First pictures with flash

My new Yongnuo YN-500EX came in today and I've never used flash before. This is on the camera and this is basically one of the first shots. I bounced it off my 9' white ceiling.

Shot at f/2.2 1/180th and 400 ISO on my 50L

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/o6WT​ub

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/o6VL​TE

try mixing ambient with flash. what you have shown with the two photos is that all the light is coming from one spot. bouncing is great, but one source of light is still one source of light, it will always be a bit harsh.

once you can achieve a balance between the two, use a different angle/positioning with the flash to put that light where you want it. Then it will become a way of modeling the face rather than a blast of light that makes flat light on the subject.

I was trying to practice with on-camera flash as I will be shooting a wedding (not paid, nor in a professional manner; more for practice) this upcoming Friday and this is the only flash I will be using if I need to.

So I should bump up my ISO and lower the flash power to achieve a better light for my example?

hang your cross wrote in post #16995292
So I should bump up my ISO and lower the flash power to achieve a better light for my example?

Exactly. OR dropping the shutter speed (if possible) would add to the ambient exposure as well (the flash happens so quickly that shutter speed doesn't affect how much light from the flash gets into the shot).

Something else you can experiment with while bouncing flash is putting a white index card (or whatever) behind the flash so that a portion of the light is thrown forward as fill. You can simply hold it in place on the flash with a rubber band, lower it to have less light thrown forward, raise it for more.

Also, here's a great source for learning about lighting:

http://strobist.blogsp​ot.com/2006/03/lightin​g-101.html

You don't need to lower your flash power. Bump your ISO up and bring your shutter speed down. This will close down the difference between the available light and the light your flash needs to produce to fulfill your exposure settings. You will need to ride your FEC setting up and down, depending upon the situation.

hang your cross wrote in post #16995292
I was trying to practice with on-camera flash as I will be shooting a wedding (not paid, nor in a professional manner; more for practice) this upcoming Friday and this is the only flash I will be using if I need to.

So I should bump up my ISO and lower the flash power to achieve a better light for my example?

hopefully you will have a bit more light at the wedding, but yeah with the 6D you can easily go ISO 1600 if needed.

heathermc72 wrote in post #16995599
You don't need to lower your flash power. Bump your ISO up and bring your shutter speed down. This will close down the difference between the available light and the light your flash needs to produce to fulfill your exposure settings. You will need to ride your FEC setting up and down, depending upon the situation.

Huh???

The first photo posted is properly exposed using just light from the flash. If the flash power stays the same AND the ISO is increased that shot will be overexposed.

@groundloop: I presumed that the OP was shooting in TTL mode, not using it in manual. If he is adjusting the flash manually, then yes, you are exactly right and what I suggested would cause him to overexpose.