[inkista]

Originally Posted by thebubblybeginner

As far as a homemade one I'm kinda concerned that it might not look very professional.... have you had any problem with this or do people pretty much just ignore it?

I'm a hobbyist and a geek. I honestly don't care if I look professional or not. If that's your concern, then skip the DIY route. Personally, what I've found is that as soon as you're pointing a dSLR with a speedlight on it at someone, you're already pretty intimidating to the average subject who isn't used to being photographed.

Also, I forgot to ask in my original post about what type of flash people are using/prefer.... I am using my old Vivitar (told you I'm new) from my old film camera. I didn't even know that flashes now move around, lol! That's soooo cool!

Ummmm.... did you check that the trigger voltage on your old Vivitar won't fry your camera's hotshoe? It's not likely that it will, but it's good to check. Don't be alarmed at what that webpage reads. The 6V limit was only for the first generation of dSLRs. All the current Canon models (according to Chuck Westfall) and Nikon dSLRs (according to their manuals) have a trigger voltage limit of 250V.

I'm using an ST-E2, 580EX, 430EX, and SB-26. I use the ST-E2 for off-camera triggering. I use the 580EX mainly for on-camera work (the 360° swivel, extra power, and eTTL makes it my bounce flash), and as my key light for off-camera. I tend to use the 430EX as my fill light for off-camera. The SB-26 gets put into use as a hair or accent light.

Originally Posted by ddr

hey inkista u seem to know quite about about flash photography.

Be warned. Most of my knowledge is theoretical from reading too many lighting blogs.

any tips on gels for my 430EXII?

Try to make sure there's some separation between the gel and the flash head. It is easy to melt a gel or to fuse it to the flash head from the heat of repeated bursts. And the Strobist pack from Rosco seems like a good way to start, now that the free sampler packs are a thing of the past.