Large Group Shot (>600pax)

[startrails]

my partner and I successfully conducted a shoot for about 150 odd pax at an aircraft dispersal area before. It was printed into a banner and i could even see the last guy at the back!

used a canon 5d2 and 16-35mkII. I read somewhere that you'll need an equivalent of 35mm on a FF sensor to get the least distortion or something like that. f14 and shutter minimum @ 1/100s to minimize motion blur. ISO set according to ambient lighting. u can try f16 or higher but i again read somewhere that @ f16 and above diffraction occurs. remember to keep your settings constant through all shots, if not stitching will give uneven light tones.

I think i shot in portrait orientation and stitched in photoshop. the result was good!

so there, i guess a pano is good, but always take a "overview" shot in case stitching duzen work for you. it gives an "fisheye" look though, but the people are still proportionate lah.

otherwise, medium format might be your other option. not to sure abt this so i cannot comment much on it.

hope it helps.

 

[kiddyduck]

I Was thinking of using masking tape to mark out the frame edge, then do stitching... Panning shots by following the masking tape ... Portrait stitching sounds great ... It will be less distorted... I am concerned when doing stitching people, especially with distortion ... 12mm lens will have certain amount of distortion at the edges?

I need to see if there are floodlights or not.. Loading bay is outdoors but sheltered... May not be bright enough ...
Let you guys know again this evening after my scouting .

Thanks!

 

[ExplorerZ]

I Was thinking of using masking tape to mark out the frame edge, then do stitching... Panning shots by following the masking tape ... Portrait stitching sounds great ... It will be less distorted... I am concerned when doing stitching people, especially with distortion ... 12mm lens will have certain amount of distortion at the edges?

I need to see if there are floodlights or not.. Loading bay is outdoors but sheltered... May not be bright enough ...
Let you guys know again this evening after my scouting .

Thanks!

12mm is still usable if you don put any of the people near the edge of the frame.

 

[coolthought]

im not sure if we can even see the eyes if we squeeze 600heads alone in the frame, assuming TS is using a 24MP dSLR :dunno:

yes, probably so.... may not even be able to recognise the faces.

 

[coolthought]

I Was thinking of using masking tape to mark out the frame edge, then do stitching... Panning shots by following the masking tape ... Portrait stitching sounds great ... It will be less distorted... I am concerned when doing stitching people, especially with distortion ... 12mm lens will have certain amount of distortion at the edges?

I need to see if there are floodlights or not.. Loading bay is outdoors but sheltered... May not be bright enough ...
Let you guys know again this evening after my scouting .

Thanks!

plan it in such a way that you will require the least number of frames. This will lessen distortion too. Not too sure if your stitching software will be able to "recognise" the "faces" and stitch properly.

 

[kiddyduck]

i will be using stitching with CS3 .. if not CS4... unless someone can recommend the another freeware to use. File size will defnitely be BIG.

 

[HVB88]

If possible, get a highest MP camera and use prime lens.

Good luck!

 

[coolthought]

i will be using stitching with CS3 .. if not CS4... unless someone can recommend the another freeware to use. File size will defnitely be BIG.

you probably may need to manually stitch... just guessing.

 

[kiddyduck]

That's what I think too..

I am prepared to manual stitch... therefore I was concerned about the distortion at the edges.

The worst case scenario will be to split 600 pax to 200 pax into 3 groups, aligning them next to one another with some gap between. This may be easier to stitch, however the photo will be longer.

 

[Dream Merchant]

IF it's going to be used for STOCK ... you will know the requirements, which are to say - very high quality.

Depending on the arrangements, this might help:

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Panoramic-camera-advice-113

or the minimum you might need is a large format camera with ample movements.

You might also get by with a 50MP Hasselblad if the DOF is enough back-to-front at your given aperture, with or without the tilt adapter.

I am unfamiliar with gigapan systems so I can't comment, but have a look ... at least to find out what's available.

Look for/Google the (possibly) archived article where I mentioned the world's largest UN Group photo which has all the leader's of the (then) modern world, including Bill Clinton. I think I mentioned it in CS as well. It details the efforts which the team went through and you might find it useful. IIRC, it should also be in the UN archives as well as the Kodak archives ... if you can find it. :bsmilie:

You will find it's primarily an exercise in planning and logistics, then in comes the lights, and lastly, what kind of camera is required.

 

[CamInit]

Just for fun...
21Mpixels. Assuming people coverage of 80%, that means 16.8Mpixels excluding borders and spaces.
For say, 650 people, each person will be covered by 16.8/650 = ~25800pixels
which is about 160x160pixels for each face. Not a lot of details.
:think:

 

[wootsk]

Seriously, using a single camera to take 600 people shot without stiching, I don't think you can even see if the eye is open or closed

 

[Shahmatt]

I agree with wootsk. The more I think about it the more I am convinced that stitching will bring you better results.

I don't think the gigapan solution I posted is too expensive. The Obama inauguration photo has more than 10,000 people, and if you zoom in you can see quite a bit of detail and clearly recognize faces at the least. Also note that the shot was taken using a Canon G10 (not a DSLR).

 

[ismokeweed79]

1700 people

(Photo courtesy of Canon Singapore)
This was how the photographer took the shot. (On ladder + stage)

http://xtemujin.wordpress.com/2010/10/23/2010-oct-canon-photomarathon-singapore/

 

[coolthought]

I agree with wootsk. The more I think about it the more I am convinced that stitching will bring you better results.

I don't think the gigapan solution I posted is too expensive. The Obama inauguration photo has more than 10,000 people, and if you zoom in you can see quite a bit of detail and clearly recognize faces at the least. Also note that the shot was taken using a Canon G10 (not a DSLR).

great keywords to suggest!
and I found this.
http://www.davidbergman.net/blog/how-i-made-a-1474-megapixel-photo-during-president-obamas-inaugural-address/
I can see that the bottle next to ex-president bush is have some water in it.
Looks like TS going to make an epic photo here in Singapore.....:sweat:

 

[coolthought]

That's what I think too..

I am prepared to manual stitch... therefore I was concerned about the distortion at the edges.

The worst case scenario will be to split 600 pax to 200 pax into 3 groups, aligning them next to one another with some gap between. This may be easier to stitch, however the photo will be longer.

after looking at all the suggestion and existing photos.
this is probably what I may do.
1. Determine how large the final image going to be and estimate the number of frames
2. limit the fov for the complete image to no more than 100 degree (maybe around 90 degree)
3. With 1. and 2. I will roughly know at what focal length I will be shooting
4. get a setup that will allow me to take panorama and vertorama shots with the turning axis at nodal point (probably cheaper than gigapan...not too sure)
5. get a latest computer with at least 64gb of ram to process the image :sweat:
6. pray for great weather and light conditions

 

[coolthought]

1700 people

This was how the photographer took the shot. (On ladder + stage)

if these are not your own images, it is courteous to at give credit to the person or website who owns it. Maybe with a link.

 

[crabball]

You may want to consider photo stacking... but not sure whetehr it will work since there are so many people inside but i have seens some great results with increased DOF

 

[Doctor Inferno]

If you're going to stitch the images together, I recommend shooting vertical especially since you're on a crop sensor.

 

[wootsk]

Sony Pan function or the recent YPan can come in handy