Question about my speedlite?

[NicoleScraps]

I just got it a few weeks ago and haven't really used it much yet. I ordered this book so I am hoping it will help me out.
Anyways, I want to take some pics of my kids in front of our Christmas tree in lower light using the shaped bokeh thingie that I made with craft punches.
I want to try for the look of the person being exposed and the background being darker, with just the actual lights of the tree showing.
So I am thinking that if I point the flash to the right (on camera) and bounce off of something white, and then have a reflector on the left, that (if I have everything set right and all of the angles worked out correctly) this should work for exposing just the subject, not the background. Am I thinking along the right lines or am I totally way off?
I have a nifty fifty, so I can use 1.8 to get some nice bokeh. That is not an issue. I just don't have a clear understanding of bouncing flash yet.
TIA!!!

[oldwolf]

Here's what I would do:

1. Shoot in manual and find out what shutter speed you'll need to expose the background (tree and lights) the way you want it to look. You might as well set your f/stop here as well. Oh, I'd also shoot at ISO 100.
2. Set the kids up a bit away from the tree if possible (about 4-6 ft).
3. Put the speedlight up about 45 degrees to the kids and a little above their head. I'd probably bounce it off something like a big white reflector or an umbrella then feather it onto the kids so the light doesn't hit the tree in the background.
4. Adjust the power of the speedlight and take a picture. I'd probably start out with 1/2 power on manual to see what it does and tweak it from there.

Remember, the shutter speed controls your ambient light and the f/stop controls your flash.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[NicoleScraps]

So you don't think I will need a reflector on the other side?

Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely post them (unless they suck, of course).

[oldwolf]

You could probably use a reflector on the other side but I'd start out with a white reflector and not silver.

[NicoleScraps]

I just ordered a big 40x60 5 in 1 reflector to play with, so I am sure that will work quite well for this. Thanks again!

[oldwolf]

No worries. Good luck.

[autofocus]

All good info from old wolfie above...you can try setting your shutter speed to it's max sync (which I believe is 1/200 on your camera) This will give you a pretty dark ambient and it's what I think you are looking for. Work off of that to set your aperture (all done in manual mode) Bounce your strobe off a wall, ceiling, or reflector...see what works out best. You can leave the flash in TTL, or like noted above set it manually and adjust your output until you get the results you are looking for. Keep us posted