Ted’s Tips for Taking Better Group Photos

While the best photography isn’t always about the gear you have with you, your group photography results will improve greatly if your kit consists of a few select items. With the following gear, you will be on your way to mastering group photos. 

Camera with tilting screen - This is important if you are also posing in your group photos, as it allows you to fine-tune your framing and not rely on guest work. If you are using your smartphone, a front-facing camera is your best friend here.

Tripod - Tripods are great for cutting down on camera shake, and keeping your framing and composition exact as you think through your shot. They are essential if you are among the members of the group being photographed. Tripods are great, whether you use a DSLR or Mirrorless camera, and even for your Smartphone.

Remote control - Controlling your camera remotely is great for getting everything ready and firing at the opportune times, rather than missing crucial shots while fumbling around with the camera. Once again, it is more important for those multi-tasking models/photographers. The Self Timer is handy if you don’t have a remote, but there is a delay between you activating the shutter and it firing, so you will need everyone to hold still for a while longer.

Wide-angle lens - If you are only taking photos of a few people, you can usually get by with a standard lens, but if you are shooting large groups of people a wide-angle lens is necessary. These lenses allow you to fit more people in your frame without moving too far back, which is particularly important when working in cramped spaces, but be warned, very wide lenses will produce distortion - so use sparingly.

While we are always fond of the latest and greatest portrait lenses with their fast maximum apertures and resulting dreamy bokeh, you should avoid aiming for too much background blur for your group shots. This is because if you shoot very shallow depths of field and the faces in your photo are not at an identical distance, some of them will be blurry. 

If you stop down just a little, you can still produce some background blur, but all of the members of your group photo will be sharp and in focus.

If you want to produce group photos with better compositions, you will need to give your group some directions on where and how to stand. This is a little tricky, as too much direction can look awkward and make your participants feel anxious, they aren’t professional models, afterall.

For best success, take note of the following tips and use them accordingly, remembering that staying lighthearted and friendly when giving direction can alleviate the tension for better results.

• Make sure no one’s head is obscured by another group member
• Keep heads at different levels - consider positioning people of different heights accordingly
• Ask group participants to get closer together, which allows you to get in closer to shoot for a tighter composition and a more inviting image.

Sometimes the most pleasing and natural looking images are taken when people are not expecting it. With everyone in position for the group photo, take some photos without giving them any warning or saying cheese. This way, you know your framing and composition is close to ready, but you will overcome the nervous and awkward looking faces that most of us pull when we know a photo is about to be taken.

Top tip: Encourage friendly conversation at this point to lighten the mood a little. This easing of tension will be visible in your photo.

As we have said many times before, lighting can make or break a photo. For the best lighting for group photos you want enough light to avoid dark and grainy images and you also want to avoid harsh shadows, which are caused by overwhelmingly strong light sources. Soft and even lighting is the best for group shots, as it is for portraits.

If you don’t want to leave anything to chance and you want control over the lighting of your images, we recommend making use of a flash gun. Flash guns assure you can capture well-lit, detailed images at any time. For best results, if you are under a roof try your hand at bounce flash, while if you are outdoors, investigate and implement fill flash.