Group Picture tips, please!!!!

[sherpa]

When taking group pics involving multiple rows, how should I take the pics so that everybody is in focus? Everytime I take a pic like that, few of either back or first rows are always little out of focus. Please help me. I have Fuji S5000 if you know any specific setting for that camera.

Thank you.

[slipe]

The smaller the aperture the greater the depth of focus. You could put the camera on a tripod and use slow sync flash with a slow shutter. More practical is to get as much ambient light as possible and set up for a shutter speed that is the reciprocal of the focal length you are using.

If your manual focus gives the focus distance, focus between the first and second row giving a slight edge to the front. The camera is probably focusing on the faces in the first row.

With the little sensors in prosumer cameras I’ve never had problems with getting everything in focus for something like a group shot. My depth of focus problems are in not being able to blur the background when I want. Manual focus alone might give decent shots.