35L for family of 3 portraits?

Congrats on the lens.

Your post just got me thinking of shooting my family as well. I really hate having to rely on the tripod to get all of us - makes it really time consuming to get creatively framed shots.

drewjoseph wrote in post #13520187
Almost everything on the most recent entry of my blog is with the 35L or 135L.

The 35L is going to give you better everything over the kit lens... Don't use a tripod, move around to get the shot man!

http://drewjosephphoto​graphy.blogspot.com/

The OP is planning on being in the photo too, hence their plan to use a remote to fire the shutter with the camera on the tripod. If the OP doesn't use a tripod, I doubt their arm is long enough (let alone the goofy framing) to get all three people in the shot by hand-holding the camera

I agree with chimping ahead of time to get the desired dof. The LCD on your camera will help you dial in the setting you desire.

There are also DOF calculators - such as this one - http://www.dofmaster.c​om/dofjs.html.

There is an interesting movement called strobist - it is about off camera flash and may be of interest to you as you explore photography. http://strobist.blogsp​ot.com …/welcome-to-strobist.html

You can also read about bokeh which allows for nice out of focus areas. A general tip is to place distance between your subject and the background. This portrait was taken infront of a very old brick wall last summer.

adamg5 wrote in post #13519956
Wide open im afraid the 35 will put one of us in focus and the rest no so much.

adamg5 wrote in post #13519972
I figure in Manual mode or AV mode start at say 4.5?

I think that's really overkill?

f/1.4 is fine for 3 people. Just focus on the person closest to the camera and make sure the others aren't too out of the focal plane.

It's overkill to use f/4.5 - I mean look at these 2 photos below, these are at f/1.2, and have even more than 3 people, so I'm sure if I can get these people in at focus at f/1.2, f/1.4 is no problem.

Thanks for all your help here on the forum....I think it went better than I expected. Using a tripod and remote is tough because the little one would not look at just the camera. If a person was behind the camera making funny faces etc trying to make him laugh I'm sure it would of went way smoother. I ended up rubber banding a toy cow to the camera to try and get him to look at the camera, but he would not smile I'll post a few pics, be kind it's my first try. I just downloaded aperture 3 free trial and used it help with the editing....
Hopefully when the new baby comes in February I can practice some newborn portraits.....C&C welcome

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35 1.4

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merida wrote in post #13522657
35 1.4

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Looks really sharp, with great lighting. Can you share lighting techniques and what camera body you using?
thanks,
Adam

adamg5 wrote in post #13523680
Looks really sharp, with great lighting. Can you share lighting techniques and what camera body you using?
thanks,
Adam

Sharpness is all relative. To me they don't look sharp not the face for sure. Some other parts in the pictures are sharp. Lighting looks simple ambient nothing more IMHO.

If you're going to shoot wide open, be sure the faces are on the same focal plane. Nothing wrong with a tripod. Try not to focus and recompose.

#1 Crop tighter and straighten
#4 I don't get this type of photo but there is a lot in this world I don't understand.

Cute kid, nice photos, you will really, really appreciate them in later years.

Craign wrote in post #13523869
#1 Crop tighter and straighten
#4 I don't get this type of photo but there is a lot in this world I don't understand.

Cute kid, nice photos, you will really, really appreciate them in later years.

thanks for the C&C, much appreciated. I didn't realize #1 was a little crooked. The tripod was sitting on gravel...

straightened hows this crop?

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/66230786@N03/6​496209885/

Adam, I think you did a great job! Especially for your first time out with this lens. Nice work!

Bryan

bps wrote in post #13524292
Adam, I think you did a great job! Especially for your first time out with this lens. Nice work!

Bryan

Thanks sooo much, it's a big confidence builder to hear that....

smorter wrote in post #13521237
I think that's really overkill?

f/1.4 is fine for 3 people. Just focus on the person closest to the camera and make sure the others aren't too out of the focal plane.

It's overkill to use f/4.5 - I mean look at these 2 photos below, these are at f/1.2, and have even more than 3 people, so I'm sure if I can get these people in at focus at f/1.2, f/1.4 is no problem.

The focal plane is more forgiving when you are a good distance away from the subject (i.e., using 85mm or more for full-length shots on full frame).

The focal plane is also more forgiving when shooting at wide angles (i.e., 35mm or less on full frame).

So yes, in those instances shooting below f/2 can yield acceptable results. But the initial concern was that the posing might require two rows of people.