Group of kids: will what I have work?

<p>I've been asked to photograph my friend's family later this year (fall). This will be a large family group that includes (or, by then, will include) 5 children under the age of 5yrs (two of which will be less than 1yr).</p>

<p>I'll be doing probably every combo you can think of. It's the couple, their parents, their children, and then grandchildren. I'd also like to get some nice candid portraits of the children.</p>

<p>I have a d7000, the 18-105mm kit lens, and the $199 35mm Nikon lens. I also have an SB700, tripod and remote release. I need to work with the flash - I bought a stand w/umbrella to take it off-camera but that's as far as I've gotten with it. I have time, though.</p>

<p>Specifically, I'd like to know if my lenses are sufficient for this project. If there is a more appropriate one that I could add, I would be willing to spend around $500 (perhaps a little more if I'll get a lot of use from it). My thought was a used Sigma 17-50/2.8.</p>

<p>Thank you for your thoughts and advice!</p>

<p>Renee</p>

<p> </p>

<p>How large is the group? What kind of space will the photography take place in? I would worry about your lighting first and then about the lens; I think the lenses you have should be ok. Technical things considered, then you may need to entertain the family adequately to get good expressions from everyone.</p>

<p>On any group of people who do not fit in a single row, depth of field can be an issue and to get enough depth of field, without having to wait several seconds for the flashes to recycle, you may need more light than one SB-700. If you only intend to do this rarely, you may squeeze this shoot through with one flash and umbrella, but if you plan on doing it more often you should probably get a second flash, maybe an SB-910 or equivalent (or if you can borrow/rent a 400Ws studio flash you could do that).</p>

<p>The 18-105 should do ok but to be sure you should do some testing with another person being a stand-in in your test shots and moving about as instructed to see that the lighting looks good in each part of the group and that you're getting enough detail at each position without refocusing the lens between shots.</p>

<p>I would start testing with settings of f/8, ISO 400 (1/125s to 1/250s) and see if the light your flash + umbrella gives is adequate at the location where you will be doing the photography. Use manual flash as if you use TTL you will not know how much light was used and the shots will vary from each other in exposure. If f/8 cannot be properly exposed, try f/5.6 (it is more likely to be achievable but this may mean you have to position the subjects with more care to get them in focus).</p>

<p>Finally if the location is dimly lit, the children may be spooked by the powerful flash light and it may affect their expressions and behaviour. So it's good to have at least some ambient light to let the eyes adjust to, so that the flash doesn't appear as distracting to the subjects. So if you can, let in some window light; it adds some character to the lighting as well. </p>

<p>If you have enough space to backup, the 35 would be awesome. If you can't get all the way back, and you're on a tripod, the 18-105 should be fine, but not wider than about 24mm imho. Spend the money on one more flash.</p>

<p>Renee, your equipment is fine, especially if this is going to be outdoors, but that is the easy part. For any large group, you want to use a smaller aperture to keep everybody within the depth of field anyway, so you don't have to get any f1.4, f1.8 lenses or f2.8 zoom.</p>

<p>If it is going to be indoors, lighting can be an issue. The hard part is to work with your subjects, especially the small children.</p>

<p>The equipment is fine. Absolutely no need for another lens. If I were to put money into anything it would be a second flash but you can shoot this with what you have. Practicing ahead of time with lighting and thinking about the posting are the key issues.<br /><br />Look at some family portrait books or just photographers' family pictures on their websites to get ideas on posing. With this many people you can't just line them up. </p>

Your camera and lenses are fine - but I suspect you'll want a lot more flash power - something like a 500~640 watt-

second monolight and large umbrella as you'll want to work at f/11 or f/16 to get the depth of field you'll need so everyone

will be in sharp focus and everyone will be nicely lit.

 

It will be bland but effective lighting.

<p>Yes - thank you - you're all correct, I do need to focus on making sure I have proper lighting. Thank you for directing my thoughts. I will certainly practice, and look at examples. I'm glad I was asked now, so that I can have some time. I'm sure I will be asking more questions.</p>

<p>I don't think neither my friend nor I thought too much about *where* we'll do this. That's item #1 to solve. Ideally this will take place outdoors, taking advantage of fall foliage. And I will be sure to have someone along who can captivate the children for me, regardless of where we do it.</p>

<p>I second the idea of a ~500ws monolight, 8 ft. light stand, either large umbrella or softbox. I would use two of them. Portraits are mostly about use of flash.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>Your lenses are fine. Where will you be taking the picture - indoors/outdoors, time of day, how large will the area be, will there be a ceiling and if so how high and what color is it?</p>

<p>If you do it outdoors, it is likely easiest to shoot a test fram e in natural light and then add fill according to need. If you want foliage, one good options would be go into a forest, that way you can get nice moody light, the kids will have a lot of fun, and you don't need to add as much light as you might need to in the open. Outdoors in the open, if there is sunlight I use that to accentuate the hair and shoot into the light (slightly from the side) and fill with flash. In the latter case you may need a good bit of light to balance with the daylight.</p>

<p>I`d try to do it outdoors under full daylight. If the group isn`t large enough, you can use your flash to fill.<br /> You can also use a reflector to give more light to the faces... it works and are cheap. I use Lastolite original ones, but there are also other much cheaper brands that do the same. The bigger the better.<br /> As mentioned, the best solution is to have lightning power via monolights, but they are expensive; I have photographed large indoor groups with hot shoe flashes and results were so poor... so I`d advice you to try it outdoors with fill flash or at least with a reflector.<br /> I`d look for the best location outdoors, check the daylight angle at a given hour and made your "portrait studio" with fixed points to place the subjects, the tripod at the right distance, the flash, the aperture, a nice background and the way you like it rendered, etc.<br /> The most important; experiment and made test shots prior to the event... nothing worst than to improvise in the latest minute. And do it soon, this test shots will tell you the gear you really need.</p>

<p>The way to make it work is to develop a shooting plan that fits your equipment and no attempt things that won't work. I have very similar equipment and 60 years of taking photos behind me. I have no doubt that you could do very well with what you have. Great images are made between the ears of photographers -- not in cameras and lenses. Know your equipment and your skills and limitations and plan accordingly.</p>

<p>I would imagine that it is difficult to get such a large group together. Therefore, essentially there are no second chances. If it is outdoors, factors such as weather is beyond your control. Hopefully a fall day means less chance for rain. For a large group, it is easier to shoot in an overcast day or early evening so that you have no harsh shadows to deal with.</p>

<p>Things are easier to control indoors, but you need to deal with the lighting.</p>