First "family portrait" experience with a twist...

Hello all,

I'm in need of some advice regarding a mini photo shoot I've volunteered to do for my best friend and his family.

He's shipping out overseas in a month or so, and his wife wants a nice family portrait done (along with a few more good shots of him and the kids). We are all going to be camping together in two weeks at Letchworth State Park (quite a scenic park here in New York), and I thought it would be a great opportunity to do the portrait(s) "on location" with the dramatic leaves changing and gorges etc...

I guess I'm looking for some pointers on how to accomplish this with the equipment I have.

A good aperture to shoot at? With such beautiful scenery, it'd be a shame to totally blur it out, but at the same time I don't want it to overwhelm the picture.

Focal length? I've got my 85 f/1.8, 30 f/1.4, and an 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 IS to use. I know that too wide of a focal length can distort people etc...but do you consider 30mm too wide (on a crop sensor) for a family portrait?

I also have a tripod and a dedicated flash at my disposal.

Any help you can offer is hugely appreciated.

Outdoors you can easily use 85mm as space shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks for the response bobby.

Anyone else got ANY tips for shooting families outdoors with nice scenery?

You are going to get some great shots! The scenery is going to be beautiful. The tree next to the Inn usually has some great color this time of year. If I were you I'd start with a tripod and the 85 with the whole family in few posed shots, then get the 18-55 out for candids and just walk around the park.

i'd def use the 85 with the tripod.
i'd say look for a clean background, think about composition. look for a place with nice even lighting and use flash if needed for fill

aperture wise, just make sure u use a small enough aperture to get everyone in focus. distance from subject to background will affect subject isolation a ton

if you decide to use the 85, and I would, spend some time with a dof calculator. You can plug in some basic subject to lens info and then play with the DOF as you change the aperture number. Keep in mind you need some depth to keep a family group sharp. Just google DOF calculator, there are many to choose from.

I used our 30mm at weddings for portraits all the time, not to wide at all.

Well, let me preempt it by saying it was a learning experience. First mistake: Thinking I could conduct some nice family portraits in a state park on the busiest weekend of the year in the most scenic places in the park. Many of the pictures were kind of rushed and therefore are kind of lacking.

Here are a few that turned out okay:
1.)