Sport's photography + flash

Hi all,

Been playing around with high speed flash in sunlight a lot recently & I'm pleased with how it lifts shadows from faces (I tend to set about - 1 stop flash compensation to avoid an overtly unnatural look).

I'm interested in trying some football / rugby photography soon with my 300 F4 L IS and potentially my 580 EX II.

Is the flash useful & acceptable for this sort of photography?

If you use it right, yes, especially if you want to do sports portraiture. I did some diving portraits once with two speedlights, and they turned out awesome...

Erm it depends on the level of sports that your shooting at. Some clubs dont have a problem, other places its a no no, heck I've even been told that if I get my flash out it'll be confiscated before . . . . . best to ask before you start popping away