Flash or no Flash?

Hi all, I need some tips. I have been asked to take photos for the High School Baseball teams parent night. Each player will be called out one at a time with their parents. I will be taking their picture on the baseball mound. I have no idea if the sun will be out or not, we have had real cloudy days. I need to know what the best aperature setting is and if I should use flash. I don't use my flash much outdoors so any tips on how to set up flash and camera would be great! Oh and this takes place this evening....lol. Talk about short notice

Thank you so much in advance!

There may be a lot of variables here. Will the field lights be on? Which direction is sunlight coming from? How close can you get to the subjects?

You don't mention what equipment you'll be using so it's difficult to make a specific recommendation, but you'll have to adjust your camera/flash to the light conditions durring the ceremony.

Assuming that these pictures will be posted somewhere, you'll probably want to set your camera to manual mode for consistent exposure. Post your equipment and we can make more specific recommendations.

My best advice is to go out to the field at the same time of day that the ceremony willbe held and test out different setups. Bring along some willing stand-in "models."

Yes! Flash.
If you don't have off cameras flash then use a speedlite if you have it. I assume you will be able to get fairly close to the subjects as they have asked you to shoot it. Read the stickie on flash photography in the flash section of this forum. It is well written and should be a great help. As you will be outside, forget about bouncing your flash (nothing to bounce off of). If you can, take a friend to the field ahead of time at the same time of day you are supposed to shoot and practice. Take a notebook so you can track what you did on every shot. This should help you discover the best settings to use. Shoot RAW and you will have the greatest possible ability to work with your images after the fact.
Good luck! If you do your homework you will do well!
One last thing....take at least two shots of each group. Have them close their eyes and open them on the the count of three. Give them a second and hit the shutter. This is how you get everyone with their eyes open at the same time.

The thing I struggle with is getting the proper DOF when taking a group shot. I typically use just single point AF (Center point) - but more often than not, I get like 3-4 people in focus around that center point. Any recommendations on a proper Aperture to assure that everyone is in Focus when taking a photo of say 10-15 people and using a FLASH?

f8
Also use as wide a lens as you can without getting a lot of distortion.

thank you so much for the tips. I have been at work all day, so don't have much time to go practice. This is going to take place in 2hrs. It is very over cast so I am assuming I won't need a flash. Yes/No?...lol. I have listed my equipment. Thanks again.

Take the flash along, mount it to the camera, and flip the power switch to "off" if you don't need it.

You may want to take a step ladder if their on the baseball mound otherwise all the pictures will have them looking down at you.

TAKE THE FLASH ALONG!
Yeah I'm yelling!
I would use mine as a matter of course for the type of shoot you are doing. It will also help you to avoid motion blur.

Thanks for all the tips. Shoot went well. Nothing better than an over cast day.