Every family has one thing they do that makes perfect sense to them and utterly none sense to everyone else. Our approach to group photos is this one. It is never easy. It is never quick. And somehow, it always becomes a whole event.
Everybody starts to disperse rather than gather at once. One individual is fitting garments, another is arranging hair; someone vanishes entirely like they never there. Under stress, the photographer struggles to regulate persons who evidently do not wish to be managed.
Then one gets the positioning. The tall ones in the back, the short ones in front; but everyone differs. Someone laments blocking; another demands standing close to a certain person; and somehow over nothing a little argument erupts.
Just when everything appears to be set, one guy says, "Wait, I blinked." Another adds, "Take it again; my face is not good." This happens again and again till everyone is exhausted.
But the humorous thing is that everyone in the final photo looks to be having no trouble at all.
No matter how crazy it is, we nonetheless perform it every day.