Posing
With twenty people and one evening, posing means placement and repetition. The individual frames carry the personality.
In short: With twenty people and one evening, posing means placement and repetition. The individual frames carry the personality.
Nobody directly behind anyone; back row raised if there is anything to stand on.
The one time folded arms work — it reads as a squad rather than as defensiveness.
Same three corrections for every person, repeated.
Ball, racket, helmet, tool. It occupies the hands and identifies the sport.
Slow, together, shot in bursts. The frame clubs actually use in posters.
Low camera, eye level with them, not looking down.
Start with staggered rows, alternating heads — the first two minutes are warm-up and the first pose should be the one that asks least of anyone. Move to arms folded, weight back and individual: turned, chin forward once the shoulders have dropped, and keep seated on the bench in a row for the end, when self-consciousness has gone. Shoot each one in bursts through the movement rather than holding it: the usable frames sit between the instructions, not on them.
Two metres back with the lens zoomed rather than close and wide — distance is what keeps facial proportions natural. Camera at or slightly above eye level for portraits, at chest height for full length. Below eye level enlarges whatever is nearest the lens, which is rarely what you want in frame.
The pyramid, and the whole team pointing at the camera. Also arranging by height in a straight line, which turns twenty people into a fence.
Starting with individuals and running out of time for the group. Photographing against a fence covered in advertising. And letting the setup drift between people, so the wall of portraits does not match.