Baseball team photo

I've been asked to take team and individial pictures for my son's baseball team. Photography is a hobby of mine...I'm not a pro. I have the equipment to get the task accomplished, but lack the technical expertise. I'm looking for advice or tips on a successful group picture (aperture for one). The single shots should be easy enough, but any advice on this topic would be appreciated.

I'll be taking them after school in the later afternoon.

You'll need an aperture small enough to keep everyone in focus as most likely they'll be in rows, probably two deep. I'd try to get at least 5.6 but 8 would be ideal.

I shot a baseball league, team/individuals for a few years and the team photo needs to be sharp. Don't get artsy and try to blur anything.

I have not shot baseball team photos but have swim team. It was a very large group, about 50 kids. I found that my key for a successful shot was first of all to get some elevation, like two or three steps up on a ladder and i shot at f9-11 somewhere in there. Also early mid morning or late evening to avoid the harsh sunlight.

What lenses do you have? Unless you're trying to do something artsy with the background, I would put it on f8 or smaller and be happy. If you have an ultra wide lens, be careful with the edges. For example, if I used my 16-35 lens on my full frame camera and decided to zoom out to 16mm and fill the frame with the group, the players at the end will probably be distorted. If you're shooting a kit 18-55 on a cropped sensor, you may be just fine distortion-wise at any focal length. Might be worth it to line up some family and friends first and practice a few shots before shooting the team.

See if you can get them in some shade. Sun at the back. f8 is plenty IMHO. Line them up close together and in multiple rows like already mentioned, some sitting, some kneeling, some standing etc.

I've taken photos of my son's soccer team for the past three years.

Definitely agree with the steps - I used a small step ladder and was probably up on the third or even the fourth rung. It also makes the kids look up rather than down - I think it looks better. Do not have the sun in their eyes so they are squinting. Also, if the sun is behind you, your shadow might be in the image which you don't want.

I also had the kids in two rows with the ones on the front kneeling and the ones in the back standing so that the players weren't too wide. I also tried to arrange tallest players in the middle to shortest outside. Two years ago, I tried the opposite but that didn't look so good in my opinion. I've even seen photos where the goal-keeper laid down in front, but that is not something I've done.

Most important - have fun with them. If they are relaxed, the smiles will be natural and not forced.

Thanks for the advice given. No thanks to the moderator that moved it to where no one else will respond.

Aperture depends on what lens you use, and distance to subject as well. f8 on 35mm is going to look a lot different than f8 on a 70-200 at 200mm, especially once you factor in distance to subject to fill the frame. Play with this: http://www.dofmaster.c​om/dofjs.html

It should give you an idea of roughly how much DOF you have at a given distance factoring in focal length you think you'll use and aperture. If you have a good idea of how you'll set the kids up, how many there are, and what lenses you're thinking of using you can plan ahead a little and know the smallest aperture you'll want to use to ensure all kids are in focus.

Agree with their backs to the sun, and if you have someone (a mom or dad maybe?) to hold a reflector or two (white, not silver...you want fill, not squinty eyes) you should be fine.

When capturing the fast-moving target(running players, for example), should I use the manual mode or auto focus?