Why such different quality in these 2 shots?

[abitfishy]

Hi all,

I'm finding now and again that 2 similar shots with different settings can be miles apart in terms of 'quality' and I have no idea why. I'm hoping I can post a few shots here and get opinions. All EXIF data should be intact.

I just happened to take these 2 quick photos of my dog (yes, I know she's the cutest little button!), and was amazed at how different they are. Only differences that I can see from exif are 1/80 & 2.8 vs 1/60 and 5.6. TTL flash (SB600) was used on both situations. I'm assuming based on the settings that it would have used more flash in the second shot, and I know TTL isn't always perfect, but I would have expected it a bit better than it turned out.

Am I missing something?

Expert opinion (and any not so expert!) would be appreciated.