Photography ideas... how do you pose large groups?

breoni

breoni

GingerScraps Site Creative Team
I'm volunteering my photography skills this weekend to take photos of our local high school's dance team. I am so not a professional photographer, but the coach is the same wonderful lady who coached my daughter during her high school years, so I'll pretty much do anything she asks. When my daugther was in high school, there were nine girls on the dance team (it's a very small school). But now... there are...gulp... 19 girls. Does anyone have any great tips for posing a group this large?

We're meeting at the football field and so I plan to utlize the bleachers to give some different heights. I'm hoping to do an internet search and see other ideas. I'll also do individual shots of each girl. Does anyone have a site of poses that they can recommend?
 
Just a thought...since it's a dance team and there are so many ladies, why not do group action shots of them dancing (the bleachers might work as a prop) Or combos of several of them dancing so all of them are photographed. Then create a collage blending them all together with a cool title font.
 
Here's a couple of tips for a large group like this. Have two girls turn toward each other a bit so they are not facing the camera directly, just slightly turned. Then start bringing in the other girls to also slightly turn but never completely sideways so that the camera catches their shoulder/upper arm directly facing toward you. You can do this in a row but if you are using bleachers, you could have a few sit on the first row, same thing, slightly turning their knees toward each other, not directly squared up to the camera. Then a few taller girls could stand in the back, making sure their faces are showing between 2 girls in front of them.

Also, thinking of a triangle, groups of 3 sitting on 2 benches, slightly turned toward each other, varying heights. Then you keep building the triangles of girls all around each other.

Here's a SHORT ARTICLE with photos to help show what I mean
 
The way the school photographers used to pose the students (from my teaching days)... Line them up in size order. Smallest in front row, than bigger in next on up.
Triangles are most pleasing for groups as well.
I do like the semi facing in idea.
 
Thanks for the article, Rae! I love those tips!

Well, I showed up and SOME of the dance team showed up (but not all). I can only feel the frustration of the coach. So instead of doing any group shots when we were missing some of the girls, we spent the time doing individual shots. The girls quickly learned that I was only there to have fun and then it became "Hey, take my picture doing THIS!" Once one girl would find a pose she liked, then ALL the girls needed the same photo. At one point, I'm laying belly down in the middle of the football field and they're doing leaps and jumps in front me. Some shots I got... others... not so much! Ha! So we are going to have to schedule AGAIN (this makes the fourth time) and see if we can't get that elusive group shot before it snows! HA!
 
Here's hoping the girls who showed up and had fun shame the rest of them into turning up, it sounds like you had a wonderful experience anyway.
 
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