Group Photo - Aperture choices

[CtrlAltDel]

Last year I did my first Little League series team photos. It went very well. I am reviewing what worked and what didnt work, before I do this years shoot. Last year, I used a 50mm @ 1.8 for the individual shots and really liked them. The face was in focus and the background had the bokeh I wanted.

Now the team pics. While they turned out well, I shot them in F4 (50mm) because I was worried one of the kids wouldnt come out as in focus as the rest of the team. This caused the background to show everything from a passing car to the neighbors houses.

I have upgraded to a 24-70L and will be using my Canon T2i until my 7D comes in. What I would "like" to do, is shoot at 2.8 and have the entire team in focus. I know there are many variables to this but is there a general rule of thumb used in group shots, where you want the background blurred but you want everyone in focus.

[camera shy]

Originally Posted by CtrlAltDel

Last year I did my first Little League series team photos. It went very well. I am reviewing what worked and what didnt work, before I do this years shoot. Last year, I used a 50mm @ 1.8 for the individual shots and really liked them. The face was in focus and the background had the bokeh I wanted.

Now the team pics. While they turned out well, I shot them in F4 (50mm) because I was worried one of the kids wouldnt come out as in focus as the rest of the team. This caused the background to show everything from a passing car to the neighbors houses.

I have upgraded to a 24-70L and will be using my Canon T2i until my 7D comes in. What I would "like" to do, is shoot at 2.8 and have the entire team in focus. I know there are many variables to this but is there a general rule of thumb used in group shots, where you want the background blurred but you want everyone in focus.

Online Depth of Field Calculator

[CtrlAltDel]

Originally Posted by camera shy

Online Depth of Field Calculator

Thank you. I have read this before and had a difficult time understanding it, but reading it again just now made more sense.

EDIT: Still have questions. When I use F4, it says that the far limit of acceptable sharpness is 11 feet. How do I determine the amount of bokeh? This site really helps me on realizing that at 10 ft away, with a 50mm set at 2.8, I only have a 1.29ft window for two rows of kids to fit in. So I dont think I can use the 2.8 setting. But I dont want to have to manually blur every team photo I do, to create a pseudo blur of the background. Am I just wishful thinking?

[pbyd]

Wayne
I have found over many years of making a living as a photographer that the client could care less about anything like "bokeh" out of focus is out of focus. My clients want to see their or their children’s faces, that is what will make money. I have found working photographers (people that earn their full time living from photography) and clients could care less about “bokeh”.
Just saying,
Wayne
Photography by Design

[CtrlAltDel]

Thank you very much! I will do just that!

[venchka]

This is exactly the type of situation that the DOF program on the EOS film bodies handled so well. Pick two points and the lens focused between them to make both points in focus. Digital dropped that in favor a bushel of useless "features."
You can do the same manually with a bit of practice before the shoot. Get two kids if you have them. Anything about the same size and shape will do. Approximate the group arrangement. Test. Get it right. Make a diagram to help you remember the focus point, camera location, team location, etc. Mark the focus distance on the lens.
Set the team up against a plain background. Don't shoot in the direction of a street, parking lot, etc.
Personally, I would try to make the set up work at f/5.6 or f/8. Your camera does have depth of field preview, right?

Here you go..........

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q...w=1908&bih=867

[CtrlAltDel]

Originally Posted by venchka

This is exactly the type of situation that the DOF program on the EOS film bodies handled so well. Pick two points and the lens focused between them to make both points in focus. Digital dropped that in favor a bushel of useless "features."
You can do the same manually with a bit of practice before the shoot. Get two kids if you have them. Anything about the same size and shape will do. Approximate the group arrangement. Test. Get it right. Make a diagram to help you remember the focus point, camera location, team location, etc. Mark the focus distance on the lens.
Set the team up against a plain background. Don't shoot in the direction of a street, parking lot, etc.
Personally, I would try to make the set up work at f/5.6 or f/8. Your camera does have depth of field preview, right?

Here you go..........

little league team photos - Google Search

Thank you! I will try this!

[humminboid]

F/8 and BE there! The closer you get, the less DOF you got!

Bokeh (Sounds like a cat hacking up a hairball!) is a fairly new term, probably coming from small groups of New York or California photogs, who aspire to be "artistes", or, worse yet, "intellectuals".

The meaning is clear. It was known in the stone ages as "out-of-focus background", which of late has caused much interesting discussion, some learned, but mostly otherwise, and is just one other thing that by itself has little or nothing to do with excellent photography.

Folks would do better by learning to use their equipment, improving their photo skills to achieve the effects they want, i.e., creating good bokeh rather than pining over what they ain't got!

When working fror a large daily newspaper, I did yearly team photos, using a 50mm f/2 on my screw-mount Pentax. Artsy-fartsy? Background out of focus? With Tri-X 400, 1/500 as top shutter speed, and outdoor photos? No way!

Could I have used better equipment? O Yes.
Did I need it? Maybe, but with a wife and two little ones, couldn't afford it. so, I made do with the camera, a $10 electronic flash, a 105mm tele, an old Sekonic light meter, and did just fine.

All my editor and the members of the team wanted was; FIRST, their names be spelled correctly, and second, that they be recognizable in the photo.

Now, despite all the new-fangled terminology... "capture", megaframmises, gigabarfs, HDR, bo(hack)keh, it all boils down to: Knowledge of the relationship between f/stop, shutter speed and film speed (ISO, ASA, DIN, Sensitivity) and your equipment.
Small need to throw money at a problem....learn the capabilities of what you have. Don't try to substitute technology for experience.

SUBJECT...first, last, and always! Everything else is of lesser importance. Eyes in focus, if it is head and shoulders.

[CtrlAltDel]

Thank you all VERY much. I read each and every post and took them ALL into consideration. I shot 3 teams last Saturday. Below is an example. The feedback from the parents has been good so far.

[venchka]

Looks good.
Nit picks:
Move "Mason" up off the edge of the team photo. Align the top of Mason with the edge of the team photo.
Next time maybe you can avoid the yellow fence line going through their heads.