How can I get faster shutter speeds with flash?

Curtis N wrote in post #2021969
... Edit: Oops, forgot the 430EX doesn't have a distance scale.

The 430EX does indeed provide distance info on the back LCD.

johnelser wrote in post #2023074
Better than buying 10 books, plus a person can get instant answers to their questions.

I guess it's "M" from here on out. Good bye "P" forever!

While this forum is nice indeed, I wouldn't recommend you ignoring books.

I'd have to disagree there. You can set M to underexpose ambient by a stop and the flash to underexpose by a stop and end up with a balanced picture in the end.

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #2023106
You can set M to underexpose ambient by a stop and the flash to underexpose by a stop and end up with a balanced picture in the end.

Sure, you can. And you can end up with a blue subject and a yellow background. Or not. Mixing light sources can produce awesome images when done right, but it's complicated.

So the EASIEST way for a flash novice to learn effective use of flash indoors is with camera settings that make the ambient contribution to the image negligible. Flash sync shutter speed and moderate apertures at ISO 400 or less will usually get this done.

And after a person has figured out how to use flash with reasonable consistency, then he/she can introduce ambient into the equation.

One step at a time.

Curtis N wrote in post #2023161
Sure, you can. And you can end up with a blue subject and a yellow background. Or not. Mixing light sources can produce awesome images when done right, but it's complicated.

Does the OP know how to use M without flash in the first place? It shouldn't take a "minute to set up"

I'd say - learn to expose propery first. Get a good grip in the M without flash, and then start playing around with flash.