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Very often when photographing groups of
people there is always someone looking the wrong way, keeping their
eyes shut or making a silly gesture or face. As a photographer it will
take all your expertise as a director to get everyone to do what you
want them to do when you want them to do it.
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The knack is to strike a happy medium
between a jovial atmosphere and firmness. Of course not all groups of
people that you photograph are going to be under your control. If this
is the case it is then up to you to find the right angle and be ready
for the right moment. You will need to get yourself into a position
where the light is at its best.
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It might be advantageous in certain
circumstances to photograph people unaware, but then if they discover
what you are up to they may get annoyed or move away. Often if a group
of people know they are being photographed they will play for the
camera and probably agree to your requests. If you are shooting indoors
the chances are you will be able to direct people to adopt the
positions you want. Take a good look at their characteristics. Decide
who is the most interesting so that they can be in the foreground or
other prominent position.
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If there are many people to fit into the
group, position them or take a viewpoint so that no one is obscured by
anyone else. Consider whether some would be better sitting while others
stand. It would be an advantage to work with the camera on a tripod and
use a cable release. In this case you can position everyone to your
liking. Also when it comes to taking the actual shot, you can keep an
eye on the group better from the camera viewpoint than looking through
the viewfinder all the time. If you do use this method and your camera
is set to auto exposure you will have to cover the viewfinder. On
nearly all cameras there is a small button that brings a shield over
the viewfinder. This cut out light entering the eyepiece which would
affect the camera metering mechanism and result in underexposure.
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