JIP
No longer a newbie, moving up!
You can't be afraid to turn your flash around and bounce it off a wall or ceiling or something similar. Homemade diffusers are just fine but if you are shooting in a relatively small space there are diffusers all around you in walls and ceilings.Mav, I love your shots of the little one. How do you do it? Pictures of my kids usually come out really crappy, especially inside. I'm not very comfortable with my flash yet. I use a 430 EX. I suck too much to justify the expense of the 580.