Group photo of 2,000 people
I travelled to Shanghai and Hangzhou, China last year to photograph more than 2,000 people at a theatre and restaurant. I knew immediately that this assignment would be tough as we would only be given about 20 minutes or so after the theatrical show in Hangzhou to shoot a group portrait of all 2,000 delegates. The second group photograph of the 2,000 delegates at a large convention hall before dinner would also difficult as we would also be given very little time in order to execute the shot.
If I had been in Malaysia, I probably would have asked for permission to rig up some AC powered strobe units but as we would be traveling to China, that immediately ruled out this option. I considered all options and finally decided on shooting the group at the theatre with a mix of Nikon Speedlights and available light. As for camera choice, I decided on the Nikon D3s. It’s high ISO capability would definitely be put to good use.
2,000 delegates at the Song Dynasty Theatre, China
We went to the theatre on the morning of the shoot and my heart sank when I saw the theatre. The seats were all upholstered in red velvet. Red velvet or any other type of velvet has a tendency to suck up any light that is available. In addition, the ceiling was high and painted black! This meant that I wouldn’t be able to rely on any bounced light from the Speedlights to add to the exposure.
Available light without Speedlights
Referring to my diagram below, you can see that the distance to the back of the theatre is about 40 metres and the hall is 40 metres wide. In spite of the mercury vapor house lights along with red lanterns suspended from the ceiling, exposure was a depressing 1/15 sec, f/16 at ISO 1000. This was before we set-up the Nikon Speedlights.
Plan of theatre of placement of lights
As we couldn’t attach any of our Nikon Speedlights to the ceiling, we had no choice but to set-up 3 units of Speedlights from the front to light up the front row of delegates. We also placed 2 units of Speedlight on either side of the group. All of the Speedlights were used as it is without any umbrellas or softbox. After all, we needed every single ounce of light power from these Speedlights.
Take note of my childish drawing of the way the Speedlight is aimed 
All of the Speedlights were aimed above the delegates. Had I aimed the Speedlight directly at the delegates at the front, these people would have been exposed correctly while the people in the rear and middle would be at least 3 stops under. By aiming the lights at the middle of the group of people, I was able to even out the light reaching them.
Speedlight / Light angle
As there was another performance at the theatre before the performance for our delegates, we were not allowed to set-up any lights during the show. We could only set-up after the performance and that meant we had to move into place, 7 Speedlights on light stands within 10 minutes and shoot thereafter. We had of course determined the exact positions in the morning.
In a hall with such high ceilings, the Speedlights would not have been able to sync at all by infrared signal or flash signal from a master unit (Nikon CLS system). We used Phottix wireless transmitters and receivers to ensure that all of the Speedlights would fire without fail although there were some frantic moments when the Speedlights at the front absolutely refused to work! There were a lot of impatient people looking at me then! Since then, I have invested in the PocketWizard wireless triggering system.
Final exposure with the delegates in place was 1/30 sec, f/13 at ISO 1250. The lens used was a Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G lens.
If I had to do the shot again, I would use a Perspective Control lens. This would have given me better sharpness for the people at the back of the hall.
* Many thanks to my friend, Ken Chen, who helped me immensely during the shoot. He also owns a camera shop, Camzone at Jaya 33 in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
