Preparing the Camera
Find a place to take the photograph. You don't have to worry about the background, because it'll be gone (black). Do try to eliminate as much as you can. This lessens the likelihood that there will be a stray beam of light reflected off of something.
Find out what your camera's sync speed is. This helps you figure out where to start. It is usually about 200 or 250th of a second.
Set your ISO to its least light sensitive. 100 or 200 are the best, whichever you have.
Take a shot of your subject without a flash. What you are looking for is a picture of nothing but black. That is giving you your black background.
If you still see something, anything, you want to make the adjustments that you need to darken it even more. Reduce the aperture.
Using a Parabolic Umbrella
Take a shot to see where you need to start.
Set up your light stand fairly close to your subject. The umbrella needs to be a parabolic umbrella, because you will be shooting into it.
With the reflective side of the umbrella towards your subject, Shut it down about halfway. This controls the reflected light much better and makes it more focused.
Choose a setting on your flash. If you know the camera's output to be fairly strong, set it for 1/2 power. If not, set it for full power. You can always reset it later.
Take your shot. Whatever the results are, if they aren't what you want, try raising or lowering the output of the flash. You could also experiment with the umbrella and increasing or reducing its output.
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