First you put your camera into manual mode. Then select a shutter speed of 1/200. The reason for this is that is the fastest that my flash (Yongnuo 568EX II) will sync without using the high speed sync.
Before you even turn on the flash, take a photo. If you can see anything, adjust the aperture smaller until you get nothing but a black photo. I used f/11 on mine, but it will vary depending on the light.
Once you have achieved a photo that looks like you left the lens cap on, you are ready. Now you can turn your flash on. For this I had my flash on a stand with a silver umbrella and a wireless trigger (Yongnuo YN622C). You need to use the flash in manual mode. I did this from the camera directly since the YN622Cs support TTL, but you can do it directly on the flash as well. Start with the flash on full power. Mine did not work out well at full power with the umbrella open all the way. I had too much spill light hitting objects in my living room...er studio. I dropped the power and partially closed the umbrella to focus the light more.
After a few test shots I got my settings correct. I had a nice, black background and a well lit model. Only a few more adjustments to the placement of the light, a hair brush and time for my model to finish her milk, and I was set.
