Little Adventures: Group Portrait - The Beats and Bytes Dancers

To those who do not know, the Beats and Bytes Dancers are celebrities in the Filipino community in Qatar. They are regular performers to almost every Filipino community event including celebrations, grand opening of restaurants and even major concerts of Filipino singers. One the dancers, Leah, organized this photoshoot with a specific concept. She happened to be a good friend of mine.

The concept required that a telephoto lens be used to compress perspective and make each one of them appear pretty much of the same size. That's something unachievable with the usual wide-angle lens we use where people closer to the lens appear bigger than those who are farther. Not a problem since I've got a dependable Sigma APO 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM II - currently my favorite lens for portraiture. However, I am shooting a big group and that means I will have to shoot from a great distance to fit them all in one frame. A big venue is now necessary to execute the photoshoot.

Fortunately, Beats and Bytes have got some connections at the American School Doha so they were able to secure the school's gymnasium for a one-hour photoshoot. I used 2 Speedlights, both with umbrellas and one on each side. There was sufficient ambient coming in from the windows so instead of using them as main lights, I just used them as supplements - to boost ambient light power and fill-in the shadows.