Here's a look at Everest near the water's edge in Asia, next to the little shrine. First shot is just ambient lighting, f/8, 6 sec. exposure. <img src="http://www.themeparkphotos.us/cpg140/albums/uploads/062207/E/IMG_5940.jpg" /> Second shot I fired off my flash unconnected during the exposure. f/8, 6 sec. <img src="http://www.themeparkphotos.us/cpg140/albums/uploads/062207/E/IMG_5941.jpg" />
I really need to experiment more with flash use. I've stayed away from it, almost as a rule, because flash shots CAN look bad, it may be that I took the lazy route of figuring that all flash pictures look bad so I'd avoid it. Plus I don't want to shell out the cash for a good high end TTL compatible flash, and even then it sounds like it still takes work to learn to use them effectively. But this is a neat idea. Even my old Vivitar flash that I got with my first SLR (a film camera bought at a garage sale for $25, which included two or three (cheap) prime lenses and a case) could do this. Since it doesn't do TTL metering I could unplug it and use it externally without needing to change anything.
Did you try firing your flash from further to the side to get rid of the shadows from the ambient light?