Photography: The Art of the Group Shot | Drew Shonka Photography

“Obligatory group shot.” “Let’s get this over with.” “Oh God, here we go.”

First published in The Study of Light, on Substack, on July 7, 2026

Sometimes the light and setting and faces are ready to go. This is the YIHS Class of 2015, in Viroqua, Wisconsin.

It’s funny, what many photographers consider to be the least desirable or glamorous photo to take — the group shot — is the most likely to hang on the wall or go on the website. Group shots can be a technical challenge, a social task, and a whole lot of fun. When the subjects are willing, you can have them fly through the air, wade into a cornfield, or dive into a mud puddle.

Restaurant owner Luke Zahm asked me to take a group photo of the staff Christmas party, held (finally) in June, at the farm of one of his suppliers. "So you want to line everyone up in rows?" I asked him, and he gave a definitive no. The party culminated with a mud pit and a photo studio set up in the greenhouse. After quite a bit of editing, these three prints hung on the café wall.

Puppy, and better light, save the day. I took the MOSA team shot first thing in the morning. The light was harsh, and there was nowhere to get out of it. At lunchtime clouds had mercifully blocked the sun, so we took the photo again. This time Kristin's new puppy elevated the entire experience, and the final image is one of a smiling, happy group, with the dog in the lower foreground cropped out.

Aging siblings, all lined up, and then one suggests they stand in the corn, like they did when they were kids together, decades earlier.

The Deep Rooted Tomato Team, then, high school girls, on their way to a dance.

At Gardens of Eagan, in Minnesota. Nothing says "farmers" like a tractor.

Family bouncing on a trampoline, with a bit of Photoshop.

Do something, do anything! Run, walk, bounce on a trampoline, cross Abby Road. Fun makes photos much more interesting, most of the time.