Family reunion

[KenRC51]

Hi, I am about to shoot a family reunion in a few months and I have some question on how to shoot a family of about 60 people. I have a few ideas in mind.

First, i will go check out the place a few weeks before the shoot during the hours the shoot will take place to find some nice spot. The location will be outdoors at a park during 11am to 3pm.

Second, on the day of the shoot I will take a formal shot with all the arriving parties at a location I picked previously.

Third, I would take details (bbq, food, kids playing, people eatting, etc...) shots during lunch or down time.

Fourth, a group shot. The first pose I have in mind would be a goofy pose or act and second would be a nice formal serious pose.

Shooting outdoors would I need a silk screen or a reflector?

I group I would be shooting all have dark skin tone, any advice? (people just told me that shooting dark people is different from shooting light skinned people) I hope I do not offend anyone by asking this question because I really don't mean to be.

I would appreciate any types of advice.

I have another person as a second shooter. I'm am doing all the formal shots and he is getting the candid and details shots.

My gears are Nikon D90, Nikon 24-70 2.8, Nikon 50 1.4, SB-900, two 8gig extreme SD card, 2 batteries, and 8 rechargeable batteries for the SB900

The second shoot gears are Sony A850 (full frame) & Sony A350 (crop frame) Sony 24-70 f.8, Sony 70-300 3.5-5.6, 50 1.4, Sony's top of the line flash (forgot the model number), 16gig extreme CF card and a few more that are not extreme, 3 camera batteries, and 8 rechargeable batteries for flash.

All of are shot would be shot in raw and then edited and converted using CS4.

[zona5101]

I think for your incoming formals a reflector will be a great boon. For your group shot, I would be concerned that the 24 wouldn't be wide enough to capture a 60 person group without putting you back quite a bit. Finding a spot where you can shoot down onto the group would allow you to pack more people in the frame. Your dof preview button will come in handy. Alternatively, (and maybe in addition to)creating a pano in cs4 is probably an excellent alternative.