Large Group Portrait ?'s

[mc_hudd]

Hello everyone! I'm new to this forum; Just read through some posts & decided I had to join.

I have been playing around w/ Dig. Photography for quite some time now. I got my Canon T2i last summer. I took my niece's Senior pictures for her & have done some other stuff here & there.

Just tonight I was asked to take a large group portrait. I did & have not sat down @ the computer w/ them yet... Hoping they turned out perfect!

Here was my situation: A large group of approximately 15 ppl (made 2 rows), overcast skies (pics taken outside). I used my "kit" lens, 18-55 (I think). I also have a Nissin Di622 flash that I used. I had my camera set to AV mode, set @ f/16.

Obviously when taking a group shot like this you would want everyone in focus, that's why I chose f/16... Was that too high? What is a suitable aperture setting when taking a group shot like this?

I also just purchased a Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens. I've read that ppl have used these for portraits, but could it be used for group shots?

I hope I'm including everything you need to know to answer my ?'s. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

~Shannon

 

[tirediron]

Depth of field (The amount of a scene in focus) depends on a number of factors including lens focal length, aperture, camera-to-subject distance and sensor-size. If you plug the information from your shoot into a Depth of Field calculator such as this one, you find out if f16 was appropriate. Macro lenses make very good portrait lenses, but on an APS-C camera body, 100mm may be a little long.

 

[MWG]

Depth of field (The amount of a scene in focus) depends on a number of factors including lens focal length, aperture, camera-to-subject distance and sensor-size. If you plug the information from your shoot into a Depth of Field calculator such as this one, you find out if f16 was appropriate. Macro lenses make very good portrait lenses, but on an APS-C camera body, 100mm may be a little long.

Agreed, the 100 will most likely end up being too long. Shoot with the kit lens, your gonna be alright, The kit lens is actually not as bad as some make it out to be, so you will be ok.

 

[Stryker]

You can use the 100mm for group shots but you have to have at least 10 meter of space between you and the group. I like using my Ultra Wide Angle lens 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM for group shots even on tight spaces.

 

[MWG]

You can use the 100mm for group shots but you have to have at least 10 meter of space between you and the group. I like using my Ultra Wide Angle lens 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM for group shots even on tight spaces.

remember hes shooting with a crop cam, that means its gonna be longer than 100mm

 

[mc_hudd]

Thanks for the DOF calculator... That will come in VERY handy!!!

 

[mc_hudd]

MWG~ I agree that the kit lens is decent. However, I don't have any experience w/ the higher-end lenses. Thanks for your comment!

 

[honoryourlife]

Thanks for the DOF calculator.

I had some of the same questions.