I need some Holiday Candid PIC Tips

[NikCan]

I need some Holiday Candid PIC Tips From more experinced photographers.

I am getting a T2i or T3i.
If I want everything in focus what aperture should I use
I was thinking maybef/8 orf/12
for the first holidays I will probably be using the kit lens 18-55mm if that helps.
Or should Full Auto Surffice... for the Holidays?

[NgaiHill]

If you are getting the camera just beofre you go and haven't used a DSLR before then I would suggest using Auto, the magic green square. A holiday is not the best time to be learning about your camera, exposure, lighting, DOF, composition etc save that for when you come home and have the time to study those things. Turn the dial to auto and enjoy your holiday!

[NikCan]

Any aperture suggestions to get it all in focus.
Or will Auto do a decent job of this for the holiday Dinner?

I was thinking maybe F/8 for F/12
Am I in the right area???

[RichardTaylor]

Is this a holiday or vacation?

Is the dinner indoors outdoors and/or will you be using a flash?.

F8-F11 is a good stating point for a moderate amount of DOF with a SLR Depending on the lens focal length and subject distance).

You may want to see this tutorial on exposure.
Exposure (1) A balancing act

If you do not have a lot of experience then Auto is probably the way to go.
However if the lighting is difficult (low or backlighting) then you may need to take control of the camera or use the flash.

Try to get some practice before shooting "for real".

[NikCan]

Indoors
My main goal is to get the smiling people
as well as the Christmas Deco'r in focus
Should Auto do a decent job of this or should I set to F/12 or F/22 or F/8

[SwissJon]

Originally Posted by NikCan

Indoors
My main goal is to get the smiling people
as well as the Christmas Deco'r in focus
Should Auto do a decent job of this or should I set to F/12 or F/22 or F/8

Christmas?? It's July.. Or at least it is on this side of the planet. December is usually the time when people celebrate Xmas.

I'd suggest you use a Depth of field calculator because depth of field depends on focal length, aperture, focal distance and sensor size, so it's impossible to say one setting.. If you don't understand this, then set it to Auto, and worry about learning this stuff when you aren't trying to get photos of an event you care about. Generally the smaller the aperture (i.e. f/16 being smaller than f/8) the greater the depth of field, but the slower the speed because you're letting less light in, so you'll get to a point when you start to introduce camera shake.. There is no "Correct" answer anyone can give you, it's really just a question of what compromises you want to make.

Online Depth of Field Calculator

[RichardTaylor]

Indoors with out a flash you will be very hard pushed to be able to use apertures around F8-F11 let alone F22.

If you are using a flash you may want to look at some of these notes.

Flash Photography with Canon EOS Cameras - Part II.

Keep in mind using higher ISO's will extend the flash range and/or allow you to use a smaller aperture. However you can't adjust the ISO in auto.

Auto will do the best it can. On my 40D the inbuilt flash has a maximum range of around 5m or 16' when using auto.

Why not run some experiments to see how your camera performs?

[pharris201]

[QUOTE=SwissJon;1284156]Christmas?? It's July.. Or at least it is on this side of the planet. December is usually the time when people celebrate Xmas.

I'd suggest you use a Depth of field calculator because depth of field depends on focal length, aperture, focal distance and sensor size, so it's impossible to say one setting.. If you don't understand this, then set it to Auto, and worry about learning this stuff when you aren't trying to get photos of an event you care about. Generally the smaller the aperture (i.e. f/16 being smaller than f/8) the greater the depth of field, but the slower the speed because you're letting less light in, so you'll get to a point when you start to introduce camera shake.. There is no "Correct" answer anyone can give you, it's really just a question of what compromises you want to make.

I found a few DOF apps for Iphone that work really wwell. Search Itunes. Plug in the variables and camera info and the min/max is displayed. Also covers hyper-focal (sp) distance.