HOW i SHOT THiS

  • 6 people
  • Italy
  • squish
  • Soft Light
  • Shade
  • Playful
  • Overcast
  • Natural Light
  • Middle Thirds
  • Mid range
  • Laughing
  • Jokes
  • hilarious
  • afternoon
  • high energy
  • Group Photo
  • Girls
  • Funny
  • Fun
  • Free
  • Energetic
  • Center Framed
  • Canon
  • Bridesmaids
  • bouncing
  • Walking

The story behind the image

Show more
Along with getting the formal group photos where everyone looks into the camera; we are also big big fans of capturing a great moment between the people in the group. Especially when it comes to close friends like the bridal party or the groomsmen. It makes the whole “event” of the group photos so much more fun, not only for your couple but for you as the photographers. Nobody ever said you couldn’t bring in some high energy stuff to add a few dynamics to the whole session. For this particular shot, we knew all the girls were very close to each other as the chemistry was so clearly visible. We wanted to get them laughing & having a good time with each other, and so we had them move towards us and pretty much squish each other. The most important thing though was that we kept our energy up. Your subjects reflect you, and so in this case – we had to be “full of energy” to get “full of energy”.
Show more

Directions

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

Once we positioned our girls next to each other, we asked them to link arms and walk towards us. While walking, we encouraged the girls to squish close and even lightly bump into one another; all while moving forward.

Show more
What did you say?

Alright, girls, walk towards us and when you do, get real close. So close! Squish up into each other and even bounce off yourselves.

Show more

Composition

After getting a few full-body shots, we let the girls move closer to us so we could then focus on their laughter and utter joy. We kept the most important part of the composition in the center of the image; their expressions & faces. This allowed some “breathing room” above them as well as have them close up enough in the frame to really capture their enjoyment.

Show more
framing

Center Framed

Focusing

Describe how you spoke to your subject(s)

Our focus point was directly on the face of our bride. Since all the girls were on the same line, we didn’t worry too much about one of them falling out of focus; especially with a wide-open aperture. As they moved towards us, we kept refocusing between shots. We did this simply because we felt that the continuous autofocus of the 5DIV wasn’t at its prime.

Show more
Focus Mode

Single Shot Autofocus

Focus POints

Single Point

Focused on

The Brides face

Equipment &
Exif

Camera
Canon 5D Mark IV
Lens
Canon 50mm f/1.2 L
Flash
None
Filter
None
1/1000 @ f/2 ISO100 WB-Auto

The way the EXIF is written out follows the common photographic method (with the inclusion of White Balance at the end). Here it is broken down:

Shutter Speed @ Aperture ISO White Balance.

Light & Weather

We were fortunate enough to have worked with an overcast sky at this moment so the light was fairly simple to work with. That being said, we still keep an eye out as to where the sun “was”. The sun was slightly behind us and to our left which meant that even though the light was soft, we still had the girls illuminated from the front which highlighted their expressions.

Show more
Light Type

Natural Light

Time of day

Afternoon

Weather

Editing Workflow

How did you edit this image?

I applied my Protea Preset to the image and adjusted the white balance, exposure, shadows & highlights to get the overall tones I was after. I wanted something warm, for sure, but didn’t encroach too much onto the whites of the bridal dress. I then also reduced a bit of the texture just to make the skin feel a bit smoother. Then, adding a bit of grain to complete the image with texture.

Show more
Editing Software
Adobe Lightroom Classic

Challenges

The main challenge one would face in a group photo like this is keeping the energy and motivation up high enough for everyone to be genuinely having a good time. It’s not always easy but it’s also not impossible either.

Show more

Solutions

Make group photos a fun thing for everyone. Put in a lot of your own energy and don’t be afraid to make a few silly jokes here and there. After all, you’re pretty much on “stage” in front of an audience and so taking advantage of that can yield some pretty fun images that they will all love.

Show more

Location

Location Name

The Lazy Olive

Location aDDRESS

LOC. FINERRI, 7, 53041 ASCIANO SI, ITALY

Loation Type

Wedding / Event Venue

Country

Italy

When it comes to movement in group photos, it’s best done with groups no larger than 6 – 8. Any larger and things start to become a bit more chaotic and may actually not look good at all.

Regardless of how many people you have in your group photo, don’t forget to be encouraging and to compliment the group once you’re done. It makes a world of a difference when the people hear you say “Damn, you guys look great!”. They start to genuinely have a good time in front of your camera.

Finally, try and convince your couple to do the group photos before your couple shoot as this could push your couple shoot later on into the afternoon / evening which is, obviously, a much nicer time to be taking their photos.

Read More

Login to your account

Oh no :(

This content has been marked as Premium and requires an active subscription in order to access it. We’re so sorry about that. But hey, here’s what you can do:

Join the
family

Get access to everything on the site as well as a ton of perks & benefits.

Have an account?

Well then, let’s get you logged in and hide this annoying thingy-ma-jig.