OK this tip is totally er… borrowed, yeah, that’s it, from Scott Kelby the Photoshop guru, a great guy who is obviously from another planet whose day consists of more than 24 hours as there’s no other explanation for his being able to manage to do all that he does in a day. This tip has to do with successfully photographing large groups – and by successfully I mean nobody’s eyes are closed.
Scott’s suggests you tell the group you are going to have them close their eyes, then you’ll say “3-2-1 open” upon which they should open their eyes, you wait one beat as they will all also laugh, and then whammo – you take the picture (or series of pics on continuous shoot – for details see the previous post).
I’m pleased to report that this little ‘trick’ works like a charm!
One of the main things I find when I use it is that when everyone in the group closes their eyes they also stop talking – which in of itself can cause all sorts of problem with the way mouths look in a photo. Just this weekend I took a photo of over 20 ladies – with not one weird expression – and to be honest although I used continuous shoot, to my great surprise I nailed it in the very first shot.a
You might find that a few group members won’t cooperate with your lighthearted instructions for fear of seeming foolish. Please resist the urge to throw them out of the photo! They will still be so aware that you’re trying hard to get a photo where they aren’t blinking that they’ll hold their eyes open right along with the other less resistant members.
Try this next time you’re in charge of the group shot, or the dreaded ‘table shot’ ( definitely the subject of a future post), try the ’3-2-1-open’ trick – and say thank you to Scott Kelby when you see the results.
