Available as a 1000x1500 JPEG

Graduates of Radiophysics Department. SPbSTU, St. Petersburg, June 1998

Fujichrome Sensia II 100 film, Canon EOS 500N, EF 28-80 1:3.5-5.6 IV USM lens at mm, UV(0) filter, f/16, autoexposure with +0.5 compensation (trusting autoexposure was a mistake), tripod, self-timer. Scanned to Kodak Master Photo CD.

One and half year later, I am writing: this is a good example how you should not take a group picture.

• The photographer should always be behind the camera and not in the frame.
• Scout the location and prepare everything beforehand instead of dragging the whole crowd with you on a hot day and taking several pictures before finally finding a good place. Everybody on this photo looks really tired and strained. In fact, when I asked them to pose once more, they just walked away.
• Harsh sunlight without fill-in flash or reflector is about the worst lighting for normal portraits.
• If you have to use a wide-angle lens, at least position people in a row to avoid distortion when the parts of body closer to the camera appear enormously big (look at the feet of two sitting guys).
• You may let people fool with beer bottles for a while, but don't forget to take some pictures where they don't do it.
• For a picture of ten people, you'd better spend more than two frames to have something to choose from.
• If you want a picture caption, ask everybody to write his/her name down for you immediately after the photo is taken.

This picture is listed in Stock Database (ref. nr. n16-4)

Copyright 1998 Vadim Makarov: information on how you can use this image