Group portraits certainly is a challenge that takes practice, or at least good planning beforehand. When I met with Tony from South Port Diner, the idea was to take some promotional portraits of him, his dad Leo and his brother John; for which, I relayed on a single strobe and my 85mm lens.

Looking back into it, I realize having used a 50mm lens and bouncing the light from the ceiling probably would have given me better results with framing and consistent light spread; but it is what it is.

As this photo session progressed, I felt the better shots started to come out once everyone became comfortable and joked around, which wasn’t too long after we started thanks to the great sense of humor they all share!. Once I got to show them some of the results on the back of my camera, they began to loosen up and give me more expressions. .

Before we wrapped up this portrait session, we took some group portraits in the parking lot that gave me some of my favorite results. I especially liked some semi-candid portraits where Leo is with his two sons on his back facing the camera and just having a great time.

My food for thought after this experience is to learn to anticipate, and when doing group portraits having everyone’s participation sets the tone for good results. Also, there's nothing wrong with overpacking, being minimal with gear when other people are involved is just not practical

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