Suggestions for Outdoor Family Portrait

[Riddle, Dan]

I have no portrait experience other than just lining
people up and pulling the shutter.Looking for
suggestions on how to make this good.

Family is roughly 30 members. Picture is to be
taken outdoors. Want to frame the picture between
two nice trees in my parents back yard. Will probably
position people 2-3 rows deep. I want clarity from
end to end in the photograph.

I have a Canon Elan 2e, with Canon 28-105 and 75-300.
I also have a 380EX flash.

Looking for suggestions on which lense (or does it
matter?), focal distance, suggestions on framing
the picture. Tripod will be used, what height should
the camera be, etc. I am up for purchasing a lense if I need
to (I've heard the Tamron AF90 is good).

Any suggestions would be helpful.

thanks.....

[Dave C]

Dan,
30 people with there eyes open at once, what a challenge. You will have
an easier time getting everyone in with the 28-105, the 75-300 would need to
be aways back. I read last week in the alt.photo.technique.people a rule
that seemed to make sense. If shooting 1 person set your aperture to 5.6,
2-4 gets 8.0, any more go to f11. This makes sense to me as the crowd gets
wider and deeper you would need a greater depth of field. This also is why I
recommended the wide angle zoom. Good luck. Dave

Riddle, Dan <rid...@americasm01.nt.com> wrote in message
news:387A2667...@americasm01.nt.com...

[C. J. Morgan]

Riddle, Dan <rid...@americasm01.nt.com> wrote:
: > I have no portrait experience other than just lining

: > people up and pulling the shutter.Looking for
: > suggestions on how to make this good.
: >
: > Family is roughly 30 members. Picture is to be
: > taken outdoors. Want to frame the picture between
: > two nice trees in my parents back yard. Will probably
: > position people 2-3 rows deep. I want clarity from
: > end to end in the photograph.

Sounds good. If you're going to use this location, first make sure there's
not noticable distractions in the background (visually annoying telephone
poles & power lines, etc.).

***************

: > I have a Canon Elan 2e, with Canon 28-105 and 75-300.

: > I also have a 380EX flash.

Use the 28-105mm for this. It will prove much more useful than the 75-300.

**************

: > Looking for suggestions on which lense (or does it

: > matter?), focal distance, suggestions on framing
: > the picture.

Apart from shooting a number of frames (to better insure the odds that
at least one image will have everyone looking to the camera and not
blinking) There was something Dave C (djca...@snip.net) wrote which I
think bears repeating:

> If shooting 1 person set your aperture to 5.6, 2-4 gets 8.0, any more go
> to f11. This makes sense to me as the crowd gets wider and deeper you
> would need a greater depth of field.

************

Anyway, good luck and don't hesitate to be assertive. Groups of people
being photographed look for and need direction. And you're the one to
provide it.

C.J.
--
C.J. Morgan
ch...@torfree.net

[ski2_...@my-deja.com]

30 folks and with a 35mm ... lots of small faces, no?

Suggest: Shoot groups of 5 or 6, fill the frame with head-n-shoulders,
take 2 or 3 of each group. You will like the results better than
all at one time.
= = = =
In article <Fo95nJ.JF...@torfree.net>,

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

[Richard Cochran]

Others have posted good suggestions, here's a few additions.

Have you considered renting a medium format camera for the day? 30
people in a 35mm frame is going to push the limits of getting good
recognizable faces for all of them. If you do rent, use your 35mm
camera as backup, and of course, make sure to become somewhat familiar
with the rental camera before the big day (rent it a few weeks ahead
of time and run a roll or two through it).

If you use 35mm, at least use a fine-grained, fairly slow film of your
choice.

Take at least a whole roll, one after another. Someone will be
blinking or have a goofy expression in each shot, but at least you'll
have some options to choose from.

Avoid the harsh shadows of direct sunlight, and even worse, avoid
putting part of the group in direct sunlight and part in shade. If
they're all in open shade (on the north side of a building, perhaps?)
the lighting will be better. Of course, if you can custom order a
light overcast for the day of the picture, so much the better.

Stop down, and use a sturdy tripod as high as practical.

--Rich

Riddle, Dan <rid...@americasm01.nt.com> wrote:
: I have no portrait experience other than just lining
: people up and pulling the shutter.Looking for
: suggestions on how to make this good.

: Family is roughly 30 members. Picture is to be
: taken outdoors. Want to frame the picture between
: two nice trees in my parents back yard. Will probably
: position people 2-3 rows deep. I want clarity from
: end to end in the photograph.

: I have a Canon Elan 2e, with Canon 28-105 and 75-300.

: I also have a 380EX flash.

: Looking for suggestions on which lense (or does it

: matter?), focal distance, suggestions on framing

: the picture. Tripod will be used, what height should

[RRiddle]

"Riddle, Dan" wrote:

>Looking for suggestions on how to make this good.
>
> Family is roughly 30 members. Picture is to be
> taken outdoors. Want to frame the picture between
> two nice trees in my parents back yard. Will probably
> position people 2-3 rows deep. I want clarity from
> end to end in the photograph.

Piece o' cake. Use your 28-105 zoom. Get out your step ladder. Have
all 30 family members group together in bright shade. Get 'em in
together all nice & cozy. Place the ladder in fron of the group. Climb
up and stand near the top of the step ladder; get all the family members
into the frame - should be easy at 28mm, up to 40mm. Say cheese!

--
R R I D D L E C A M E R A W O R K
----* http://www.rriddle.com/ - ray[@]rriddle.com *----

[Earl Fieldman]

RRiddle wrote in message <387FE828...@yomama.com>...

>Piece o' cake. Use your 28-105 zoom. Get out your step ladder. Have
>all 30 family members group together in bright shade. Get 'em in
>together all nice & cozy. Place the ladder in fron of the group. Climb
>up and stand near the top of the step ladder; get all the family members
>into the frame - should be easy at 28mm, up to 40mm. Say cheese!

Well...if that's a piece of cake, there would be more
good group pictures in the world.

The problem is arranging for that "bright shade" combined
with a "not too bright nor too dark a background", and
when "between this tree and that tree" is part of the
requirement, it can get downright impossible.

Generally, if you can dump the trees, one thing which
works well is a gentle rise at the bottom of a steeper
hill, with lots of green grass in the background, photographer
on the flat on that stepladder. The group being 100% lit
by blue sky and 0% lit by the sun itself. Worst is sun
filtered though trees onto the group. Sunlit green grass
is too bright for a background, but sometimes you
have to live with it. Thick forest is too dark, but sometimes
you have to live with that. Blue sky lit green grass is
just about right as a background for a blue sky lit group.

Make sure you take at least a half dozen, so you can
find the best combination of expressions and open eyes.

Full overcast can be used to get to a maybe a "5"
group picture, thin overcast can yield a 10 if used
properly and when lucky.

Earl F.