Speedlite tutorial for Canon posted by Syl Arena

[Flake]

A rather nice tutorial for Canon flash has been posted very recently, very worth a read and although it's biased to Canon, there's a lot in it which would apply to any flash user.

It's all very nice buying all this nice equipment but alot of it is complex and to get the best out of it you really do need someones help - this goes through all the functions and explains with examples in a clear and concise way.  Light & shadow are the most important parts of photography, getting them right is an artform, flash is certainly something with which you can be very creative.

http://speedliting.com/

http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/education/technical/getting_the_most_from_speedlites.do

[steven63]

Thanks for this.  I've been looking (casually) for a good tutorial on external flash units.

[Macadameane]

Same here, thanks for the post.

[Chewy734]

thanks for the link!

[ronderick]

nice link there, flake 

Seriously, I think the gap for learning how to use flashes effectively is much greater than the learning how to take landscape shots.

I think this is the chapter that's left out in most introductory books to photography...

[dash2k8]

Great starter guide for speedlites. If you're an advanced amateur/enthusiast, it won't give you any new info. Joe McNally and David Hobby would help for the more advanced.

[Flake]

Syl was the guy who started the Paso Robles workshops which is where McNally & Hobby now work from, the three of them are a team together.  Syl Arenas book - the Speedlighters Handbook offers a convenient quick reference guide for real life situations.

[photodelux]

I haven't heard much talk about it before, but have you seen Michael Zelbel's Smoking Strobes website? He's got some of the best video tutorials (incredible edu-tainment value!) out there that I've ever seen for finding ways to get dramatic lighting results from just your speedlights!!!

He's also a bit of a MacGyver character with his clever setups for lighting... I highly recommend! Note that the modeling photos are not always safe for work... they are brilliantly done though. I hope he comes back to updating the site with such top quality videos again soon!

http://smokingstrobes.com/ (NSFW)

http://smokingstrobes.com/kitchen - hence MacGyver at work!
http://smokingstrobes.com/softboxdoor - clever door softbox!