GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

You'd have to close the lens down to compensate for the slower shutter setting giving you more depth of field.
My example has us at ISO 100 which is rock bottom on some cameras.
You could use an ND filter on the lens to compensate too, but I like being able to SEE what I'm shooting through the viewfinder.

BTW, Bokeh is the quality of the blur, not shallow depth of field.
It's a Quality, not a quantity.
There is good and bad bokeh, not more or less.
More HERE.
The lenses I use have fairly pleasing bokeh so I really don't worry about it.
There are better lenses out there for that, but I'm not a full-time portrait photographer and can't justify the expense for one.
And there are more important things most people should think about (unless you have a real lemon of a lens) like lighting, pose, impending bad weather....

Back to flash... Your example using flash looks great for a flash newbie.
My biggest thing at the university where I work is shooting events.
When I use flash, I almost always bounce, but because of the way I use it, it doesn't look like flash.
I've bounced off of cement headers over doors, metal garage doors and 20' ceilings.
Neil van Niekerk has a lot of tutorials on bounce flash starting HERE.
Also has some helpful books on his site.

bugguy Loc: midwest

"thank You" again! This ole dawg went to flash school today. Overwhelmed with the information shared on this post.

bugguy Loc: midwest

"Thank You" to everyone that took the time to respond to this post today. I will admit to just wanting a quick direct answer, which I did receive straight away from oldtigger. Every post from him/her to GoofyNewfie was appreciated and thought provoking. Now because of this I will have to research and practice all the technics and suggestions. I want to also thank everyone for staying on topic.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Gee, that doesn't happen too often.
Give it time...

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Big fan of using flash to complement ambient light-- not overwhelm it. Goofy referred to it as the "cave look"

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

The shutter speed determines how much ambient light you'll have in your pictures. The flash sync speed is the shortest shutter speed that you can shoot ( the time the shutter is fully open for an exposure), without getting into special techniques. Again, the shutter speed has actually nothing to do with your flash exposure, only the ambient light! The aperture settings determines not only the DOF, but also the output of your flash. Every time you shoot flash, you have two exposures, one for the ambient light and the other for the flash and you handle and set them independently!

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

Began my photographic career with magnesium and potassium nitrate so i can read
between the lines but you might want to expand your explanation for the youngsters.

catchlight.. Loc: Wisconsin USA- Halden Norway

Set up your flash for HSS and manual mode. Then you can shoot any camera setting and control things like DOF or eliminate/ bring in the back round. Settings as low as 1/16 power will use less power. I have gone entire events on one set of batteries. Once you get used to using these two settings you will find it easy to estimate the amount of flash needed. A hand held meter is also a great addition.

...and yes diffuses are very effective. I use three Canon flashes with Gary Fong hoods for live band performances to fill and back light with fantastic results.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You're welcome. The LIte Scoop is ok, but still a little small. They work like Flash Benders and Better Bounce Cards. I made something out of white hobby foam that is as big as the Better Bounce Studio, which has a surface of 11.25×13. It is still a little small, but for close in shooting it works ok. Whenever possible I use off camera flash, but if on camera, I will bounce rather than use a reflector or diffuser.

This was done Christmas morning, using a bounced manual speedlight.

1/30, F6.3, ISO 400, 62mm (24-70mm F2.8), NIkon D800

(Download)

BigHal

No higher than 250 and maybe even lower. If you see only a partial image with black bottoms, your shutter speed is too high to sync with the flash, since the flash duration can be as short as 1/ __,000 sec.

Good shooting.

catchlight.. Loc: Wisconsin USA- Halden Norway

There are many positives to working in HSS, the first of which is being able to control the ambient light and shoot at a shallow depth of field.

The fix for any perceived power use is to use two or more units together to cut consumption. This is mostly overstated at best and really only an issue at the highest flash settings and high shutter speeds.