The art of stepping back for large group portraits

I recently photographed the junior rowers in my rowing club, and I wanted to make sure that I made a great portrait for the team. There’s one simple thing I did that makes it easier to make a good looking group portrait, no matter how big the group.

Step back and zoom in on the group

Using a long lens to photograph groups is important because it ensures everyone appears the same size in the picture. If you stand close to a group, the people closest to the camera appear larger than the people at the back. That means that little Suzie the toddler’s head on the front row may be four times larger than Big Uncle Harry’s head who is standing at the back. This often leads to unflattering group pictures.

If you simply step back farther from the group and zoom in, you’ll have better group portraits because everyone appears to be the correct size in relation to each other. Also, it’s easier to have a little bokeh in the background with a long lens.

This picture was made with a 60mm lens on a micro four-thirds body, which is an equivalent field of view as 120mm on a full-frame body. I regularly use 100mm on a full-frame body for shoots like this. Of course, this means I need more space to make a portrait, and that eliminates many beautiful backdrops because there isn’t enough room for me to back up and shoot. But helping people look great is more important than shooting in front of a pretty scene. I strongly recommend you learn to use a long lens for groups.