portrait + fireplace

[Oz_Beachside]

I have been asked to do a set of baby and group portraits for a family.

One of the locations in their home is a white lounge, with LOTS of windows, which is great. In addition, there is a fireplace, which would make for a good set.

I dont think I have EVER taken a photo of fire, and wandering if anyone can share some tips?

THe members of te family are of course the subject, but wanted to know if there are any traps for young players particularly if I introduce a mix of flash and ambient.

I dont have a fireplace to practice on, so wondering if anyone has some tips (obviously and exposure settings need to line up within the ranges for family portraits of 4-6 people, lots of ambient light, potentially 30% flash).

[Killakoala]

I guess no one can help

However i figure that's because no one has experienced this scenario before. I would reckon though that if a fire is being used in your setting, that a warm effect would be a nice compliment to the fire so perhaps aim to create a nice warm ambience with a slight warm white balance to offset the natural blue light coming through the windows.

You might have to play this one by ear when you get to the site.

[Matt. K]

I presume the fire will be burning? If that's the case try and shoot from a tripod at around 1/60 F4 or so using flash bounced off the ceiling if possible. The camera settings should capture the ambiance of the fire. You may have to shoot at 200 or 400 ISO but that's fine.

[Oz_Beachside]

I presume the fire will be burning?

umm... does fire do anything else?

thanks for your input Matt, much appreciated!

[Matt. K]