Family Posing: Same Plane

When positioning groups, you want to be mindful of how DEEP the group is. Technically, you want everyone’s heads about the same distance from the camera. Pretend there is a pane of glass and everyone has their noses touching it. This is what I refer to as ‘same plane.’

There are three big problems that happen if you do not pose everyone on the same plane:

• Distortion happens. Those who are in front will have seemingly enlarged heads. That’s a problem. Your picture will suddenly look weird. This problem is exaggerated if you’re too close to the group and you’re shooting more wide angle. Notice the distortion that is happening in this BAD example:
• Focus problems. Unless you’re using a very high f-stop or are very far from the group, you’re likely going to have focus problems with your subjects varying distances from the camera.
• Shadows. The likelihood of one person throwing their shadow on another person is much greater when you’re not at the same plane. For example, notice the shadows in this BAD image.
• Covering subjects. When everyone is not positioned on the same plane, the likelihood of someone unintentionally covering someone else is much greater.

Follow these four principles to keep your group on the same plane:

1. Only have three rows in any group. The deepest I’ll go with a group is a back row standing or kneeling, a middle row sitting or standing, and a front row which involves someone sitting on a lap. That’s it. Here is an example of three rows maximum:
2. Lean the back row forward AT THE HIPS. This is key. Those who are in the back row must lean forward in order to be on the same plane. They cannot just kneel/stand upright. They will be back too far and you’ll have problems. Be sure that they are keeping their back straight and lean forward at the hips or it will look awkward. In this picture, the girl in the back is leaning forward slightly to ensure that she is on the same plane: 
3. The middle row should sit up straight. If the middle row isn’t sitting/standing up straight, it is that much harder to get the back row on the same plane. Again, the idea is to get everyone the same distance from the camera. I made sure the parents sitting down are sitting up straight to be sure that they aren't too far forward in front of their kids.
4. Those on the front row need to be up against the middle row. Usually, the front row involves someone sitting on a lap. For example, you’ll have a mom standing in the back row, a dad sitting, and a child on his lap. I don’t ever position someone in front of someone sitting - there’s no way that you’ll get everyone on the same plane if you do that. In this picture, you can notice that I pushed the little children up tight against the parents so they aren't far forward in front of the parents: 

It is essential to honor the rule of "same plane" with every family picture you photograph! 

Eric