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Answer:
You're pretty limited with the camera that you have, but I think you just
might be able to pull off this shot.
Make sure the flash is turned and that the camera is set for a night exposure
- not night portrait. What will happen in night portrait mode is that the
shutter will stay open for a couple of seconds and then just as the exposure
is just about finish the flash will go off and illuminate the person that you
are taking a portrait of. This works great when you are outside at night
downtown, or anywhere else where there would be bright lights far off in the
background. The flash in most of the fully automatic cameras will go 10 -15
ft. at most, so downtown this technique will work very well.
If you use the same technique in your house with your son standing next to
the Christmas tree, it won't work because the flash will be as bright on him
as it will be on the Christmas tree. If you are unable to completely turn the
flash off on your camera you won't be able to achieve the look that you want.
If you can turn the flash off, do so and put the camera on the tripod. You
should use 400 ISO speed film, this way the exposure time wouldn't be as long
as a slower speed film (your son won't be a blur in the pictures). Turn on
all the lights in the room (including the Christmas tree) and take the
picture. It is important to get light on your son's face, otherwise he will
just be in the dark. The pictures will have a warm, orange cast to them
because of the incandescent lighting; (the photo lab may correct this if you
ask them to).
Good luck, you might want to try this a couple of times, just to fine tune
how many lights to turn on and their placement in the room.
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