Impressed

[asysin2leads]

The other day, my wife and I was talking about me sending out letters to the local sports leagues for T&I pictures. I was going over how I wanted to set it up. We looked at 10'x10' white canopies w/ removable "walls." We went over how to go about setting everything up and how to handle the "traffic flow." I have everything input into a spreadsheet to keep my thoughts all in one place.

So, yesterday, our local youth football league had their T&I pictures. They had their area set up about the same way my wife and I talked about. They are offering great products at decent prices. The only negative thing about it was when she went to take the team picture on the bleachers, she had to stand about 70 feet back in order to get the entire team in. We only had 18 players, 8 cheerleaders and 6 coaches. She was using a Fuji Finepix S5 Pro, which is fine, but I think her choice of lens wasn't right, IMHO.

[clarence]

The only negative thing about it was when she went to take the team picture on the bleachers, she had to stand about 70 feet back in order to get the entire team in. We only had 18 players, 8 cheerleaders and 6 coaches. She was using a Fuji Finepix S5 Pro, which is fine, but I think her choice of lens wasn't right, IMHO.

A longer lens gives less barrel distortion for large groups... wider lenses can give a slight fisheye effect on the outer people.

Plus depth of field can work better for you with distance.

And sports photographers typically invest in their best glass at longer lengths.

What lens would you use for that group?

[asysin2leads]

A longer lens gives less barrel distortion for large groups... wider lenses can give a slight fisheye effect on the outer people.

Plus depth of field can work better for you with distance.

And sports photographers typically invest in their best glass at longer lengths.

What lens would you use for that group?

Yes, I understand that. I typically use the 70-200 for portraits. Either that or the 24-105. Either one would work.

Out of curiosity, just how do you mean that DOF can work better. The further away you are from the subject in relation to the background, the deeper the DOF. Example. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=8223776&postcount=35)

I could understand being that far back for a larger team, but only having each row 8 wide and they were 3rd graders.

Don't get me wrong. I was simply making an observation. They have great quality images. I am happy with the results.

[Traumuh]

I think the 35L would be perfect for team pictures. :)

[clarence]

Out of curiosity, just how do you mean that DOF can work better.

Because the further away you are, the distance between the front row and the 2nd row is relatively less, so you don't have to have all subjects in a narrow focal plane. So you can shoot a group with a 300/2.8 or f/4, but you wouldn't shoot a group at 28/2.8

But again, the photog was probably just working with what they had... like you said, the results were fine, so I won't second guess their choice. There's almost always a "better" lens that you could buy/use, but you use what ya got.

[asysin2leads]

Because the further away you are, the distance between the front row and the 2nd row is relatively less, so you don't have to have all subjects in a narrow focal plane. So you can shoot a group with a 300/2.8 or f/4, but you wouldn't shoot a group at 28/2.8

I think I'm going w/ the 10-22 next time.;)

But again, the photog was probably just working with what they had... like you said, the results were fine, so I won't second guess their choice. There's almost always a "better" lens that you could buy/use, but you use what ya got.

I don't think it would be wise to shoot a group of 25+ in 3 rows with an Av of f/2.8. Isn't that just asking for shallow DOF? Wouldn't it be better to shoot on the long end of the 24-105 or even the 70-200 @ f/8 - f/10? They 2 woman who did the photos have a portrait studio, too. They do some good work.

[clarence]

Wouldn't it be better to shoot on the long end of the 24-105 or even the 70-200 @ f/8 - f/10? They 2 woman who did the photos have a portrait studio, too. They do some good work.

I don't know Fuji lenses... even if Fuji had a 24-105, I don't know if that photographer had it.

Again, they used what they had, whether intentional due to previous success and experience, or used what they had because it's all they had. Either way, if they results were nice, then it sounds like a good lens selection to me.

[The Moose]

I don't know Fuji lenses... even if Fuji had a 24-105, I don't know if that photographer had it.

Again, they used what they had, whether intentional due to previous success and experience, or used what they had because it's all they had. Either way, if they results were nice, then it sounds like a good lens selection to me.

The Fuji S5 Pro is actually just a Nikon Dxxx body (can't remember which one, D100 or D200?) and keeps the Nikon mount. Internal technology is different though (sensor and everything).

[Big K]

Because the further away you are, the distance between the front row and the 2nd row is relatively less, so you don't have to have all subjects in a narrow focal plane. So you can shoot a group with a 300/2.8 or f/4, but you wouldn't shoot a group at 28/2.8

That is not really correct.

If you need to have a DOF that is 10' deep at f/2.8 you need to be 166' from the subject with a 300 mm but only 15' away with a 28 mm.

I shoot almost all team and individual pictures with a 24-70 f/2.8 and typically shoot at between 50mm and 70mm depending on the setting. I also typically use strobes for any of these types of shots and try to shoot between f/8 and f/13 depending on the ambient background light.

If you want to get a better idea of options and limitations regarding DOF with various lens and camera configurations, check out this link.

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html