Family Portrait

[david1961]

I am looking for advice for a family shot this weekend.
I have a Canon 20D, 580EX II, Tamron 70-200 2.8 and 17-50 2.8 lenses.

I will be taking the photo in a church with 25' ceilings.
The photo will be taken at the alter.

The question is: using on camera flash, what would be the best lense and
settings for both lense and flash?

I am extremely new to photography and I appreciate any help given.

Merry Christmas
David

[Peacefield]

Well, as is often the case, the answer is "depends". How large is the group, how dark is the church, what color are the walls and ceiling, does the portrait need to be at the alter or can you use other areas of the church that will allow you to more easily bounce off of walls?

Some general rules:
- Use as high an ISO as possible so that the background doesn't go dark on you. I'm not sure what is a ussuable ISO on a 20D but I'm guessing 800.
- If a large group, use your 17-50 to get everyone in while not having to be too far from your subject. I wouldn't shoot wider than about 30mm and keep people from being too close to the edge of the frame so they do not distort from working wide.
- If only 2-4 people, maybe your 70-200 in the 70-100 range will give you a more pleasing look.
- If a large group, use steps at the alter and maybe even a couple of chairs to pack your group tightly in multiple layers so the shot doesn't have to get too wide.
- Shoot in M
- If the group is small and only one row deep, f5.6 or so should be fine. If 2-3 rows deep, f8.
- Meter for the ambient light. At ISO800 and the aperature you need for the depth of your group, see what shutter speed is required. Set your shutter speed one full stop faster than what is called for, but I suggest NOT shooting any lower than 1/60 of a sec.
- If you have to use on camera flash, look to bounce it; ceiling, wall to the side, a wall behind you, etc. Regardless, make a large bounce card out of a basic 3x5 card rubber banded to the flash to throw a good amount of light forward. Flash should be in ETTL mode and you should probably set the FEC to +2.

Some guesses from me not really knowing enough about the circumstances, but hopefully enough to get you going. Of course, everything becomes much simpler if you can just go outside. Good luck.

[david1961]

Peacefield, thanks for the advice. I am new to the flash and thats my biggest concern.
I have used the flash in AWB and in flash mode and have had mixed results.

The walls of the church are red brick, the ceilings are white sheetrock.
Can I effectively bounce the flash of a 25' ceiling? The ceiling is a highest down the center and drops
10-15' at the sides. Its a well lighted church.

Thanks again
David

[Peacefield]

Peacefield, thanks for the advice. I am new to the flash and thats my biggest concern.
I have used the flash in AWB and in flash mode and have had mixed results.

The walls of the church are red brick, the ceilings are white sheetrock.
Can I effectively bounce the flash of a 25' ceiling? The ceiling is a highest down the center and drops
10-15' at the sides. Its a well lighted church.

Thanks again
David

With a 580, yes you can bounce off a ceiling that high, but putting a bounce card (lots of info on this around the net and on this board; do a search, but a 3x5 card rubber banded on to the flash head will do the job) will be necessary to get some light into people's eyes.

With respect to mode, it sounds like you're using the auto modes and shooting JPG and not what Canon refers to as the "creative" modes and shooting RAW. It's not very hard to learn how to shoot in these other modes that allow you much more control both before and after the shot. Your manual and a little practice are your best guide, but if you don't feel confident in it, then go with what you know: camera in AWB and flash mode; that should do just fine.