Adding People in Photography

Adding a Third Person

A group portrait of three is still small and intimate. It lends itself well to a pyramid or diamond shaped composition, or an inverted triangle, all of which are pleasing to the eye. Don’t simply adjust the height of the faces so that each is at a different level; turn the shoulders of those at either end of the group in toward the central person as a means of looping the group together. You can also try creating a diagonal line with the faces at different heights and all the people in the group touching. Or, create a bird’s eye view cluster the group together, grab a stepladder or other high vantage point, and you have got a lovely arrangement. It’s what photographer Norman Phillips calls “a bouquet.” For a simple variation, have the people turn their backs to each other, so they are all facing out of the triangle.

Adding a Fourth and Fifth Person

As you photograph more group portraits, you will find that even numbers of people are harder to pose than odd. Three, five, seven, or nine people seem much easier to photograph than similarly sized groups of an even number. The reason is that the eye and brain tend to accept the disorder of odd numbered objects more readily than even numbered objects. (Note: As you add more people to a group, remember to do everything you can to keep the film plane parallel to the plane of the group’s faces in order to ensure that everyone is sharply focused.)

With four people, you can simply add a person to the existing poses of three described above with the following advice in mind. First, be sure to keep the eye height of the fourth person different from any of the others in the group. Second, be aware that the faces will now begin forming shapes within your composition. Think in terms of pyramids, extended triangles, diamonds, and curved lines. Finally, be aware of lines, shapes, and direction as you build your groups.

An excellent pose for four people is a sweeping curve of three people with the fourth person added below and between the first and second person in the group. Alternately, the fourth person can be positioned slightly outside the group for accent, without necessarily disrupting the harmony of the rest of the group.