Stopping action in low light

[stever]

taking pictures of kids is really difficult and even more so indoors where there are windows and distracting background all over -- and of course they're moving and unpredictable

flash re-cycle speed is also a problem with kids - they move fast.  i've been happy with my Quantum Turbo Compact on the bottom of the camera (originally purchased for wildlife fill flash) so you're not tied to the camera with a cord in the way all the time

another way to approach area lighting - particularly if you have white ceilings - is to use a slave flash (perhaps with diffuser as well) on a stand or light tripod in the corner of the room positioned to light the room with bounce of the ceiling  - you can use a Canon battery pack on this strobe to get quick cycle.  you may have to move it from room to room, but once you determine the position and angle for each room, that shouldn't be much trouble

[stever]

this thread motivated me to try some things

i've just done some on-camera experiments with diffusers, and the Gary Fong Lightsphere gives the best results i've gotten with on-camera flash.  pointed up, it acts sort of like a large diffuse bare bulb with enough light to give reasonable exposures (up to 1/500 at f5.6 ISO 800 at reasonable distance - obviously a faster lens would be useful here) even without a white ceiling (a white ceiling is better of course).  even with a white ceiling, it is distinctly better than straight bounce flash and is pretty insensitive to angle - just remember to turn the flash head when you shoot verticals

not as good as off camera plus fill, but lets you move quickly and get good shot with little fiddling