the flash?
 
poverty wizzards, they seem to be fairly reliable if your close (though I have had enough missfires now to make me want something better for the times I'm not near my lights)

I'll try that for group shots, and deffo pay more attention to posing the people and shoot many many many more frames
 
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