Advice to a newbie to flash...

[kimkimz]

I am coming up on just at a year to photography- and loving my new hobby! For my birthday my husband bought a canon 580 ex flash for my canon rebel. I'm both excited for my flash and intimidated...I would love some advice on a great book for basic flash techniques? Or a website? Should I buy a diffuser or a softbox for it? I use my camera for mostly portraits of family and friends, with a little landscape thrown in since I live in a beautiful place (I live close to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon). I know that most of you are great at lighting already, so any novice advice would be great.

[inkista]

Landscape? How the hell does a speedlight help with landscape shots? (sorry). Hold off on buying any modifiers until you know what they do and when you'd use them would be my advice. It's very easy to waste a ton of money on modifiers that don't do what you want them to. Particularly those little plastic tupperware "diffusers" that don't actually diffuse.

The book I'd recommend for starters is Neil van Niekerk's website/book on on-camera flash techniques, and then possibly taking a look at the Strobist website and moving on to the Speedliter's Handbook. (If you were shooting Nikon, I'd say Joe McNally's books, but they require a lot of mental translation from Nikonspeak for a Canon shooter.

You'll probably also want to get Light: Science and Magic (which is about to come out with a new 4th edition in September). This is THE textbook on lighting.

[kimkimz]

don't worry, just want everyone to know that I use the camera for portraits- just looked at the recommended sites/books- great help! just bookmarked the website, thanks for your help...

[ElCapitanoAwesomo]

As far as modifiers go, there are some worth the time, but most, like inkiest said, are useless. Personally I never use my stofen 'diffusing' box. It's useless and doesn't do its job. Also modifiers can get really expensive. I think I've seen a soft box jig go for some $200. But I've seen many tutorials for DIY modifiers to make that work very well, such as those for grids and shoots and such.

As for learning how to use the flash, don't be intimidated. While flash photography and strobism are both very intensive, there are sites and books mentioned by inkiest to look at. A good way to start using the flash is to just bounce it. In those off occasions when you know you won't have anything to bounce off of, tell your husband to wear a white shirt and to bring some sunglasses, and use him as a human bounce! I also carry around a reflector which I use the white side as a bounce when I need it. Hourlong really need a 48" though I'd recommend it. Plus you can fnd 5-1 reflectors for very little opn amazon and eBay, and you can use it for other stuff as well.
Good luck and have fun!