Flash Portraits...

I've got less than a week to get to grips with using a flash for portraits. I've then got to throw in a borrowed lens to the equation sometime through next week.

Guess who my test subjects are?

Started getting more even results but I suspect the height of ceilings at the venue next week may make conditions slightly different.

Best tip I've given myself (and need to keep remembering) so far is to get the camera off the aperture priority mode and onto manual to bang up the shutter speeds.

Any other tips on that and family portraits/photos in general would be very welcome.