I'm a bit late I guess, because I see you have improved your shots quite a bit already.
I'm definitely not a fanatic flash-user at all, but sometimes when I really need a little fill light and just have my bag with a bare 430EX with me. I just use it for on camera flash. Dial the ETTL setting to -1 or so(what suits you) and use the build-in diffuser. It works for the simple things and with using the ETTL you can check one shot and just rely on ETTL to do the same every shot. Having your ETTL on 0 or + often gives me serious white-balance problems or "fake/flat" looking photos. Obviously in the middle of summer, the flash could be too weak to counter the strong sun.
Of course my method is just a last minute solution. If I planned a shot I probably would go with the umbrella or softbox.

Quote Originally Posted by ddt0725 View Post
Loading from flickr is so much easier!
If it's a privacy thing. You can upload your photos to Flickr. Set them as private and you're still able to share them with the BB-code. But without that nobody can see it. I'm not even sure if people can use the link to the image.