Photographing my family. Advice pls

[Raptor Mike]

I know next to nothing about portrait photography but I'd really like to get some nice family shots. I have a canon 60D, tamron 17-50, 430exII flash and a difuser cap, and 2 tripods. My tamron will go down to f2.8 but what is the best apature to use for my 3 kids, wife and even myself pls.

Many thanks, Mike

 

[dean messenger]

i would suggest to give nice sharp focus across all in the frame to step down to 5.6 . shooting at 2.8 all members would have to be on the same focal plane ( not easy to achieve )
this should give enough DOF while retaining some nice background Bokeh.
of course it depends too on where you plan to shoot indoors against a backdrop or outside in natural light ( though that shouldnt make to much difference on the actual focusing side of things )

 

[Raptor Mike]

i would suggest to give nice sharp focus across all in the frame to step down to 5.6 . shooting at 2.8 all members would have to be on the same focal plane ( not easy to achieve )
this should give enough DOF while retaining some nice background Bokeh.
of course it depends too on where you plan to shoot indoors against a backdrop or outside in natural light ( though that shouldnt make to much difference on the actual focusing side of things )

That's great, thanks for that

 

[DG Phototraining]

An easy way to get more focused (see what I did there ) advice...

Google for images you'd like to take, family poses etc. then post a link to a couple and ask on TP how they are likely to have been done

To shoot a group your 17-50 will be fine, but try to use it at the 50mm end if there's space as its more flattering - other than that, do what Dean said

Dave

 

[minnnt]

I recently did this and used my 35 f1.8 and it worked a treat. I took them outside and used a reflector to bounce some light into the shadows of their faces. I also have the 17-50 but never bothered with it.