photographing a group with only 1x SB-700 speedlight and pop-up flash

[brendon_king]

<p>Hi,<br>

I tried looking this up but couldn't find one that only has 1 speed-light. I have to take a group photo of 13 people indoors for my office team photo. I have the Nikon D5100, 55-300mm F4.5-5.6 lens or 18-55 F3.5-5.6 lens and SB-700 speed-light (no umbrella/softbox). I do have a 1m white/silver Reflector. I wanted to get some recommendations for a setup for the best results with what I currently have. <br>

I was thinking the best setup would be the group +- 2-3 meters (6.5-10 Feet) away. The Speed-light 60-90cm (2-3 feet) above the camera in TTL) and pop-up camera flash set to TTL, with my aperture at F5.6.<br>

Any suggestions and recommendations would be very helpful thanx</p>

[howard_m]

<p>My first thought would be to point the flash *backwards* and use a white wall or ceiling to act as a big reflector. You might also need/want to rethink how much DOF you're getting w/ 5.6 and see if you can scrape by with wider/faster</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>You're fine with what you have. There are fancier ways you could do this. But since you ask in the context of the beginner forum, just use the 18-55 and the SB-700. If you have a flash bracket to get the flash a little higher, that would be great, but not necessary. If the flash came with a plastic diffuser like my SB-900, use it.<br /><br />No need to use the built-in pop up flash at all, unles you don't have a cable to be able to remove the SB-700 from the hotshoe. If you are using the pop up to trigger the SB-700, see if your camera has a mode where it will trigger the SB-700 without actually firing the pop up.<br /><br />The key here is largely in the posing of the group. Do not line up 13 people straight across. Break them up into at least two rows, preferably three. Even then try some triangular grouping to break things up. I've seen a dozen or so members of a law firm around a picnic table that put that many faces in the picture without it looking like a lineup.<br /><br />Depending on the arrangement of your group, you might need something smaller than 5.6 for depth of field. Be sure you're shooting at least ISO 400 to get a high enough f-stop. You can probably go to 800 if your SB-700 isn't putting out enough light to get the f-stop you want.<br /><br />One option is to shoot this outside, where you can have enough ambient light for the base exposure and be using the flash just for fill.<br /><br /></p>

[dhbebb]

<p>I have no direct knowledge of the SB-700, but I find it has a guide number of 28 (metric). In practical terms, this means you are likely to be working at a distance of about 5 m with an aperture of f5.6 with an ISO setting of 100. You could of course raise the ISO a bit, but beware of noise in people's faces, particularly as these will be scrutinised closely in a group picture.The clear lens choice is your 18-55 F3.5-5.6. A very simple way of making group pictures more interesting is to use a high viewpoint and look down on the group (stand on a step ladder, desk, et cetera, photograph in a stairwell, et cetera). This has the additional benefit of reducing the effective difference in distance between the front and back of the group. The power of your flash will not allow you to use a smaller aperture than f5.6, but you need to shoot at at least this aperture to be sure of good edge sharpness with a wide-angle zoom.</p>

[paul_k1664875007]

<p>IMO your starting idea for the set up of the SB700 and pop up is OK<br>

But rather then bouncing the SB700 against a wall behind your back I would tilt the head of that flash upwards (not 90 degrees, but rather between 50 and 70 degrees) towards the ceiling. Much similar to bouncing the flash against the wall behind your back, the light will get diffused, but with much less loss of light.</p>

<p>Indeed do use the pop up flash, not only to trigger the SB700, but also to as a fill for the shadows that will inevitably come with bouncing the light of the SB700 against the ceiling (effectively making it a high positioned lightsource, and consequently with it creating shadows under eyes, noses and chins)<br>

I personally would use the CLS option, with the pop up as Master, and the SB700 as remote, with a slighty lower power output for the Master pop up (in this situation, in the camera flash settings leave the remote SB700 on '0' zero, so no extra power, and the pop up Master with a slight increase power setting compared to the remote, to be sure it will actually lighten up/fill in the shadows)</p>

<p>I would also as recommended use the 18-55, but rather at f8 then f5.6 because of the wider DoF and better IQ then comes with stopping down a/this lens (I have the 1st version myself which I also have use for all kind of event and group shots)<br>

Also stopping down the lens somewhat will exclude more of the available, in this case office so most likely fluorescent', light, and avoid the WB in your pictures going all over the place<br>

<br />And agree with the suggestion to use a higher ISO setting, on a modern DSLR like the D5100 (still modern, despite its 2011 debut) the difference in IQ between ISO 100 and ISO 400 is next to neglible</p>

 

[James G. Dainis]

A guide number of 28 with 100 ISO would require f/5.6 at a shooting distance of 5 meters. Setting the camera to 400 ISO would allow an aperture setting of f/11 which would be much better for the reasons previously pointed out.

[brendon_king]

<p>Thanx all this is very useful, I will definitely be taking your advice. Once I have done the shot I'll post it and if you can give it a look and critic it that would be great.</p>