Practicing with the 430EX, thoughts?

[HaroldC3]

I decided to practice on one of my daughters dolls, just playing with different settings and see how they affect the picture. Light coming from a window on the right side of the doll.

I think I finally figured out what worked for this situation.

First one I had the camera mounted vertical on a tripod with the flash on the hotshoe (I don't have a flash bracket yet). I aimed the flash straight up to the ceiling and used a homemade bouncer. ISO400, 1/50s, f1.8 ( using my 50mm f1.8 ). I used ETTL on the flash at 24mm.

http://mysite.verizon.net/hcarlson3/doll2-50mm.jpg

Same thing here but in a horizontal position.

http://mysite.verizon.net/hcarlson3/doll3-50mm.jpg

What do you guys think? Do they look okay to you?

Is there a way I could have used an ISO lower than 400?

[///M3Matt]

The second one is better....more skin tones on the face. I also just picked up a 430ex & am loving it. Opens up a whole new avenue :)

[Curtis N]

Is there a way I could have used an ISO lower than 400?Sure. ISO 200 at 1/25 shutter speed, or ISO 100 at 1/12. Since your lens is wide open, slowing down the shutter is the only way to keep the ambient exposure at lower ISO settings. And I'm sure you realize that speeds slower than 1/50 are not a good recipe for handheld shots.

I think you did a good job balancing ambient and bounced flash here.