Large group of people

[elkidogz]

My family is... well HUGE. We have roughly 84 people who've spawned from my grand parents. We don't usually all gather in one location, we are planning on actually doing this for the weekend after thanksgiving. My Grandparents have asked me to get a big group picture of everyone. I want this picture to be exceptionally wonderful. The last time we had this done, they paid 5,000 bucks for someone to take pictures all day long. All of our families got portraits and then everyone got one big picture that was... terrible.

I know I'll be stacking people 3 maybe 4 rows deep. and probably 20people across... I have a nikon D60, with 15-55 and a 55-200 lens I also have a cheap slave flash. I had thought about setting up a mockup of where people are going to be and seeing what settings I need to have, but I'm fairly unsure of where this photo is going to be taken. I've never shot more than 15 people before at one time....

what are the trouble spots, and the must haves. If they use one room in there house, then I don't think lighting will be to much of an issue... I can this room extra lighting; it has a few sky lights and plenty of windows and some really nice halogen lamps for gheto lighting...

any wisdom or insight into how to make this picture great would be wonderfully appreciated. I really want to capture this image because so many of my cousins are starting families and our lives will drift apart more and more... So this is basicallly the last time "everyone" will be together... or alive...

[Dirt_Bike_Ryda]

MAKE SURE THEY ARE ALL LOOKING AT YOU AND SMILLING IF NOTHING ELSE !

that pretty much going to be the biggest problem i think. is the lens wide enough? or can you take enough steps backwards?

[TerryMC]

Maybe:

You can shoot down while they looking up at you.
Group them by size if possible.
Create a standing/sitting chart.

[BBenson]

Originally Posted by elkidogz

My family is... well HUGE. We have roughly 84 people who've spawned from my grand parents.

... So this is basicallly the last time "everyone" will be together... or alive...

OK, a small reunion. My step-greats had 12 who had, well, its exponential... Last year's annual reunion (80th, 85th? I forget) pulled about 200, not including lines tied in, medicos, etc

Don't worry about the overall class photograph. You don't want to take it, they don't want to look at it, its illegible anyway

Most important: Get the old folks who may not be there next year. Portrait settings are nice, but candids are absolute. They mean more than poses.

Posed shots: Lineage. The top group, or at least those surviving. Then each branch. The more generations in each the better.

But then - A couple years ago I shot a 5-generation portrait. Last reunion I shot a 6-generation candid, a fast grab, beats any portrait that weekend

Keep your eyes open and your camera hot

[wulf]

How did it turn out?

Wulf