Group photo poses where you can see every face.

Five rules for big group photos

• Every face must see the lens. If you can’t see the camera, it can’t see you. Ask everyone to check before you start.
• Use height. Steps, a slope, a bench or a row of chairs let three or four rows stand behind each other without hiding anyone.
• Stagger the rows. Each person stands between the two people in front, like bricks in a wall.
• Shoot from a little higher. Stand on a chair, a step or a wall, so the back row isn’t hidden and chins look better.
• Close the gaps. Shoulders touch, the edges turn slightly in, and nobody stands apart at the end.

10 group photo poses to try

• The staircase: rows on steps, staggered, with the tallest at the back and the sides.
• Three levels: front row sitting on chairs or the ground, middle row standing, back row on a bench or a step.
• The wedge: one person at the front point, the group widening behind, like a V seen from above.
• Around the table: stand on a chair at the end of the table and take everyone turned towards you, glasses raised.
• From above: everyone looks up at the camera from an open space while you shoot from a balcony or a window.
• Arms around each other in two curved rows, the ends turned slightly in, like a bowl.
• Walking together: a loose line walking slowly towards the camera, talking. Take many photos.
• The cheer: everyone raises their arms or glasses at the same moment. It works even when people don’t know each other.
• By branches of the family: one photo per family within the big group, then everyone together.
• The one silly photo: after the serious one, ask for the silliest face, or for everyone to look at one person. It’s often the favourite.

Reunions and weddings

At a family reunion, take the big photo early, while everyone is still there and looks fresh, then smaller ones by family and by generation through the day. At a wedding, write a short list of the groups you want, like each side of the family, friends from school, colleagues, and give it to someone who knows everyone, so the photos take minutes, not an hour.

For the person taking the photo to be in it too, put the phone on a tripod or a steady surface at about head height, use the 10-second timer, or ask a guest to take a few.