For a long time I hated and avoided flash photography.
I rode a high horse, and would say things like,
"real men do available light photography".
Then I came to the realization that "photography is all about light".
Then it hit me: why wait for the light you want, when you can make
the light you want!
Getting into the world of flash is like opening Pandoras Box, there is a new world of gear and techniques and gizmos.
Fundamentally, doing flash photography (really good flash photography anway) is not easy.
Hang on, .. here we go!
I am shooting with a Canon EOS 20D camera and a Canon 580EX-II speedlight.
Here are my notes on Canon flash gear.
Here are my notes on the Canon 580EX-II in particular.
A great place to get started is The Strobist who seems to have a minimalist flash philosophy. He is into doing a lot with small portable flash gear, and based on his results, I would say he is worth listening to. The other direction is studio gear, massive and powerful flash setups and things I just don't want to get into (seems too much like work).
After just a short bit of reading on the strobist (and other sources,
one quickly learns the lesson that you want to get the flash off the camera.
One route is to use pocket wizards (the expensive radio remote control gizmos) and the
reasonably priced Vivitar 285 flash units. Another route is to get a Canon 580EX speedlight
(like I just did), and the ST-E2 infrared controller (as I did) and have ETTL off camera flash.
Seems like a good way to get started.
The Canon infrared scheme does have its pros and cons. It gives you wireless ETTL, which is perhaps its biggest advantage. It has limited range, and I am told it can be fussy, espcially outside (inside the infrared bounces off of walls and ceilings). Pocket wizards just always work.
The ST-E2 emits a focus assist beam/grid in low light conditions, and I have read of people keeping a unit on their camera just for that benefit, even when they aren't using flash.
The pocket wizards go for $375 per pair, and you may well want 3 of them if you have 2 off-camera flashes. Add some battery packs (like quantum turbos at $500 each) and you can be spending a lot of money in a hurry.
This guide attempts to cover every Canon flash and camera known to man, including ancient film cameras. Because of this thoroughness, it is easy to get lost amidst all the details. Read carefully, be patient, and take your time. I have no idea why Mr. Guy spends so much time with type A and type B cameras, when the only thing any sane person who is not some kind of history buff luddite is using is an EOS digital (which is a type A, as you will eventually figure out, maybe).
Now that I have the book, have read it through cover to cover once, and am now trying to use it as a reference, I have to say I am in several ways disappointed. The book enumerates lots of technical details, but fails to really explain how to use Canon gear to take good flash photos. The book tends to get lost in detail and loose focus and fails to answer basic questions. After spending time with the "Hotshoe Diaries" by Joe McNally I find myself wishing I owned Nikon gear. This book has not served to dispell this feeling. I am still not entirely sure, but strongly suspect that Canon fundamentally screwed up the design of their cameras with regard to flash equipment, and that nobody yet has written the definitive guide to help people using Canon gear to make the jump to doing "strobist style" flash photograpy (full manual flash and blowing off ETTL would seem to do the trick, but then you read McNally and find that he loves using TTL flash with Nikon cameras). In a nutshell, Canon has made the flash algorithms too clever, and failed to document them.
There are other sources of information:
Chuck Gardner has written some great stuff, which is worth reading. In particular his article "Exposure" is superb. He actually tells how to take photos and passes on what he has learned from experience.Despite all the historical rubbish that clutters them up, in many ways the articles online by NK Guy are better than the book.
I only really care about using my 580EX-II along with my Canon 20D (well that is not completely true, I do care a little bit about using the on built in flash, but only a little.) My Canon 20D is a "Type A" body (type B bodies are really ancient film cameras and such). When he says that the 20D is not compatible with Canon TTL flashes, he is telling the truth. It is compatible with E-TTL (in particular E-TTL-II). Plain old Canon TTL pertains to film cameras and a technology that measured light reflected off the film. Modern E-TTL uses a preflash and measures the preflash using the same electronics that measures the ambient light. (This is the same metering circuit you use every day when you aren't using flash).
One of the most important sections of the guide is the one that explains how a Canon Camera acts in the various modes (P, Av, Tv, M). I don't know how anyone can get along without knowing this, and I don't know of any other place where this is spelled out. Note that in every mode, the camera flash combination are doing ETTL to figure out the flash exposue.
Here are some places selling gear:
Adventures in Computing / tom@mmto.org