This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 2:08 am and is filed under How to Take Extraordinary Photos, The Basics of Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Group photos are a challenge, and the more people you have in the group, the more of a challenge it is. Here is how to arrange your group so that its composition is pleasing in the finished photo.
Angles
Taking group photos that look nice has a lot to do with how you angle the people in relation to each other. Take a look at the example diagram, below.
As you can see, the positions are all angular. The groups in the example are placed in an inverted triangle, a diamond, and an upright triangle. These positions bring balance and symmetry to the photo, helping the eye make sense of the jumble of subjects.
To achieve these angles, you will need to have taller people sit with the shorter people in the back. Children and babies can be placed in the sitting adult’s laps, if needed.
Large Groups
Larger groups still work on the angle idea, but sometimes it is hard to get a triangle or diamond shape out of a herd of twenty people. In this case it is best to use the ‘X’ approach. Take a look at the example, below.
The group has been arranged so that the heads of the people form an ‘X’ pattern over and over again.
This is done by having the tallest people stand in the back in a straight line. The next line of people’s heads should be in-between the two heads in the back row. The front row should be the shortest people (or they could be sitting) and they should be lined up so that their heads are parallel with the back row. Babies or small children can be added to the laps of the adults in the front row easily, without ruining the symmetry of the group.
Remember angles and ‘X’s the next time you are at a group function and you pictures will turn out great!