Tips for outdoor group shots today, please!

[Fastchas]

Help me please?
I've been asked to do some photos of our Senior Management Team (around 10-12 people)on an away day today. Someone's got it in their head that I'm the man to do it after seeing a couple of fluke-ish shots I've done. Don't really want to turn it down as I'm new here!
Considering the fine weather and strong sunlight today, what would be the best set up for the shots;
Sun behind the group? Sun behind me (I understand this causes squinting so a no-no)?
Low or high aperture settings? Tripod with relatively slow shutter?
Or just stick it on Auto?
In my armoury I have a Tamron 18-200mm, a canon 50mm F/1.8 and a canon 28-80mm. Would the 28-80 be the best or would you use the prime at around f/8?
Sorry, but I'm still a bit Noddy at all this!

Thanks for any tips!

Edited by Fastchas on Tuesday 30th June 09:38

Edited by Fastchas on Tuesday 30th June 09:48

[Simpo Two]

Get them into some shade with a pleasant but not overpowering background (bushes are good) and use fill flash. If the group is more than one row deep remember DOF. Avoid using too much wide angle because people at the ends will be distorted. Take 3-4 photos - after each one check the histogram to make sure your exposure is good. Shoot RAW if you know how to process it.

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

Sound advice from Simpo above.

There is an alternative approach - stand them with their backs to the sun and expose for the faces. You need to be very careful to shade the lens properly from the sun, but for the shot below it worked well. I don't imagine your group will be wearing hi-viz, but if they are it doesn't play well with flash.

If you have a tripod, use it to keep the camera still so you can combine heads from several captures if required. That way you can make sure everyone is smiling, and hopefully the joins won't show:

[Fastchas]

Thanks for the responses.
What is 'fill flash'?
I'm using a Canon 20d, is it using the onboard flash? (I dont have a mounted). Can I use it with exposure lock?

Edited by Fastchas on Tuesday 30th June 10:20

Edited by Fastchas on Tuesday 30th June 10:20

[Simpo Two]

S.Gonzales has a workable alternative - but you have to know how to control exposure and/or flash or you'll get silhouettes. Ultimately it depends on where you are; you have to make the choice based on the possibilities.

Fill flash is when part of the exposure is made by ambient (natural) light and part by flash. Ambient light is the same regardless of distance whereas flash falls off rapidly with distance, so yo uneed to juggle the two. Your camera/flash combo may have a setting that does this. Built-in flashes will probably support this function but may not be powerful enough to make a difference, especially if it's a bright day or the distance is too far. But it's worth trying it if only for a sparkle in the eye. I can only speak generally as no idea about the Canon 20D, sorry.

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

If you can, grab a helpful individual and get set up before bringing the whole group in.

Use them to gauge the size of the shot, then put the camera on a tripod, set it to manual and do a series of test shots to get the settings right. FWIW the one above was 35mm-ish, 1/200th at f/8 and ISO 160.

The more variables you can tie down before you have everyone there the better - when it comes to it, you'll have enough to do to make sure they're all looking tidy, not hiding behind each other and not blinking at the wrong moment. You'll need a joke or two as well...