question about light

[readysetgocapture]

hi, i have a question, i seem to almost always get a dark photo but if i use my off camera flash (430exII) to get more light i get a black background, how do i prevent this?

[mike_d]

Dark photo means it's underexposed. You need to do one or more of the following: Raise your ISO, open your aperture up, slow down your shutter. Say you need ISO 800, f/2.8, and 1/30' to properly expose the scene without a flash. If you then turn your flash on and let it expose the subject automatically, the burst of light will stop the action (if the subject is moving) and largely cancel out any camera shake or subject motion blur caused by the slowish 1/30' shutter. Go google something called "dragging the shutter". It's a technique for keeping your background from being too dark while you light your subject with a flash.

[FlyingPhotog]

Take a little time out and Read (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=171657)

This will take a lot of the mystery out of flash use.

[readysetgocapture]

Thankyou both :)
oh and im just about to check out the link on flash use, thankyou:)
from casey.