Rings - Flash assignment!

Well, an unexpected bit of success at the start of my latest and final assignment from the Image Academy...
This assignment is all about using flash and I've hardly had the flash on any of my cameras so a completely new and a bit of a scary dip into the unknown for me...
I have to complete 4 compositions and submit 3 images for each one with different flash settings, direct, bounced, light diffused etc...
Those of you who have been following my journal already know (because I have talked about it non-stop!) that I am preparing for my step-daughter's wedding next month and have been studying hard to get things just right...with mixed success so far...
I am still trying to perfect the ring shot...and I decided to try this as my submission for the fill-in flash part of the assignment...I hung our rings on cotton over the net curtain in my spare bedroom window so that I could try and perfect the fill-in flash...I've never used it like this before...
I am thrilled with this result though...this one was the "bounced" setting and I removed traces of the cotton in Photoshop and added a rather nice HDR preset I have collected...the sparkles are the little sequins in the net curtain and I thought this gave a rather magical effect....
I love the way they look suspended in mid air...I often have absolute disasters when I try things like this for the first time..so naturally I'm so pleased at how this one has turned out...
I'm going to try some portraits with the bride to be soon at the venue which has some beautiful stained glass windows so will definitely need fill-in flash for that!
No Loch of the Lawes today as it's dull and overcast...stayed in to mess about with my camera instead...