big ass wedding party!
JT asked: Hey everyone I just booked a wedding and there is going to be 20 people including the bride and groom in the wedding party so 9 on each side PLUS the bride and groom, has anyone ever done a wedding party this big? if so any suggestions on picture poses?
J~ Here are my tips on how I would personally handle such a large wedding party.
First, you need to make sure you find a venue with ample space for all those peeps. Outdoor is obviously ideal, but if the weather is icky you'll need to find a big indoor space. If they are bent on strict proper formal pictures, you could check and see about an indoor space like a botanical conservatory or large greenhouse, or even a swanky hotel lobby. I'd personally see if the bridal party would be interested in shooting the pics indoors at a shopping mall if the weather was crap - how fun would THAT be? lol. Line 'em all up on the escalators with the groomsmen going up and the bridesmaids coming down, while the bride and groom stand at the bottom (or top) smootching - whee!!! Get them playing in the glass elevators. Have them all playing video games or sitting at booths in the food court. Make them all hold hands and run down the hallway or pack them all into and around those goofy photo booths. Buy them all cotton candy. lol.
Once you have your venues chosen, you can start planning possible poses. There is, of course, a very standard 'line' where everyone is in a 'line' of some sort along the horizon, maybe doing the conga line, maybe standing very pretty, maybe all wearing sunglasses or holding the corresponding groomsman's tuxedo jacket... (very standard shots) In order to get a line of 20 people along a horizon, you will need a) a wide enough space to fit them (see above - venue advice) and b) to be able to move far enough back, depending on what lens you are using.
You could try shooting them from overhead - if there is a way for you to get up above them, you could have the bridal party surrounding the bride and groom. You could have the people waving or winking, or get all artsy and have them all crouch from the waist with their backs up so it looks like the bride and groom are standing in a bunch of coloured bumps. If you could get to a platform of the correct height and get overhead, you could have the bride and groom do a mosh-pit body fall and surf with that many people... If you have staircases it's easy to arrange people - of course the downside is always having to use a teeny aperture, indoors. Ooooh! I just had a vision of shooting this on a farm - country roads, hayloft, wooden fences, train tracks - sweet! Or how about a theatre? You could have the entire bridal party sitting in the 'audience' while the bride and groom dance on the stage?
Try for only YOU and the BRIDAL PARTY at the formals - with that many people the only way you will ever get them all looking at the camera is to completely eliminate distractions, namely the gawkers and stalkers who bring their cameras and shoot over your shoulder. Family are usually the worst for this. If it's possible to relocate the entire bridal party to a remote location, great. If not, you will need to do some crowd control and let all the gawkers and stalkers know that they are not to take pictures or distract the bridal party. Since the advent of the camera phone it's gotten worse and worse. And since even the bridemaids and groomsmen are guilty of whipping out their cameras or phones and causing a ruckus, it's always a good idea to establish a 'my camera only' rule and inform the wedding party that no one is allowed to bring a camera. Not only does it save you the agony of someone 'beating you to the punch' and posting YOUR great composition before you get a chance, but if you are charging for additional prints, it potentially eliminates your ability to sell that particular print since the bride and groom can get a reasonable facsimile free somewhere else.
Have a master plan - with that many people you will need to be very very organized or you'll be shooting formals for a very very long time. Consulting with the bride and groom and confirming which group shots you need to set up would help greatly, as would attending the rehearsal and giving the bridal party your own instructions for the formals (no outside cameras, everyone looking at you when you ask for it, etc.) if at all possible. On the day, obviously if you get done early then there is time to deviate and play a bit, but choreographing that large of a group is going to be a real challenge, to be certain, so once your list is made it's best to stick with.
You would want to shoot using prime lenses as much as possible - with that many people you'll need the pictures to be as crisp as possible. You will have to be very aware of your lighting, considering the number of people involved. You may want to consider renting or investing in some large reflectors. (Hint: though not what the 'pros' use, and you might look a little silly, those silver-metallic car shades will work just fine in a pinch...)
I will try and find some successful pictures of 'large' weddings and post them. Later.
J~ Here are my tips on how I would personally handle such a large wedding party.
First, you need to make sure you find a venue with ample space for all those peeps. Outdoor is obviously ideal, but if the weather is icky you'll need to find a big indoor space. If they are bent on strict proper formal pictures, you could check and see about an indoor space like a botanical conservatory or large greenhouse, or even a swanky hotel lobby. I'd personally see if the bridal party would be interested in shooting the pics indoors at a shopping mall if the weather was crap - how fun would THAT be? lol. Line 'em all up on the escalators with the groomsmen going up and the bridesmaids coming down, while the bride and groom stand at the bottom (or top) smootching - whee!!! Get them playing in the glass elevators. Have them all playing video games or sitting at booths in the food court. Make them all hold hands and run down the hallway or pack them all into and around those goofy photo booths. Buy them all cotton candy. lol.
Once you have your venues chosen, you can start planning possible poses. There is, of course, a very standard 'line' where everyone is in a 'line' of some sort along the horizon, maybe doing the conga line, maybe standing very pretty, maybe all wearing sunglasses or holding the corresponding groomsman's tuxedo jacket... (very standard shots) In order to get a line of 20 people along a horizon, you will need a) a wide enough space to fit them (see above - venue advice) and b) to be able to move far enough back, depending on what lens you are using.
You could try shooting them from overhead - if there is a way for you to get up above them, you could have the bridal party surrounding the bride and groom. You could have the people waving or winking, or get all artsy and have them all crouch from the waist with their backs up so it looks like the bride and groom are standing in a bunch of coloured bumps. If you could get to a platform of the correct height and get overhead, you could have the bride and groom do a mosh-pit body fall and surf with that many people... If you have staircases it's easy to arrange people - of course the downside is always having to use a teeny aperture, indoors. Ooooh! I just had a vision of shooting this on a farm - country roads, hayloft, wooden fences, train tracks - sweet! Or how about a theatre? You could have the entire bridal party sitting in the 'audience' while the bride and groom dance on the stage?
Try for only YOU and the BRIDAL PARTY at the formals - with that many people the only way you will ever get them all looking at the camera is to completely eliminate distractions, namely the gawkers and stalkers who bring their cameras and shoot over your shoulder. Family are usually the worst for this. If it's possible to relocate the entire bridal party to a remote location, great. If not, you will need to do some crowd control and let all the gawkers and stalkers know that they are not to take pictures or distract the bridal party. Since the advent of the camera phone it's gotten worse and worse. And since even the bridemaids and groomsmen are guilty of whipping out their cameras or phones and causing a ruckus, it's always a good idea to establish a 'my camera only' rule and inform the wedding party that no one is allowed to bring a camera. Not only does it save you the agony of someone 'beating you to the punch' and posting YOUR great composition before you get a chance, but if you are charging for additional prints, it potentially eliminates your ability to sell that particular print since the bride and groom can get a reasonable facsimile free somewhere else.
Have a master plan - with that many people you will need to be very very organized or you'll be shooting formals for a very very long time. Consulting with the bride and groom and confirming which group shots you need to set up would help greatly, as would attending the rehearsal and giving the bridal party your own instructions for the formals (no outside cameras, everyone looking at you when you ask for it, etc.) if at all possible. On the day, obviously if you get done early then there is time to deviate and play a bit, but choreographing that large of a group is going to be a real challenge, to be certain, so once your list is made it's best to stick with.
You would want to shoot using prime lenses as much as possible - with that many people you'll need the pictures to be as crisp as possible. You will have to be very aware of your lighting, considering the number of people involved. You may want to consider renting or investing in some large reflectors. (Hint: though not what the 'pros' use, and you might look a little silly, those silver-metallic car shades will work just fine in a pinch...)
I will try and find some successful pictures of 'large' weddings and post them. Later.
Comments
Here's the link to the explanation of crop factor...
http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/crop-factor.html
From what I can find, the crop factor (a.k.a. Lens Focal Length Conversion Factor) on the Canon’s is 1.6x so a 50mm lens would actually give you equivalent to an 80mm field of view (you multiply 50mm x 1.6 = 80mm).