Flash tutorial or tips?

[alissasanderson]

Today UPS finally brought my long-awaited flash unit--a Canon Speedlite 430 EX. Yay! Since I ordered it I've had all these visions in my head of perfectly lit portraits and the best shots of my kids ever. All I'd have to do would be pop the thing on the camera and go to town!

Um, not so much.

Yes, I've read the manual. I spend awhile messing around with it this evening, trying different bounce directions and such. I did get some good shots, but it was hit or miss.

I realize it will take practice more than anything, but does anyone have any good basic tips or tricks to share? Is using it one way generally better than using it another? I know it must be possible to produce nice, evenly-lit-but-not-blown-out shots, because I've seen them.

Oh, and it's way heavier than I expected!:rolleyes:

[smc1377]

You know, the best luck I've had is when I used a home-made bounce card. I actually learned how to do this from a thread on this site.

http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55

I've found that turning the flash away from the subject and using the light that passes thru the piece of paper actually produced the best lighting when the subject isn't too far away.

But as far as tutorials, I'd be interested in seeing them as well if someone knew of some.

[Nicole]

Have you tried Strobist (http://strobist.blogspot.com/)? There's heaps of tips and how-to's in their Lighting 101 section (http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html). Sorry, don't have any tips of my own... I don't have a speedlight :p