[sbtm]

Believe it or not I had used flash on this image.

The photograph is taken indoors, in the baby's cot, at approx 8 pm with spot lights on. Flash was set to auto, and the light was bounced of the ceiling for a soft effect. The camera was obviously on the P mode.

So how can use the Speedlite 580EXII more effectively?

[JMitchell]

That's not ineffective, it looks fine to me, just a little bit dark. I think it might be that your shutter speed was a little fast, but I am not certain, and especially since you think you were using the P mode anyway...
Many people seem to have this 'teething problem' with their Canon flashes, but being a Nikon guy (and not having experienced such problems with my NIKON flash ), I can't offer a hugely detailed answer...

Maybe have a read of this:

Flash

[morlandroger]

Looks good to me for lighting apart from the overall image a bit dark as Jmitchell said.

Just looked at your EXIF data. Your flash was set to manual (I think). The f stop was 0.4 so low depth of field. Set the flash to ETTL and should be ok. Presuming ceilings are white?

Just getting to grips with 430EX but would aspire to 580.

Roger

[silkstone]

Originally Posted by sbtm

The camera was obviously on the P mode.

That could be the problem. I'd suggest trying it with the camera in Manual mode.

Confusing though this can be, even if the camera is set to Manual, the flash exposure is still automatic. As long as the flashgun is set to ETTL, flash exposure is determined by a brief pre-flash, and the intensity depends on the aperture and ISO setting.

For starters, try using an aperture of about f/8 and any shutter speed you like up to the X-sync speed. The wider the aperture and the slower the shutter speed, the more ambient light will contribute to the shot. If you're bouncing the flash, quite a lot of its power is dissipated, so you may need ISO 200 or even 400 depending on how far away you are from the subject.

Give it a go!

[sbtm]

Flash is always set ETTL so to avoid any user malfunction and of course, the ceilings are white.

I'll try out your suggestion later on silkstone.