quick question on f-stop and focus

[GURCH]

hey people i have recently moved into the world of using manual mode on my canon 600d and was a bit baffled as to which f-stop i should look at when shooting groups of people and where to focus

 

[smudgie49]

This will depend on how deep the group is (front to back) and assuming you want all of them in focus then the three main factors will be your aperture, focal length and the distance between you and the group. A DOF calculator will help you work out what your aperture should be if you know your focal length and distance to subject (and sensor size). Try http://www.dofmaster.com

 

[Phil V]

The question is one of Depth of Field so:
What focal length
How far away is the group
How deep is the group.


oops - we were obviously typing at the same time