Settings for a Nikon D90 at a party?

I'm not a professional photographer, but hope to be one day. I have a D90 that I'm still learning with. A friend wants me to take photos at her birthday party. She knows that I'm not a professional and I'm not being paid.So, please don't post about how she should hire a real photographer.

The party is in a low lighted cabin next to a lake in the middle of the day. We will be both inside and outside.

I'm using the 18-105mm 1:3.5-5.6G lens that came with my camera. Could anyone recommend settings for the best photos? I'll be doing portraits, group shots and random party shots.

1) Use Flash for most
2) Use ISO around 1000. Don't go beyond 1000 as noise will come
3) f/3.5 to 5.6 depending on what 'mm' u'r shooting… 18-105mm
4) Shutter speed around 1/40~1/90 at ISO 200~500 with flash
5) Shutter speed around 1/80 for ISO around 1000 at aperture the lowest its goin
6) For group pics aperture around f/9~f/11 but shutter speed around 1/10~1/20 depending on ISO 200~1000

keep shooting. There's no 'fixed' setting like a 35mm or 50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4.in these cases you just set at aperture priority and be happy, the camera will work for you…

There isn't an all powerful setting…

it will depend on many things…
1) the ambient light level
2) your photography knowledge/skills
3) what your friends wants you to shoot
4) where you'll be (the venue)

you might need to pump the ISO to about 800+… If the venue allows flash photography, get yourself a flash and a diffuser for it…

I hate to vehemently disagree with the others, but I actually own a D90. Set it to "A" for aperture priority, then set it to the widest aperture (f/3.5-5.6). Next, set the ISO to 100.

Indoors, use the pop-up flash. Because you are using ISO 100 with the flash, the pictures will be crisp. If you use a faster ISO with flash, you will just get a noisier picture, not a better one.

For random party shots without flash, you might jack up the ISO to HI-1. However, keep the aperture wide open because you'll need every scrap of ambient light. You will probably find that indoor lighting really isn't good enough for a f/3.5 lens.

Outdoors, use natural light. If you wish, you can still use the flash to fill in the shadows if it's a really bright day.

What I'd do, flash with omnibounce, 45 degree up on the flash, iso 1000, Aperture priority and wide open aperture.

I recommend going to pick up a 50mm f/1.8D or (preferably) a 35mm f/1.8 DX. Every aspiring professional needs one. It will cost 100-200 dollars but will be extremely worth it as they can take in 10x more light than an f/5.6 lens. They do a much better job of getting rid of distracting backgrounds indoors.

Look at it this way, shooting an 18-105 at 50mm will limit your aperture to f/4 or f/4.5. Since the fixed focal length 50mm or 35mm allow for f/1.8, that's two and a half stops faster. That means that an image that would be exposed at 1/60th of a second on the 50mm would only be exposed at 1/15th of a second or lower on the 18-105mm.

Well it depends on the light wherever you are, indoor or outdoor. But i'll tell you how to start:

1) turn the dial on your camera to A
2) set the ISO on 1000 (if it doesn't have 1000, put it on 800 or 1600)
3) turn the rotating dial (not the one that has A and T and M on it, there must be another one) and put on on the smallest f/# you can get for example f/3.5. If you zoom out, it will change to 5.6 (that's what 1:3.5-5.6 mean)
4) while you are there, take some sample shots and see what you need to change.
5) use flash