For our family shot the sun had just set behind the mountain in front of us which left us with nice open shade and indirect light as we faced the setting sun.
Best light modifier for group shots.
Indoors with clean window light.
The following 5 modifiers are very reliable easy to use and they can bring dramatic results once you master the art of controlled lighting.
Bring your ambient light up to 1 stop under exposed.
In dark churches this may push your iso to 3 200 plus.
But for a really big group i just use bare speed lights and spread them out lots of them as i have several 560 iii s and i d rather just set them up and position them to light everyone.
Set up your two off camera flashes modified with the wescott shoot through umbrellas on light stands raised to about 5 6 feet to avoid campfire lighting and to get the best light spread.
Regardless of the light source that you regularly use in your photography daylight continuous or flash light modifiers can surely help you improve your work.
45 degrees to window aperture.
A 5diii or d800 has no problem handling this.
No group placement relative to light.