Hi,

sorry, this is not a microstock topic...but...

I am in an urgent situation. At a conference I am supposed to shoot a portrait of around 100 people. It was supposed to happen indoors but now they insist on having it outdoors, and in a way it is unfortunately somehow against the sun. It is cloudy and probably gonna stay cloudy, so...ok.

I would like to know how to fill in the shadows.

I have three portable flashes (2 nikon SB-900, one SB-800) with three 60in umbrellas. I hope the wind won't kill them, i wasn't planning for outdoors.

What settings do I use? camera and flashes?

I am posing the people in 4 rows and shooting from slightly above.

thanks.
simone

Why do you need a flash? Even if the light is coming from behind the group just compensate by overexpose more.

Sometimes you may get lucky and there is a building wall near by that will work well as a reflector. Just shoot normally and let he flashes fill what they can. Remember sync speeds,

Maybe you can nail the exposure before they get there.  Go early, take properly exposed shots of the background and if necessary you can drop them into the final photo in post.

The outdoors seems to always change when you are shooting. I think it is good to get a sense of sun direction etc. 

They should hire a photographer that is up to the task...

They should ban people from the internet who don't have anything helpful to contribute.

I think the bracketing idea sounds like it just might be crazy enough to work, although I know on my camera it won't because the time in between shots is too long, someone would move.

Quote from: Perry on October 09, 2010, 10:06

They should hire a photographer that is up to the task...

They should ban people from the internet who don't have anything helpful to contribute.

I think my advice was helpful. The original post was about a 100 people group outdoors and 3 speedlights... I thought this was so far off that it would be a gig for an experienced photographer instead of bothering 100 people and taking their time.

Here is my advice if the original photographer really wants to shoot this: Put the group on a slope or stairs or something so everyone is visible. Alternatively you could climb on a ladder or such to get a higher viewpoint. It's also important to instruct everyone to look at the camera. There will still be a few persons in the group that will be looking somewhere else. If you use a tripod and shoot a lot you might be able to change some heads from different pictures in Photoshop. 4 rows feels too little, the group will be very wide. 6 rows would be much better.

Shoot at a medium aperture like f/11 to get everyone sharp, focus somewhere in the middle area, like if you have 6 rows of people, focus on the third one. To achieve that f/11 and low iso you need to have three strobes at for example 600Ws and some big light modifiers. Three speedflashes with about 100Ws on their full effect isn't going to cut it. And your flashes will fall even in the smallest wind, especially when they need to be set up higher than the back row, lower position will cast some nasty shadows. The best thing would to have some really heavy extra weights and/or assistants holding the stands so they don't tip over.

Oh, and don't shoot too close with a too wide lens; that would make the people in the front row look gigantic compared to the back row.

I still think the same as in my first post.