Great question! I've been shooting for more than 20 years and just in the last 7 years have I been more perceptive of the technicality of photography. With that said, I use manual for static shots and when I use my flashgun. I shoot my sons' track events and always shoot in aperture priority while keeping my eye on shutter speed. I've actually shot action in manual to get the high ss and fstop I want and let auto ISO do the work. I use custom WB for indoor sports events cause those tungsten gym lights are a horror. I was taught to expose for the ambient light when using flash, then tweak the flash output to illuminate your subj. the only time I use auto ISO is in the scenario I mentioned earlier. So all in all, I change my method based on the situation

Thanks Jerry. What a big help that can be for subjects who have oily skin when we are using flash.

Welcome! I've got the 15" MBP w/o retina and love it. When I was ordering it, I toyed with whether to pay the extra for it. I'm glad I didn't go with it because another forum discussed that the calibrator Spyder4 does not work on it. However, color munki does. So if you calibrate, this might be the deal breaker for now.

Zenfolio partners with the ProLab Mpix and Millers. I've used them prior to finding a local prof printer in my town, and they were great. I didn't think the $8 flat shipping rate was justified when submitting a small order.

Does the gen 3 have retina color? I was on another blog where the Spyder 4 wouldn't even work on a MacBook pro retina screen. However, color munki works, they say.

Shootproof is a good site as well where you control everything from who can download for free, and links print orders to several professional labs. I don't know the cost per year, but that's the way I'm going when the time is right. I also have been shooting my son's running HS sports for 4 years and parents here are stingy and want free images.

Nice action there! Did you set a custom WB? Those indoor gym pulse lights are awfully hard to work with and turns your photo yellow. You can also tweak the WB in LR or photoshop to lessen the yellow cast.

I upgraded from a 60D to the 6D and did notice it's not an action camera. But the low light capability on it is just amazing. The shallow DOF is great for portraiture and fine art work. I've had to improvise when shooting my sons track n field. I control the shutter burst instead of laying my thumb on the shutter to click away, and I get some great shots with my 70-200 f/4L. However, I do miss the reach in this situation. I'm in a nature photog group and have to heavily crop now shooting wildlife/nature. I think for what you shoot I'd go with the mkii. I haven't regretted my purchase tho. I love the image quality a FF brings.

I have the Canon 430 exii mounted on my 6d. I've tried the flash/camera bracket to get the flash off camera and the frame was just too cumbersome for me. I then made my own bounce card out of cardboard ( spray painted white on one side and black on the other) and Velcro to the flashgun. This worked we'll but you couldn't wash it and it soon became dirty looking. I now use the Rogue Flashbender bounce card and it shapes the light whichever direction you need. I'm a big fan of Neil's and am going to try the black foaming thing this morn. Oh, and I typically have my camera settings in manual and my flash on ettl. I then adjust the flash output with FEC. Everyone does it different but this way works for me.

We can't always order up perfect light, can we. I usually introduce fill flash either external on camera or off camera fill flash. You could also had someone hold a reflector to bounce some fill light in and clone out the arm holding the reflector in post. The latter depends how far your subjects are from the camera.

So if my subject is at the edge of the shade and light illuminates the left side of their face, I should bounce my flashgun into a reflector at 45 camera left?

I just covered a Canine event for our local ASPCA and I was indoor/outdoor for Candids. I must say that dogs move as fast, if not faster than a toddler. So I had my 24-70 f/4 mounted and I needed the flash to freeze the motion. Indoor, without the the flash, my images were soft. I also used the Rogue Flashbender modifier on my flash that did spook some timid dogs. I don't think the pop up would have the same affect. As soon as dogs see another...their focus is on that.

I have the Vello brand tubes and don't recall if that happens with me on my Canon EOS. I'll play today to see.

I have the flip model with an Opteka sync cord. The cord doesn't talk with my Canon 430 exii speed light and it froze my flash in TTL until I mounted it back on the cameras hot shoe to reset it.

The frame, for me, is cumbersome and bulky. It was so heavy that my images had camera shake motion in them. However, when the flash did fire, the results were pleasing negating the flat lighting.

I have a Canon 6D ff with the flashgun.

My arsenal includes the 6d paired with 24-70 f/4L / 70-200 f/4L / 50 1.8. I chose the 24-70 f/4 over the 2.8 because of budget and lighter weight for a walk around lens. I must say, I miss the light that enters with a 2.8. My former 60d was paired with a 17-50 2.8 by Sigma.

The 24-70 f/4 has a macro section that is .7x and is convenient as well as good IQ.