Best settings for night photos?

[Rigby470]

The other night I was camping with some friends. It was nighttime and I wanted to get some shots of people around the camp fire. I really wanted some candids of people illuminated by the glow of the camp fire, no flash. Each time I tried, the shutter was extremely slow, and I would usually move a little causing bluring. What is the best setting for shooting at night with no flash? ( I was using a dRebel XT with a 50mm f/1.4 on automatic mode.)

Also, when I tried to use autofocus, it would fire the flash a couple of times in order to gain enough light to focus. This usually caused the subject(s) to look at me wondering what I was doing, which ruined the shot. I tried using manual focus, but I wear contacts and my night vision is slightly limited. Is there any trick to insuring my shots are in focus in manual mode?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Keith

[fetching]

use a tripod, if you have no tripod, set the camera on something.

i generally use manual or aperture priority doing night pics.

no flash, set the iso and shutter speed based on what you want the moving objects (people) to look like.

i'll post some pics when i get to work. :)