portrait tips needed

[yulchick]

Just in need of some tips on how to shoot group portraits, say about 3-4 people. Who do I set my metering point on? On the persons face in the center? Should I use a larger apeture number? And do i need to position everyone in the same depth of field (if that makes sence) ?

also for some reason i'm always having trouble shooting from further away from the person..I get really nice closeups with everything well exposed and the eyes that are pretty sharp, but when I try to shoot say a full body portrait, my results arent so great even when its from the same shoot, and the camera says the exposure is ok..what am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance on any tips!

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by yulchick

Just in need of some tips on how to shoot group portraits, say about 3-4 people. Who do I set my metering point on? On the persons face in the center?

If the light is the same on everybody, just meter one person, the center person if file. In posing groups you 'generally' want to have each set of eyes on a different level so between the natural differences in heights and chairs and benches you can arrange that.

Should I use a larger aperture number? And do i need to position everyone in the same depth of field (if that makes sense) ?

A larger aperture number (smaller aperture) will be beneficial to ensure you have adequate depth of field...but don't assume you need f11 or f22...check the on line DOF calculator and determine exactly what fstop you need to work at to get the DOF you want...knowing what your fstop needs to be can help you figure out if you need more light or more iso or both. (and you don't mention if your are using flash so you may also have some exposure latitude by varying your shutter speed.
Lining them up so they are on the same plane usually isn't the best stylistically but may be a requirement if you don't have enough light and need to use a large aperture.

also for some reason i'm always having trouble shooting from further away from the person..I get really nice closeups with everything well exposed and the eyes that are pretty sharp, but when I try to shoot say a full body portrait, my results arent so great even when its from the same shoot, and the camera says the exposure is ok..what am I doing wrong?

An example would be good...but I'll venture a guess that when you are close the meter is giving you a reading of just the person and your exposure is good...moving back there is more of the ambient light affecting the meter and the meter takes it into consideration and tells you the exposure is right (and for the whole scene it probably is) but the exposure for your subject isn't. The fix there is to meter up close, set your aperture and shutter manually and move back and recompose the shot. you can also use exposure compensation to make the adjustment.
hope that helps.

[yulchick]

Originally Posted by zona5101

If the light is the same on everybody, just meter one person, the center person if file. In posing groups you 'generally' want to have each set of eyes on a different level so between the natural differences in heights and chairs and benches you can arrange that.

A larger aperture number (smaller aperture) will be beneficial to ensure you have adequate depth of field...but don't assume you need f11 or f22...check the on line DOF calculator and determine exactly what fstop you need to work at to get the DOF you want...knowing what your fstop needs to be can help you figure out if you need more light or more iso or both. (and you don't mention if your are using flash so you may also have some exposure latitude by varying your shutter speed.
Lining them up so they are on the same plane usually isn't the best stylistically but may be a requirement if you don't have enough light and need to use a large aperture.



An example would be good...but I'll venture a guess that when you are close the meter is giving you a reading of just the person and your exposure is good...moving back there is more of the ambient light affecting the meter and the meter takes it into consideration and tells you the exposure is right (and for the whole scene it probably is) but the exposure for your subject isn't. The fix there is to meter up close, set your aperture and shutter manually and move back and recompose the shot. you can also use exposure compensation to make the adjustment.
hope that helps.

Thanks for the tips! The last one really sounds like thats what I'm probably doing wrong, will work on that! thanks again

[Tito87]

Since Bruce already told you what you need to know, I will just wish you good luck taking the group portrait.