Family Shot Advice?

[0ozma]

My brother asked me to take a picture of him, his wife and their 2 year old boy for a Christmas card.

I plan on doing this outside, so lighting shouldn't be an issue. I plan on using either my 50mm 1.4 or 70-200 F4L. Which would you guys recommend more?

Also, any tips on shooting this? Such as a good F# to get the whole body in focus... I haven't really done portrait shots.:o

Thanks!

[sapearl]

Hi Oozma - you should have fun with this :D

Actually, you can go either way with these lenses depending upon the effect you'd like to achieve. Set them a little distance from the background so you can use an aperture that will have them in sharp focus and the objects behind slight OOF. Depending upon lighting (daytime? dusk with house lights on for effect in background) you can be anywhere from ISI 100 to 800. What time of day do you plan on shooting this?

If it is daytime, I would suggest an aperture range of f5.6 - 8.0 or thereabouts. Your 50 would act like a FF portrait lens at around 80mm and you can get decent DOF. That 200 could really allow you to throw the background OOF for nice effect. - Stu

[sapearl]

Forgot to mention - use a tripod and cable release if you have one (for consistency) and also fill flash.

[0ozma]

Thanks :) appreciate it. I'm nervous but I'll see what I can do.

[sapearl]

I'm sure you'll do just fine Oozma. Remember, it's less about the gear and photography and more about how you interact with the people. Talk it up, be chatty but not obnoxious..... put them at their ease and get them to relax. That's when you'll get the best shots :D.

Thanks :) appreciate it. I'm nervous but I'll see what I can do.