used my 430EX for the first time

I took some shots at friends wedding, the outdoor pics came out awesome, but the indoor ones look eh.....

I used a 430EX speedlight on my 40d. Since this was the first time I used it I shot in full auto. Room was pretty dark,and ceiling was VERY high and was dark brown I pointed the flash directly at the subjects for all the pics. Here are a few, any tips so next time they come out better? They look a bit dark and underexposed to me.

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Underexposed?
Pics 4 & 5 have highlights that look overexposed on my LCD (non calibrated). Either way I would use FEC to increase / decrease.
I cant see any EXIF data, but i guess you could alwas drop the shutter to allow for more ambient in the scene as well - Pic 2 & 3.

Don't do direct flash. Even if the ceiling is high, you can still bounce although you might need to crank the ISO/open up the aperture a bit. Joe Demb's "flip-it" helps alot when you have high ceilings as it allows you to direct some of the light forward.

Don't be afraid to use high ISOs. I've used ISO1000 w/ bounced flash and an f/2.8 lens and got good results.

Thanks for your comments, I think I also need to go to a faster shutter, auto mode kept it around 1/50 - 1/60 which didn't freeze the action during the dances,etc. Next time I will go 1/100 - 1/250, increase the iso and try to bounce it.

I suggest learning to shoot in manual mode (on the camera) with flash. This way, you can use the shutter speed to control the ambient exposure and motion...and the flash will match it's output to the aperture being used (with E-TTL).

Either way, you may still need to adjust FEC on the go. Don't be afraid to change it up or down to suit your needs.

Thanks for the tips, I have another wedding I will be attending next weekend, I will give it another shot. Hopefully my difuser comes in time.