5 Tips for Taking Group Photos (How To Get Everyone In Focus)

[@LadanLutfi]

WOW. Some one finally answered all my DOF questions. Thank you so much for being so precise.

[@AnthonyToglife]

You are most welcome @LadanLutfi, glad to be answer the questions!

[@BankonJovan]

Defraction and depth of field calculations are things I've never heard of in my 1.5 years of getting serious with photography. Thank you!! New sub!

[@AnthonyToglife]

Happy to help you learn something new!

[@LennyCooke636]

Some of the best tips I heard so far on this subject...

[@AnthonyToglife]

Thank you so much, I’m glad you feel that way!

[@MiguelQuilesJr]

Great tips and well explained! 👏

[@AnthonyToglife]

Ayeee, I appreciate that my guy, thank you! 🙏🏾

[@radomirpesek8720]

Thanks for the tips, Hopefully I'll nail the group photo with these tips!

[@AnthonyToglife]

Let me know how it goes!

[@iunderstanphotography2780]

Anthony! haven't been here in months! This vid is right on time for my first huge group shot

[@AnthonyToglife]

It doesn’t matter when you were last here, only that you found something useful when you needed it! Go out there and crush it! 💪🏾

[@iunderstanphotography2780]

@@AnthonyToglife I tried my best! focusing on some eyes, I kept it around f4-5 and other tips you talked about

[@Ryanphotos1]

Solid Advice Anthony! Good amount of gems in this video. Well done! 👏📸

[@AnthonyToglife]

Thank you so much Ryan! 🙏🏾

[@dljonesimages]

Thanks for this Ant... I dont do group shots that often but I have a group shot situation coming up so this video was right on time. and man, that was the most simple, useful, and understandable explanation of the inverse square law that Ive heard from anyone. thumbs up brother!

[@AnthonyToglife]

The Lord is always right on time with the assistance 😂😂😂

[@antpruitt]

Salute to you. Nice meeting you in person today at CES

[@AnthonyToglife]

Indeed it was! I sent you an IG message yesterday saying the same thing.

[@strippedlist]

The first video i have seen about this issue, good job

[@AnthonyToglife]

Thank you!

[@dunnymonster]

Excellent tips 👍 I use a depth of field calculator on my cellphone all the time. Its an invaluable tool that makes the shoot much more efficient and takes the guesswork out of setting up. Likewise I take multiple shots and composite anybody who's eyes were blinking, etc from the other frames. 😋

[@AnthonyToglife]

You’re darn right about that, no point in guessing when you can have something pretty concrete! I imagine AI will soon handle the issues we deal with with group shots. Fixing closed eyes would likely be a breeze for it.

[@87dinab]

Great information! Just went through dozens of your videos.

[@AnthonyToglife]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!

[@agnethaladuff8559]

Awesome tip on group photo!

[@AnthonyToglife]

Thank you so much Agnetha!

[@510visualz]

Excellent tips! I usually go with the 5.6 rule. If I have more than 2 rows its f5.6 or higher. Like you said it's rare to have to go above f8 but I've done it before with a large group of over 100 people. I also had to get scissor lift certified so I could operate one to get high enough for the shot lmao

[@AnthonyToglife]

Ooooo I remember the photoshoot I did on a scissor lift, for whatever reason it was a lot of fun haha.

[@geraldinebryce594]

Thanks so much, I needed this .

[@AnthonyToglife]

You’re so welcome @geraldinebryce594! Thank you for tuning in!

[@ZEDU657]

Great tips and explanation! Thank you!!

[@AnthonyToglife]

Very much appreciated good sir, thank you!

[@Mav540i]

Nice setup! Love the tips! 🙌🙌

[@AnthonyToglife]

Thanks my man, much appreciated!

[@jimwlouavl]

Worth the price of admission to hear the “can you see two shoulders in front of you” question. My two cents: this may not be a great subject for eye recognition. I think it makes sense to focus on the eyes of a baby’s mother in a young family or the matriarch in an extended family so those are tack sharp and then have enough depth of field to cover the whole group.

[@AnthonyToglife]

I’ve never had an issue focusing on the ear, but whatever works. Thing is, the matriarch may not be in a position where it makes sense to focus on them. I think a lot of photographers get into trouble thinking “I need to focus on this person” or “I need to focus on an eye” instead of looking at the scene and focusing where it makes sense.

[@jimwlouavl]

@@AnthonyToglife I hear you. In the limited group work I’ve done, it seems like there are one or two people who are going to make the decision so it makes sense to focus on them in camera and in the sale. Bottom line though is that everyone needs to look good.

[@boftx1]

Something to keep in mind is that the focus "plane" is NOT in fact a plane. It is a curved (in fact spherical) surface that is measured from the plane of the sensor. That is, if you have a group of people, even in a single row, you want them all to be at the same distance from the sensor which means that those on the ends will be standing slightly more forward than those in the center to have the same distance to the camera. This is easily proven by using a tape measure or even a piece of string to line people up at the same distance from the lens. And of course this is exaggerated with a wider angle lens which would mean you are probably closer to the group.

[@AnthonyToglife]

I knew someone was going to comment this. In all my years of shooting I have never found this to be noticeable enough to feel compelled to preach it to others, mainly because a lot of people would likely overcompensate and have groups in too much of an arc. Unless you’re shooting at f/2.8 or less, this rarely would be a noticeable issue or anything to concern yourself with anyway. That and the fact that most people on the ends in groups tend to curve in on their own to make the “line” not as long. Also, a lot of group shots have the group more in the center, so to even see this arc of the plane, you’d have to fill the frame, just like using a wide-angle lens, people aren’t distorted in the center.

[@kunstfuhrer]

Great tips, really helpful

[@AnthonyToglife]

You are most welcome! 🙏🏾

[@iamfraserk]

Some great tips there. Thanks

[@AnthonyToglife]

Thank you so much fam! 🙏🏾

[@simonpetergreen]

nice job

[@AnthonyToglife]

Thank you so much!

[@anasrida3454]

Great tips Anthony. One question: if you put the light in the middle, won't that make the lighting flat? And if you put it off to the side to make it more 3 dimensional, subjects farther away will be darker than those closest. What would be an ideal solution in this case, to make the light more dimensional while keeping everyone evenly lit? Hope I'm making sense btw :)

[@AnthonyToglife]

You would have your light higher than the group and angled down, this would give you a look similar to butterfly lighting. But the sheer nature of having a light placed further back and utilizing the inverse square law is going to diminish a bit of light dimensionality. If you really wanted a more “dramatic” look with your lighting, you could take multiple frames, moving the light to cover the portion of the frame you’re shooting, then composite them in post. This is quite a bit of work though.

[@Richard-rf8hz]

Great tips!!

[@AnthonyToglife]

Thank you so much!

[@MusicFed]

great video. would you try and bounce the light using a single AD200 in an interior group shot?

[@AnthonyToglife]

That would depend on the size of the group. You lose a lot of power when you bounce and the light would need to be a decent distance away to cover everyone (depending on how wide the group is).

[@MusicFed]

@@AnthonyToglife I am thinking of 20/30 people - I have the adaptor to mount the fresnel of the AD200 on the hot shoe of my A7IV so I was thinking of using the AD200 bounced for larger groups, and then a speedlight for smaller groups (3-10) - thanks!

[@AnthonyToglife]

@@MusicFed I don't know how well that's going to work for you. 20/30 people is a good-sized group and one AD200 would struggle straight on, let alone bounced into something. It's doable, don't get me wrong, but you wouldn't be putting yourself in the best position for success.

[@stevocanuck]

why not just use an iphone where everything is in focus?

[@AnthonyToglife]

Image quality.

[@stevocanuck]

@@AnthonyToglifeimage quality is just as good if not better

[@AnthonyToglife]

@stevpcanuck sometimes

[@deancharlesanthonyii]

Great. Nothing worse than noticing your tall folks are out of focus in a big family shot.

[@AnthonyToglife]

Aye bruh, I’ve had some shots in my career where I couldn’t do anything but face palm. Focus was allll the way messed up 😂

[@carlosandreviana9448]

Focusing on the ears would take a long time . I'll rather use a smaller aperture

[@AnthonyToglife]

Why do you think it would take any longer than focusing on anything else? Of course you can do as you wish, but you’re way off base on it taking a long time, but maybe it would for you, and I can’t argue that.

[@carlosandreviana9448]

@@AnthonyToglife one thing is using wide area and point at the front row, and other is looking for an ear. Specially with group after group in fast succession

[@AnthonyToglife]

@@carlosandreviana9448 it’s a non-issue for me, if I can spot an eye to focus on, I can just as easy put the point on an ear. But no worries if it’s not your thing.

[@IMDABROWN]

You were suppose to tell everyone you have MULTIPLE videos about the inverse square law.

[@AnthonyToglife]

Hahaha, I can’t remember what I did yesterday, let alone remembering what vids I have 😅😂