Help! Need tips for first group photo assignment!

[TNBDM]

So I get a call yesterday from my brother-in-law's wife. It seems that her family is having a get together on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday (yes, I'm in the US). Her mother has been trying to hire a photographer to come do a large family portrait as well as some shots of all her grandsons together, but she hasn't been able to find anyone who's willing to do it on Memorial Day.

Enter me, with my nifty DSLR and much-exaggerated photographic skill. I haven't yet learned how to say no, so I agreed to come out Monday morning and do the shoot for the family. I have a whole slew of questions, since this is my first time doing a photo assignment for anyone but myself. Some are technical, some are not. Any and all answers and advice is much appreciated.

First off, they want to pay me. I've told them repeatedly I'm not comfortable taking any money at all until after I've done the shoot and they decide they're pleased with the results. They insist on giving me gas money, which I guess I'm okay with, but as far as payment otherwise, how should I handle that? I'm really at a loss for determining how much my time is worth for doing this. How do you figure out how much to charge someone for a shoot when you've never done a shoot before? And how should you handle doing a shoot for someone like this who's sort of pseudo-family?

Now, the more technical stuff. Here's my gear, so you can keep that in mind:

Canon Digital Rebel XTi / 400D.
Canon 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 non-USM (kit lens).
Canon 50mm f/1.8 (aka the Nifty Fifty, aka the Thrift Fifty).
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8.
Velbon tripod that's older than I am.
Canon electronic shutter release cable.
Assorted filters that fit the kit lens (polarizing, UV, etc.).
I have NO external flash unit as yet (there is a Vivitar 285HV in my future, though).

My understanding is that the family wants to do the main shoot out in the woods in late morning (around 11am would be my guess). The light will be far from ideal, but I'm hoping there'll be enough shade from the trees to keep everybody from looking totally washed out. The secondary, grandsons part of the shoot will be near a creek in the same woods.

Here's what I'm thinking. I'll get there around an hour ahead of time to scope out the area and plan how I want things set up. There are going to be MANY small children involved, so speed is going to be key; knowing how I want it to go before everybody has to get there and stand around waiting for me will make things go much, much more smoothly. I'll set up on the tripod, probably do some mirror lock-up and use the cable release just for that little feeling of extra security it'll give me. Then when it's time to do the grandsons, I'll probably have to resort to handheld and luck (there are about a half dozen of them between the ages of 5 years and 6 months).

What am I not thinking of? What challenges are there going to be in this specific shooting context that I'm not seeing? Any tips for shooting in the woods? For shooting lots of kids? I'll be perusing the tips on this site between now and Monday for sure, but anything any of you have to add would be most helpful.

All I really want is to do a decent job for some nice people. Any advice you can give me to achieve that goal would be most appreciated. Thanks!

[wulf]

I haven't done anything quite like that but I would be inclined to take lots of pictures - have you got a nice big memory card / cards?

Wulf

[jmadigan]

Might help to get someone to act as an assistant, too. If time is of the essence it might help to have someone to hold a reflector, pass lenses back and forth while changing, round up and prep kids for the next shots, etc.

Also, charge your battery. :)

[TNBDM]

@wulf
I've got a pair of SanDisk 2gig Ultra IIs. Shooting in RAW, that'll give me 350-400 shots. If that's not enough...well, I'll take my laptop, just in case I need to dump the cards.

@jmadigan
Hadn't thought about recruiting an assistant. I'll have to look into that. And yes, BOTH batteries will be fully charged, for sure.

[Angela]

Kids are tough. Especially that age group.

I suggest that you find your spot for the larger of the groups, if you're photographing all of the children together, with parents, try to have parents or someone hold the child/ren on a lap to keep them in the photo spot whileyou take the shot. This way they will be less inclined to turn their bodies around completely.

Set up the adults or older children into the frame first (unless they are holding a small child) save spaces for them and put them in last.

In my experience - which is on a great scale with dealing with children - not so grand with photographing - as I'm just starting in the business - you have to get the kids within the first several shots as they lose focus very quickly.

You may suggest - after your first few shots if there is too much uncooperative behavior that if everyone gives you a few more smiles, you'll take a FUN picture and ask them to all make a funny face.

That usuallyworks well enough to get a few more shots in.

As you get your first few arrivals to your spot, you may want to take a test shot or 2 to make sure that your're getting good light and determine whether you need to use fill light via your flash, and to be sure of your exposure settings. You want to do this with an actual person in the frame and not just the background scenery.

With the shots of the kids by the river, if you have a zoom lens try using that and getting some candid shots. The subject doesn't have to be looking at you and smiling, sometimes the best shots are the ones where the focus is elsewhere.

As far as money is concerned - you should take omething for your time.

If you are not comfortable asking for a set fee, tell them that anything they's like to pay is fine. I (being very new to this business and very unsure of my skill) usually charge $50.00 an hour. I am quickly realizing thought that that hour turns into a few when you calculate your time in the post process and travel.

I also have found that although I take tons of shots when dealing with kids and groups, the best are usually within the first few shots in each setup.

As I said I'm not a big pro, but my familiarity with children and people in general helps me to be pretty good at getting shots that everyone is happy with.

You're best bet is to go in there confident - at least pretend that you know exactly what you're doing - and have fun. I'm sure ou'll do great. You asked all the right questions so you must have some idea of how to do it

[Sime]

Gday! ...my first thought was the same as Wulfs... take lots of shots. Make sure you know your kit and what it can do so you don't have them standing around toooo much (kids / boredom) ...though that said... bored kids faces are quite cool sometimes.

charge like a wounded bull!!.. kidding kidding... what you are comfortable with and as you build up your confidence and get more jobs, you charge more..

Good Luck and I hope you show us a couple of your shots?!...

Sime.

ps: if I were closer, i'd assist for FREE!... but UK is a little way off.

[Angela]

Which state are you in?

[Sime]

Hey Angela, if you mean TNBDM (Ben) You will find him in Tennessee, USA.

me, on the other hand.. i'm in a post work / chilled out kind if state

[Angela]

LOL Sime.

Well I can't assist.
I'm all the way on the east coast of the US.

If he were here, he'd get rained out anyway and have to do it indoors which would be even more challenging. (At least to me its challenging - I work better with natural light)

[mikem12188]

And as someone else pointed out on another thread, for the kids, don't forget the duct tape