Over my head?

[divemaster94]

Hello,
I am new to photography and perhaps I bought a camera that is too much for me at my level. (Canon 50D, 580EXII, MR-14EX, various Canon and Tamron lenses) When I put on either flash my shutter speed jumps up to the 1-2 second range. When I tried some macro shots (Canon 60mm Macro and MR-14EX) the shutter speed was measured in eons (2 minutes). The pictures are coming out over-exposed. I had to drop the flash output one full stop to keep it decent. Is this normal? Am I just an idiot that shouldn't be behind the camera? Will I ever be loved? What am I doing wrong?

[bob_r]

Are you shooting "Shutter Priority"? Your camera should synch with your 580EX at 1/250s if you have it set at E-TTL. If you set the flash to manual, you can get a little more creative, but you'll probably need a light meter. I use a Sekonic L358 and it works great. It also has a transmitter module that allows it to trigger Pocketwizards if you get into studio work. A company called "Blue Crane" makes a tutorial DVD for the 580EX II that might be helpful for you -
http://www.bluecranedigital.com/580EXII.htm

I'm not familiar with the MR-14EX so can't offer any help with that one, sorry. Dalantech is our macro guru and I'm sure he's familiar with it and could offer some advise. He has a number of tutorials on his site that might cover it.
Here's a link to his blog: http://nocroppingzone.blogspot.com/

[divemaster94]

Thanks, Bob. I'll check it out.