A method for automatically determining an orientation and zoom of an image pickup device associated with a video conferencing system, wherein the method includes the steps of: generating, at the image pickup device, an image signal representative of an image framed by the image pickup device; processing the image signal to identify objects plural users of the video conferencing system in the image; steering the image pickup device to an initial orientation; determining a location of all the identified objects relative to a reference point and determining respective sizes of the identified objects; defining an area of interest in the image, wherein the area of interest includes all the identified objects; and steering the image pickup device to frame the defined area of interest including all the identified objects where a center of the frame substantially coincides with a center of all the identified objects.