First Portrait Session Help.

[Ben]

Hello all, I've had my first camera a 500D just under 2 months now and have taken some ok shots. Now my girlfriend brother has asked me to photograph his 3 children so he can use the pictures as a present for the wife/mum. I would like some help on what I can do with the kit I have. I've got various lenses including a Sigma 70-300, Samyang 8mm and the kit lens, all of those are obviously not very useful but I do have a 50mm 1.8 that could be handy? I have a Jessops 360AFD flashgun but I have no cable or mount to get the flash off camera. So would anybody be so kind to tell me if its worth bothering to take the shots for him with a 50mm and my current flash gun and if so how I'd go about it. Thank you, Ben.

 

[Andy.]

Either the 70-300 or the 50mm would be fine. Using the flash outdoors on a sunny day helps the images really pop too, especially using the sun for rimlight on the hair, with the flash balancing the exposure. Portraits work well when you separate the subject from the background so the longer focal length will help with some bookeh and better perspective, but I dont know what aperture you have to play with on the Sigma.
50mm on an APS-C is also an ideal length, just make sure that the DOF is large enough to keep everybody sharp. You could probably get some fun shots using the 8mm too, but you'll have to frame them right to avoid distorted faces etc.

Outdoors in a park or somewhere on a nice day is probably your best bet.

 

[Ben]

Thanks for the reply Andy, a few people have mentioned outdoors in a park so I'll talk to the the father and see what kind of images he wants.