A Group Shot

One of the most fun weddings I have shot was Matt and Lucy’s. Such wonderful people, a great fun bride and groom, a relaxed atmosphere, an ultra-friendly crowd: this is how a wedding should be!

The reception was last Saturday, and at the end, we set up some group shots. Here’s one of them being set up, and me preparing to press the shutter:

I used two Bowens strobes powered by a battery. That was enough light to get me f/10, which gave me a nice dark background at 1/300th second (thank you Canon for making the 1D MkIV shutter nice and fast). Camera on manual, flash set manually.  The flashes were driven by two pocketwizards.

For a shot like this you need to look down, or you will never see the second and third rows. A chair is what I used: that gave me enough height.

All that gives me this:

Much better than the simple available light shot on a bright day like this – remember: flash can make your backgrounds darker.


4 thoughts on “A Group Shot

  1. I am going to be doing some photos of 8th graders and their moms and dads after ceremony and wanted to know if I could use this setup. I have a 6 foot black felt backdrop, and using umbrellas to light with 580 flash and an AB my friend is letting me borrow. I have no light meter and this is so new for me. I am doing this as a favor for the school and they are nothing formal, just some nice shots of kids and maybe with their families. Way power level and distance away from my subjects would be a good place to start? I am thinking an f/5.6?? Any tips would be appreciated.

    Thanks

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