(© Bonnie Schiedel. Originally published in Cottage Life, July 2007). 


Loved ones gathered around a campfire is one of the most evocative cottage scenes and one of the toughest to catch on film. The low light means that, all too often, you end up with a picture that’s blurry, dark, or just plain disappointing. We talked to two experts – long-time Cottage Life photographer Paul Orenstein, and Gary Davidson, art director at the outdoor adventure magazine explore – to get the scoop on how to take great campfire pictures.
“The tough part is getting the fire and the faces in the same shot. You have to turn off the flash,” says Orenstein. “Otherwise, it overpowers the light from the fire.” Instead, set the exposure time manually. Experiment with the length of time; with the camera shutter open longer, you can capture as much light as possible. To prevent blurry pictures, the camera needs to be very still. Ideally, you should use a tripod, but setting the camera on a railing or stump is a good second choice. Try using the timer to get the shot, because even pushing the button can wiggle your camera slightly at the crucial moment. If you have to hold the camera, minimize movement by leaning against something steady, such as a tree, holding your breath, and bracing your elbows at your sides, advises Davidson.
Some cameras have a “slow synch flash” feature, which means that the shutter speed is slow and the flash goes off at the beginning or the end of the open shutter time, allowing you to get a sharper image while capturing ambient light from the foreground and background. Using “rear curtain synch,” the camera will fire the flash just before the shutter closes, so you can freeze the focal point of a motion shot, such as the frantic waving of a flaming marshmallow. “Front curtain synch” means the flash will go off at the beginning of the exposure, so you get some ambient light. 
Another trick is to crank up the ISO setting, which determines how sensitive the camera is to light, though you lose detail the higher you go. If you use a film camera, instead of the usual 100 or 200, load it with 400 to 800 ISO film. Set your digital camera to 800 or even 1600 ISO, if your camera is capable of that. “With film, the tradeoff is that the photo will be grainy,” notes Davidson, though this may be the effect you’re looking for. “As you increase the ISO on a digital camera, it doesn’t record all the information it’s capable of, so you get an overall image but one that’s noisier or grainier than it could be. Choose the lowest ISO you can get away with.”
“If you want to get the fire and the sky in the shot, the best time to shoot is when you think it’s too dark for photography, but before it’s completely dark,” says Orenstein. A bigger fire will obviously give you more light. The western sky is brighter, but shooting in that direction might not get that beautiful deep-blue sky colour; the shot you’re looking for may be something in-between the bright sunset in the west and the already dark eastern sky. Light-coloured sand or snow is often a good background, especially when shooting faces, because it bounces light back. 
As for your subjects, get down low to take pictures as people tend to look down into the fire. The fire itself doesn’t necessarily have to be in the shot; you could, say, capture the warm glow on people’s faces, or hands wrapped around hot chocolate mugs. You can also snap from a distance to emphasize the cozy feeling of figures huddled against the darkness. And the number one rule: Don’t be afraid to take lots and lots of pictures – it’s your best chance of landing a campfire shot that’s just as good as your memories.