Why is pic so dark?

RedFox88 wrote:

Is this the first time this flash has malfunctioned? Is it new? Have you ever used an external flash before?

Was the flash properly mounted to the camera? Re-seating (removing and then reattaching) can potentially fix a flash problem.

Morale of the story: have your camera set to "review" the photo after it was taken and you'd see it's dark. Don't always assume the camera will make your photos correct for you because well it's a machine and doesn't know what you want.