Need a little Help

[private]

I have to photograph a few groups of people and the smallest group will have 7 people and the largest group will have 17 people.

The photos will be taken outside, in open shade - iffy with the weather tho. What fstop should I use? I was thinking 8 but should it be smaller to be on the safe side? And I also assume a reflector...

Any help/tips would be appreciated.

[candleman]

i'd go for f/8

but it also depends on your distance from them and focal length.

my guestimate *plucks number from air* is roughly 35mm anf f/8 should get you by.
i'm sure some smart person will refer you to a DOF calculator.. i'm not that smart.
that number is what i'd deem acceptable from my own little peanut-brain.

use a tripod and try get them to hold their poses, take several shots in relativley quick succession, then re-compos/pose them and repeat.
this will allow you to photoshop eyes and faces between images with little trouble.

i did a shot (you saw it) on the weekend
f/7.1 iso 320 1/60th at 48mm but used a strobe through umbrella to freeze the motion and give a nice fill light.
the stopped down aperture will force a slower shutterspeed.. so a flash is prettymuch a gimmie IMHO

do you use your speedlight off camera?
if not, i'd pump up the flash power.
the reflecor probabl;y wont adequatley cover such a large group.. but its certainly worth throwing in the mix.

[Sixpak]

Keep in mind that the deeper you pile the folks up, the smaller you want to make your aperture in order to keep everybody in focus. It depends on how far away you are from them etc...

Might use F8 for your group of 7 (a line of 4 and a line of 3) but might need F11 or F16 for a group of 17 if you line them up 4 deep. Really has a lot to do with the placement of your group.

Plus everything Candleman said and I'm not smart enough to use a DoF calculator either.

[private]

I WISH I could ask the last photographer what he did - but he is sad he lost the business...

The group that is 17 will prob only be three deep, they have three rows of kids, all based on height and injuries...(broken legs...)

No off camera flash, WISH I bought that AB instead of the Lionel Train set....

FAB tip about taking thee quick pics in a row, so I can swap heads. Very smart. Must train myself to do that. I usually only shoot off 75-100 frames per session...