Best lens for outdoor family photo

[kbradley]

Greetings, everyone. I have a Nikon D50 (crop sensor), and I've got a very important photo to take. Likely a final family photograph. It will be taken outdoors, probably in direct sunlight in a grassy green back yard. Is a Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 D lens or Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D lens a better choice, and what mode would you shoot in? Any other setting suggestions would help, such as if Aperture mode, what aperture you'd go with. ISO 200? And, even though it's bright outside, should I still shoot with my SB600 mounted?

Thank you in advance.

 

[DiskoJoe]

Either lens would be fine. depending on how many people are in the pic a wider lens may be better. use lowest iso possible. try shot without flash and then with flash. see which you like better. available light would make a difference here. if you know the location then go take some test shots.

 

[chaosrealm93]

iso 200 sounds good and depending on how far you're away from the fan, i would say either 28 or 50mm is fine. (say if ur shooting on a field/plenty of space, go with the 50mm, more compression). lastly, i would go without the flash

 

[Ginu]

I would use the 28mm just due to the wide angle factor, however I dont like the setting in which this will be taken... Direct sunlight is not very flattering and it often looks really washed out.
Use lowest ISO possible and stop down the lens to f8-f11.

My suggestion is to shoot at dusk or dawn unless you have the right filters and experience to shoot in direct sunlight. I would try to SB600 to see what the effect might be, but I have a feeling it will not be powerful enough to overcome the sun; you might be able to get rid of some shadows however.
A reflector might be a better idea than using the flash (not to mention they are much cheaper than flash units).

 

[levinest]

You say "final" family photo. Is someone leaving this earth?

Regarding the lens to use, how many people are going to be in the photo? Typically I think portraits are done with a 50mm or 85mm, but when you start adding more people you may find you cannot get everyone into the photo because you cannot back up enough with a 50mm so the 28mm might work better. It's going to be up to you to determine that when you take the photo. I think the 28mm might be a better quality lens (at least the price is a lot higher for it) so you might find it takes sharper pictures anyhow. Direct sunlight you'll probably want ISO 100. Set your aperture based on how you want the photo to look. Small group, very sharp only for the people, use a larger aperture (f/4, f 5.6). Larger group or more/most of the overall picture in focus, stay in the f/8-f/11 range. Everything in focus all around move up around f/16-f/22. You'd likely only want to use the flash if the faces are going to be all/part in shadow (due to the angle of the sun) and you'd like to use the flash for fill. Again you'll have to see how things are when you're ready to take the photo.

This all from someone relatively early in his own photographic career so listen to what everyone else says as well but I think my advice is pretty accurate.

 

[mrpink]

You say "final" family photo. Is someone leaving this earth?

Maybe he is preparing for 2012??






p!nK

 

[KmH]

How many people?

For a family of 30 I use about 24 mm. A good zoom lens would work much better than a prime. Be mindful what aspect ratio most will want prints in, and frame in the viewfinder accordingly.

If I have to shoot a group in direct sunlight, I want to do it in the morning or later in the day, with the sun behind them so I can use flash (as many as 4 lights) and control the direction and the intensity of the light on them. If at a house, I assemble the group on a side of the house that is blocking the low sun.

 

[kbradley]

levinest, a friend has stage 4 cancer and has asked me to take a family photograph. As for how many family members, there are 4. They want a group photo, and then one of each of the two children alone. The nifty fifty acts like a zoom lens on my camera due to the crop sensor, and the 28mm looks like what I see with my eye when I don't have a camera in front of it.. I guess it comes down to the apertures of each-50 f/1.8 or 28 f/2.8. Both primes. I also have the 18-55 f/4-5.6 Nikon kit lens and a nice 55-200 f/4-5.6 zoom. Thanks, and I look forward to your suggestions.

Is Aperture mode and f/8 the consensus? And try it with the speedlight and without? Thanks, guys.... and gals...

 

[kbradley]

Keith, I'm small taters.. I just do this for fun, so you can imagine the pressure I'm under... All I have is my SB600 for lighting... I own no reflectors and nowhere near 4 lights...

 

[levinest]

Ugh! Now I feel like cr@p. My sincerese best wishes to your friend. My brother has had cancer five (yes that's 5) times and fought it off each time. Completely thought we were going to lose him this last time around but they found a treatment that miraculously sent it back into remission. Only hope they can do the same for your friend.

 

[BJF]

ISO 200 is fine. I recommend 50mm f1.8D standard lens if you have enough space to place your tripod away from the group. You do not need flash in sunlight, even in overcast sky light. Generally f5.6 is good for shots of people. Here you are the lens references.

Nikon 5m f1.8D
Nikon 28m f2.8D

 

[KmH]

White foamboard can be used as reflectors and is cheap. Places like Staples and Wal-Mart carry it.