Tips for a casual mini-extended family shoot

[MonteMama]

A friend asked me to do an informal shoot for her family. It will be two sets of parents, one with one 2yo, one with a 2yo and a baby, and a grandfather. We'll be outdoors, with a casual feel, i.e. sitting in the grass in casual clothes.

I've only done one other group shoot - a family of 4 - and am a little nervous about this.

I'm concerned about getting the right DOF and getting everyone in focus, assuming they won't all be standing in a straight line. ;) If some are sitting and some are standing... where do I focus? Any tips for how to arrange them?

Lens suggestions welcome... I have a 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8 and Tamron 17-50mm.

I wish I had better questions to ask... any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Jim G]

Sitting and standing doesn't matter since your focal plane is a plane that runs through the image - pick an aperture that will give you a good amount of depth of field, e.g. f/8 or wider, and focus on someone who's roughly in the middle of the group.

[Styk33]

Getting the young children to "pose" is not easy. For the first time in 10 years my entire family was together and I did a family photo. 50 shots and not a single one were everyone was looking in the right direction or not sneezing or sometime. Everyone went there marry way and I went to my computer to "make" a family photo with a variety of the shoots I took :)

F/8 is good if it is a row of standing and a row of sitting.

[MonteMama]

Thanks for that feedback. :)

Any suggestions on how to arrange them? Should I make it look like two families side-by-side, or combine them all into one big group? 50mm or 85mm lens?

[Dermit]

Thanks for that feedback. :)

Any suggestions on how to arrange them? Should I make it look like two families side-by-side, or combine them all into one big group? 50mm or 85mm lens?

I prefer one big group the best, but you might ask what their preference is. A 50 or an 85 will work fine. Make sure and shoot with a little extra room so it can be cropped to a 4:5 ratio. Shooting wide also makes the subjects closer to the sweet spot of the lens and away from potentially distorting edges.