Night time portraits

Thanks to you guys, I think Ive got a pretty good handle on daytime photography. What about nighttime photography/portraits. How do I keep them from looking like this

Especially with the Christmas lights

Thanks for any tips!
Katie

 

There are some good examples in this thread. Craig talked about using the "night portrait" mode on his D80, which caused the flash to fire off at the start of the exposure which illuminates the people in the picture and then the shutter stays open for a while to allow the background to show up in the photo. If your camera doesn't have that mode, you can do the same thing manually. In very dark situations like the Osborne Lights, you'll probably need a slower shutter speed which will require the people in the picture to hold very still and also may require the camera to be on a tripod.

 

Use the night setting with the flash. As long as you all and the camera don't move while the shutter is open you should all come out lit with a bit a detail in the back. The dual exposure makes the final product unpredictable. Play with your camera and flash in night and manual mode. This one came out a little weird but it's better than coming out with nothing.

 

Can it be up in oh say the next 9 or 10 days? That or Im asking you about 2 weeks from Thursday!