Using the flash gun

This month our Visions group of photographers and video makers have "musical instrument" as one of the topics for the photographers. I had not used the flash gun on my new Nikon D90 up to today so when I realised I had a musical instrument sitting ignored and silent in the hallway this was the trigger for me to fire the flash! (very "punny"!)
To begin with the camera decided it wasn't going to recognise the flash and my spirits sagged.
I removed the flash and replaced it and set the camera to Aperture priority - on f/5.6
I wanted a fairly shallow depth of field - there is no point having a decent camera if what you take looks like a snapshot from a point and shoot! Unfortunately I am slipping into the DSLR "snobbery" of making my shots look "special"! Well, why not! When you have a good camera , you should try to take good photographs!
The first photograph I took was educational. I knew that the flash needed to be bounced but I did not realise just how the angle of the bounce would make such a huge difference to the lighting. It makes sense of course but this is the first shot. The timber at the far end is over bright and has a cloudy appearance. The position of the camera is not good either - the nearest side of the electric organ is an unsightly blur in the foreground and is very distracting. The blur seems to hold the eye rather than the eye be taken to the sharpest part of the photo.

f/5.6 1/30 sec 52mm ISO 200

The second photo is a lot better both with the bounce of the flash and the angle across the keyboard. The flash was tilted to 90% so that the bounce comes from the ceiling - which is quite a low ceiling at 9'. To get the camera down to the level of the top keyboard I went into "live-view" which then allowed me to see my subject without trying to keep my eye at the viewfinder. The bounced light has definitely improved the colours and the definition of the shot.

f5.6 1/30sec 26mm ISO200

Still not really comfortable with the end result I tried for a shot from the opposite end of the Electric Organ, I think that this one is the one for me! The lounge chairs in the background are a bit of a distraction and with a bit of playing around I could diffuse them so that they were not so obvious - but this little exercise was to show the results of the flash not the results of my Photoshop abilities!

f/5.6 1/30sec 24mm ISO200

By the way, I should point out that the day light had gone and I had to turn on the wall light to enable my camera to have enough light for the focus to work! The alcove where this instrument is positioned is not bright and the wall light gives a soft light so has been completely over-riden by the camera flash.
AJ