The slave unit you showed will trigger the flash with the pop up flash as long as you have line of site. It will not however communicate with the camera so you'll have to shoot in manual.
Love this shot. I'd definitely hang it on my wall.
Great shots. I love saturated colors. Maybe it's my monitor but the whites look perfect to me.
Imaginist,
I think you win!.
There's something to be said about being in the right place at the right time but, I've got to give you credit; You nailed it!!!.
Great work
Really cool stuff and I'll give you extra points for being brave enough to live in Alaska.
24-70 mm 2.8 will probably fulfill most of your needs. In a perfect world you should use a perspective control lens to photograph buildings but if you're shooting typical one family homes it shouldn't be much of an issue.
Whatever floats your boat. Me, I'm a digital convert after spending years shooting film. Can't wait to get the new D800 with a 36 megapixel sensor it has a digital negative that is 20x30 inches. On your side of the street, I still think black and white is better in film, but that's just one man's opinon.
Having him in the shade was a good start. Try using a reflector to lighten up the shadows and draw attention to his face. Then you might try a larger aperture to throw the background out of focus.
If you're shooting children, I'd opt for the strobe light. I love continuous because it makes it easier to see what the lights are doing but kids need the flash to stop their movement. In my experience they are always moving.
The only advice I can give you is an 85 mm 1.4, High ISO and prayer.
And that in a nutshell is why Unions exist.
Actually, I don't like it for portraits. Like a much longer lens because I think people look better with them. I do use my fifty for group shots and for night photography although I don't use it at its maximum arpeture. I use it because I think that it has less issues with flare as it has less elements inside it than a zoom would have.
Check out JoeMcnally.com. He's got a portfolio there with athletes and it's really something to see. Maybe you can ge some ideas there.
Shadows on the wall are pretty easy to avoid by moving the people away from the wall. In candid shots this wouldn't be very helpful but I agree with Jerry; Bounce will help and adding a diffuser to your flash head will soften them.