Group Photography - How to Set Up a Group to Photograph

By Bobby Jonnes

Group photography is one of the easiest branches of photography to achieve success in, yet I still get asked more question about setting up groups than any other topic. I hope this article helps.

Before accepting the job you should be clear about the size of the group, the location and the backgrounds available. You will need to consider lighting, whether it is available light, flash or studio lights.

Depending on the size of the group you will need to have a number of pre arranged posing setups. Factors to be considered here are, is the group to be formal or informal, both require different setups.

A formal group of for example 20 people should be posed with 2 rows of 10 or even 3 rows, that is 2 of 7 and one of 6. If you have no choice in respect of differing height levels for placing them on, you will have to bring all the smallest people to the front and tallest to the rear.

More often than not though, you will have access to chairs or seats. You can seat the front row of 6, the middle row of 7 standing behind them, and again stand the rear row of 7 on seats. You obviously need to be careful with regard to personal safety.

Be careful also of expectations, some people may need to sit at the front, for example the leader of the group, president and so on. Always ask this if you are unsure.

You must before pressing the shutter check the background. Try to clear as much in the way of distractions out of the background.

A good way to lighten everyone up is to ask them to turn to the person next to them and check that persons tie, collar, hair etc. This will save you the hard work of trying to ensure everyone looks their best, it will also raise a laugh or two!

Check the final arrangement to ensure that there is a degree of uniformity about it. By this I mean if you have some subjects with their hands behind their back and some with them in front, it will not look right in the final image. Have them all one way or the other.

I hope this article will help you with setting up groups.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have written a comprehensive guide on wedding and group photography.

Visit my site for more information Wedding and Group Photography Guide

Bobby is a photographer and author. He has been commissioned to shoot thousands of events, including weddings.