Some Help

Since I havent used flash before really, the 580ex is like a totally different experience for me. I am wondering how I can improve these shots:

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

To get rid of shadows with only one flash you have to defuse it in some way.
Indoor you have the option of bouncing it off walls or ceilings.
For outdoor work you can use flash atachements like Lumiquest Flash Bounce or Omni bounce. Both of these soften the flash and spread the light out and are good at getting rid of the hard shadows.

As for the snow problem, this is a limitation with the camera meter. What you want to expose to is the people but the snow is soooooo white that it tricks the camera. Depending on the camera you can use spot metering if it is available or you just have to know the use exposure compenstation for the snow.

Were these shot with the camera in the manual mode? I've had pretty good results with my 20D in manual when using my 420EX. Try it and see if it works better for you. I've found using other camera modes makes my 420EX become a "fill flash".

It looks like you can use a little bit of negative FEC so that the snow and the subject aren't as brightly lit up. Try setting the flash to -2/3 FEC (or maybe more) the next time and see what you get. I'm assuming that this was a very late afternoon/early evening shot so your background won't get the benefit of the flash illumination. However, if you want to get a little more of the background exposed, try decreasing the shutter speed to 1/60 sec. And set the flash to 2nd curtain so that any motion blur from the lowered shutter speed works to your advantage.

sorry, I am relatively new to flash. How would I be able to do that? (Just wondering what controls to use)

The manual's pretty easy to follow on this. I played and found it by myself - I think I pushed mode then played with the + and - buttons.