All language subtitles for 5. Group Portraits

So what I want to do now is

actually show you, in the context of one

wedding day, different types of bridal party shots.

And showing you something very recent, like what

are the kind of group shots that you

would do at a groom's coverage, a bride's

coverage, when they get together as a family.

Not showing you every last one of them,

but giving you an idea of what one

would expect in this kind of a context.

So these are straight out of the camera,

nothing's been done to them, so don't please

judge me on my color correction and retouching.

This is just purely for the nature of

seeing what we're doing in the context of

group shots.

Now, so yes, you will not photograph a

bride, a groom and mother the way you

would photograph a bride and a groom.

But can you hold hands with mum and

be nice and close that resembles that beautiful

relationships that a mother and son would have?

Of course.

In this case, they're looking off to a

friend and having some fun.

There would have been shots looking in the

camera, smiling, of course.

Mum's showing off the ring.

They had a bit of a giggle, so

I went a bit wider and got that

shot as well.

Yes, there would have been shots looking in

the camera, smiling of the grandparents, but this

says so much more about their relationship, wouldn't

you agree?

And then while we're there, of course, we're

going to be photographing the whole family as

well.

So here you have this beautiful little moment,

the beautiful siblings there as well, and then

the overall shot.

Of course, you've got the mum.

So basically, the dad wasn't present.

So we've got mum, and then we've got

a brother and sister with a groom.

But you can sort of see how many

combinations that we've done with this very small

little family, and again, excluding the bride.

So if you are photographing a wedding, it's

important that you do not dismiss the groom's

coverage as just irrelevant or not that important

because that's just the groom.

This is the last time the groom will

be photographed as a single person or at

the family home or wherever it may basically

be.

So remember that these shots are very important

and don't just dismiss them as irrelevant because

they are, and if not, at least to

the bride and the groom, maybe to the

parents or maybe future children that might happen.

So let's say we've done those group shots

of the family, and now we're actually onto

the groomsmen photographs.

So in this case, I just ended up

photographing the guys looking in the camera smiling.

I've got my safe shot, but then I

changed my angle, photographed at 1.8. Now

I've got the groom in focus.

Then I can take a different kind of

groom shot.

So here you can sort of see how

all the guys are posing the way I've

actually taught you how to pose as far

as guys are concerned on a bit of

an angle.

And in this case, I got the groom

to just bend his legs and just to

break the monotony of a predictable kind of

posing for all the guys.

And not that that's a problem, but sometimes

I just break it up a little bit.

And then quickly, I can just get the

groom in the foreground.

And then again, I've got a different shot

again.

How else do we do shots with, say,

bridesmaids in this particular wedding?

Well, it could be that she's getting her

garter on.

So now we, this particular room was very,

very small.

We had one sort of natural, one window

light, and we had to make it work.

So now I crop in, I get almost

a vignette of bridesmaids framing the bride, and

that's how we do it.

Now we're photographing the bride with mum.

Yes, there would have been a shot with

mum looking in the camera smiling, but this

is the one I prefer.

Then we have a bit of a reveal.

So dad hasn't seen the bride yet as

a bride.

So we have this beautiful moment, dad's waiting

on.

We build anticipation, and guess what happens?

All of a sudden, mum starts to cry.

She's holding back tears, and now he's looking

at her just like it was yesterday that

she was born.

Then we have a bit of a hug,

and you can see that beautiful emotion from

the father.

And then I let that simmer a little

bit.

Then I get the mum back in.

And of course, she's crying because who wouldn't

at that particular case?

And then whether I told dad to kiss

the hand or whether it happened naturally, who

cares?

The fact is, it's beautiful.

And then there would have been a shot

like this looking in the camera smiling, but

then I get them interacting, and you've got

to feel something.

If you don't feel anything looking at that

photograph, you're missing a heart or a heart,

as you might say in America.

Of course, if you've been following along with

this particular coverage, now I photographed the bride

and mum.

Then I photographed the reveal.

Then I photographed them all together, but I

haven't photographed dad yet.

So don't forget that sometimes you'll have a

repertoire of photographs of group shots.

Someone will interrupt the moment, someone's not ready,

and all of a sudden you've just missed

your flow.

And now you could miss a totally important

photograph that if you didn't do it, like,

yeah, that would be really bad for you.

So come back and then photograph the dad.

Yes, there would have been a shot looking

in the camera smiling, but this is the

one that speaks more to me.

Yes, we've got shots of looking in the

camera smiling with the grandparents.

And then, so one set of grandparents could

be quite traditional and formal.

So therefore, looking in the camera is probably

a better shot than the one interacting.

Every so often, when you get them interacting,

someone will have what I call those druggie

eyes, that half blink.

Someone will cover up somebody else.

Therefore, that interactive shot is unusable.

So therefore, in the album, it might in

fact be that that traditional shot looking in

the camera is the one that you actually

use.

But with the other grandparents, we've got them

interacting and laughing just fine, and that worked.

Then what we haven't done is basically the

bride, the parents, and the brother.

So now we get that shot looking in

the camera smiling, and yes, there would have

been interactive shots.

Then I get one with a brother because

we didn't do that shot yet.

And then, of course, we've got the whole

family.

We've got the bride.

We've got the parents, the brother, the grandparents

on either side.

And because there's so much distraction, I've cropped

it in nice and close.

I think for memory, this is a 5x4

format in-camera crop, and then that's how

we did it.

So now that we've actually done a series

of shots of the groom's side and the

bride's side, then now it's time for those

big family group portraits after the wedding.

So there are so many people.

I'm running out of time.

The chairs were already there for the ceremony,

and I'm like, just let's get it done.

Done's better than perfect sometimes.

So we get the chairs in a row,

get everyone sitting down.

I can see everybody clearly.

It's not rocket science.

It's not going to win an award, but

it's an important family portrait, and we get

it done, and we move along.

Remember how we talked about kids being kids?

If the kids are ready and the bride

and the bridesmaids aren't ready, don't waste time.

Photograph the kids.

Have some fun with them.

Get them giggling.

Have some fun.

Then when the bride is ready, get them

together.

You know that these are going to be

popular shots.

So remember, if you have a repertoire of

photographs, like I said before, and something breaks

your routine, please do not forgo these kinds

of shots because one, you're not doing your

job properly.

Two, you're missing out on a lot of

saleable opportunities because how cute is that?

That's just out of camera, natural light coming

through.

And of course, if you're photographing a group,

there's that traditional one looking in the camera

smiling.

But I know already because these girls are

so cute together, I got the flowers on

the other side of them, and then I

cropped closer, and then we got this cute

little shot.

So group shots, if nothing else than what

I've been teaching you in all these segments

regarding groups and families.

Remember, it doesn't have to be bridesmaids.

It doesn't have to be groomsmen.

It doesn't have to be a bridal party.

It doesn't have to be in the context

of a wedding.

Just take the veil off.

Take the notion that it's a wedding off.

Here's a bunch of guys.

Here's a bunch of girls.

Here's a group of families and so on.

Here are kids, siblings, best friends, who knows.

These principles all apply.

Then there'll be times when you photograph just

best friends because they just want to look

cool.

They want to look confident.

They want to look like a like a

girl band.

They don't want to look like smiling in

the camera, too traditional, too boring, but I

want to interact.

I just want to look like Destiny's Child

or whatever it may be.

And remember, playing with foreground background can work

both ways.

It doesn't have to just be on the

other side.

It can be looking over her shoulder and

the girls are looking that way, or they

can all look around their shoulder.

The amount of concepts that we can do,

you've got to think of posing like a

phone number.

As we've already discussed, phone numbers, the minute

you change a digit, you've got millions of

combinations.

Therefore, we're using similar digits.

A person, a hand, eyes, face, neck, shoulders,

feet, they are a digit of a phone

number.

Now, a human can be a digit of

a phone number.

You simply change the destiny of where someone

is standing or sitting or foreground background.

All of a sudden, you have all of

these combinations.

So if you want to get really good

ideas on group shots, I would suggest you

go to Google and Google Vanity Fair Hollywood

Portraits.

So Annie Leibovitz usually every single year will

do these incredible portraits of the up and

coming stars or the Oscar nominees and do

these incredible shots.

If you look at campaigns like Tommy Hilfiger,

Brooks Brothers, Dolce & Gabbana, you will see

guests and things like that.

You will see incredible examples of group shots

in the way they're posed, in the way

they're lit, and so on and so forth.

I mean, you look at a shot like

this, and I'm obviously playing with light and

shadow on the ground.

I'm trying to make a pretty boring location

look interesting.

Then I might break the monotony by doing

a slightly different kind of a shot with

the girls, knowing that they'll actually be in

an album together.

So hopefully that gives you sort of an

idea.

This was just from one wedding.

Yes, there were more shots and examples of

there, but I wanted to give you a

variety of somewhat traditional ones, somewhat interactive ones,

and then some creative ones straight out of

the camera so you guys can have some

confidence that, you know what, this is doable.

You can do this.

See, a bad shot is better than no

shot.

So when it comes to families and groups,

you have to take responsibility that on the

day it is your responsibility to capture all

these.

I don't care whether it rains.

I don't care whether there's no time.

You will be blamed and it will be

your fault.

When it comes to a family portrait, it

is your job to do every combination imaginable,

let alone if you have time to do

it in a different way.

So hopefully that gives you some confidence from

one particular wedding.

In this next segment, we're going to pay

even closer attention to bridesmaids.

So looking forward to sharing that with you.