Corporate Groupshot at Dusk with 3 Speedlights
Shooting a corporate group shot might not be as apealing as shooting glamour or fashion, certainly not if you’re a creative photographer. But I actually like doing corporate work. I’m getting more and more clients that see the value of good photography. One of these clients is the Belgian Institute for Biotechnology. For them, good photography is a company policy. It really is great working for them.
A while ago I was asked to do a groupshot of their board of directors. The shoot was sceduled after sunset and I didn’t found a good indoor location for the shot. So we went outside in front of their HQ.
I used two speedlites on stands to my left and to my right. By placing these small flashes further away from the subjects and not too much to the sides, the light fall-off is not that extreme, so everyone gets a fair amount of light.
I gaffer taped a third flash to a railing behind the group to create some separation and make the image a bit stronger.
By photographing at iso 800 and using a shutterspeed of 1/13. I managed to keep some blue in the sky. By using flash to freeze any movement, I could work handheld at that shutterspeed.
I like creative challenges in terms of making an original image but I also like to be creative in terms of equipment and techniques to make the picture in difficult circumstances. Corporate clients very much appreciate the ability to improvise on the spot and work quickly. They also like it when you can limit the time you are actually shooting to a bare minimum. The time of each one of these directors is very valuable, so by shooting quickly I make the picture a lot cheaper. It took me no more than 5 minutes to make this picture. But that was only possible because I took the time to set up the shot and test the lighting untill I was sure it would work. Also I made sure I anticipated any problems and had a plan B, C and D ready when something wouldn’t work out as planned.
Those are great tips, Bert. I’ll be taking photos of a family of 8 this coming weekend, and I’ll keep this in mind. The event will take place in a forest, but during the day, so we’ll see what happens. But it’s the sheer number of them that concerns me more than anything and it appears you did a fine job here with the distribution of light.
What would you have done differently if you had sun shining on their faces?
Ivan, it isn’ as hard as you think as long as you are prepared. Pick an assistant while you set up the light so the group doesn’t get bored too fast. Use the assistant to stand in differents spots where you expect the group to be. That way you can check that the light levels are even.
If I where you I’d probably place the group with their backs towards the sun. That way you limit the closed eyes and strange expressions. As an added bonus you’ll get a nice separation/backlight.
Then balance it with a flash to light the group. Heck, you can even do it with an on-camera flash, but off-cam will look better. Just make sure your flash isn’t too close to the group. I often shoot these kind of groups with my 70-200.
Thanks, Bert. That’s a good advise. I’ll have one off-camera flash and white/silver reflector I’ll use to fill in the shadows, but I like your idea to use the sun for backlight. I didn’t think about this. I’ll be shooting in the morning, when the sun is not too high, so it’ll be perfect. I’m not sure I’ll have the assistant, but I’ll use stands to help me hold everything.
Hi Bert,
I saw your work and was linked to your blog via the strobist blog. You do absolutely excellent work and it’s nice of you to share your experience.
I saw you were at the strobist meet in Paris, how was that. I hope you are going to blog about it
tot ziens.
J
Thanks Jacques. I’ll post something about the fantastic Strobist Seminar later today.