“Jazz Man” made the wall at the 34th Juried Art Exhibition
at the Lyndon House Art Center

First the obvious things:

• Scout your location ahead of time and make sure you’ll have enough room for the group in your setting
• Make sure you’ll have enough light. An outdoor shot slower that a 60th of a second will most likely have people moving in it and that will ruin your shot. Have a backup plan for indoors and plenty of lighting.
• Place the tall people in back moving to the front with shorter and shorter heights. Be ready to place some chairs on the front row. A row of more than 15 people will be hard to contain in your framing unless you are shooting from a roof or ladder (which in some instances is not a bad idea).
• Make sure you leave crop space on the side(s) of your image when you frame it in camera for 8×10s, 5×7s, etc. Since your prints most probably be larger than an 8×10″ (or remotely an 11×14″), you’ll have plenty of resolution for your final image. Today’s cameras give plenty of latitude for enlargement.

Other tips:

• Tell everyone they “LOOK GREAT!” or “YOU SURE LOOK WONDERFUL!” - “smile” or “say cheese” won’t usually do the trick. Make each individual feel good about themselves. Remember, most of them are self-conscious even though they have done an excellent job in masking it.
• Smile the whole time to make people feel comfortable
• Use a tripod unless you are shooting with strobes (and even then it is advisable)
• Shoot in continuous mode - someone is always going to have their eyes close, are blinking or some other unwanted action. This will increase your chances of a great shot with everyone looking at the camera with their eyes open.
• If you are planning on shooting some couples or small group shots in addition to the large group shot, make sure you let everyone know as they arrive and fill them in on the group shot as well. Do this in a very gracious and friendly manner. Don’t make the mistake of sitting at a table with a sign and expecting everyone to stroll on over to you - approach them first whenever you can.
• Make sure every face is in the photo - bringing someone to assist you is not a bad idea at all if you can arrange it
• If the event is serving food and the photo session is BEFORE the meal, you may want to offer the couples and small group shots after the meal. Hungry people are not easy to entice.

On the business end:

• When you have forms on hand to fill out, make sure you have a receipt for the order if they have paid. A receipt makes the person feel like they have proof they have paid. A generic sales form with a carbon slip will work fine if you are not doing this as a full time job. If you can afford it, have some carbonless forms printed out with blaks areas you fill in for the specific event.
• Keep plenty of business cards handy for those who are purchasing photos - you may be amazed at how many people will ask if you do this or that type of photography - hand them your card and ask them to contact you in the future.
• Make sure that everyone who wants their prints shipped to them has a full address and it is legible. Contact information is vital. Also remember that there will be some handling on your part if you are planning of packaging and shipping the prints yourself. Of course, you may decide it is worth the extra expense to have the prints drop shipped directly from your photo processing outfit.

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