Night shots of people

[asavani]

So I was by a bonfire the other day, which was the only source of light around, and tried taking a picture of some people, but because of the minimal light (im assuming) it would not autofocus, so I had to manually focus, but how do i do so if I cant see anything through the viewfinder nor the lcd screen during live view??!!!

I hope im not missing something too obvious?

[ImRaptor]

At times I've used an flash light or similar to throw some extra light to help me get my focus. However, I've never done so with people.
I suspect that if it is so dark that you can't manually focus then it's going to be hard to get good shots of people.

[PhotosGuy]

I suspect that if it is so dark that you can't manually focus then it's going to be hard to get good shots of people. I agree. I've taken time exposures when I couldn't see anything, but don't recommend it with people. To answer the question, a high output light could allow you to see to focus. Some on-camera flashes have an assist for focusing.

[asavani]

thanks a lot for the info...

[RaymondXTi]

Sometimes it's just too dark to get a shot, seems to be the case here.

[LeuceDeuce]

A Speedlight with a focus assist lamp would do the trick.

[Sorarse]

Maybe use flash assist for the camera to autofocus on first shot, then switch off autofocus and flash for remaining shots (without disturbing the focus the camera has already achieved)?

Will only work if you aren't changing subjects though, and/or your subject doesn't move too far.