Photographer and educator Gordon Lewis de-mystifies the Speedlite system in this three-part tip series. In Part 1, learn more about the advantages of and reason to incorporate an external flash into your photography. In Part 2, learn the basic functions of our Speedlite units -- explained clearly and with full-color, interactive illustrations to help make sense of the details. In Part 3, learn how to set up and shoot effectively with multiple off-camera Speedlites within our dedicated wireless system.

Explorers of Light George Lepp and Stephen Wilkes discuss their favorite Speedlite techniques: Lepp demonstrates the use of flash in macro photography, and Wilkes shows off the flash's versatility in the field. Also, don't miss the technical notes that cover all the advantages of the EOS Speedlite System. Plus: Explore Lepp and Wilkes' images in high-resolution, complete with detailed, interactive shooting diagrams.

Balanced fill-flash is a wonderful technique that can add life to otherwise ordinary pictures, or even rescue images that previously might have not been useable. What’s really nice is that fill-flash can be done with fully automatic exposure control! No special manual settings are needed (unless you want to put your own personal touch on your pictures). You can even use the built-in flash unit on some EOS cameras. Photographers use different terms to describe this technique. Fill-flash, fill-in flash, balanced-fill flash, and so on all refer to the same thing.

We’ve all seen it in our photos: The pupils of your subject’s eyes are lit up in a devilish color, unlike anything we’re used to seeing in real life (and of course, you never saw it in your camera’s viewfinder when you took the picture). The problem is red-eye -- and we tell you why it happens; how to avoid it with different shooting techniques, acessories; and when all else fails -- how to eliminate it in editing.

Canon’s high-end Speedlite 580EX II includes features long requested by serious photographers. One of these is an External Automatic Flash Exposure Sensor, which provides the option of automatic flash – but not TTL (Through The Lens). The external sensor option with the 580EX II flash is one that many photographers will want to experiment with, at least from time to time. In fact, some users may find they prefer its exposure characteristics in general to those of E-TTL in ordinary indoor candid situations.