On and off camera flash photography is nothing new- it has been with us for a very long time. It started off with an explosive/incendiary flash powder which was ignited in a flint-operated troth-like T-Gun, then to foil or gas filled disposable one-shot flashbulbs and right up to modern-day electronic flash equipment.

If you want to simplify flash photography and use it effectively it is good to forget about all kinds of myths and madness and get some basic understanding of lighting for photography. Flash is just another light source that must be understood and harnessed so that photographers can use it effectively, efficiently, practically and if you prefer, artistically.

I like to divide photographic lighting into two categories; ILLUMINATION and AESTHETIC LIGHTING. Illumination simply provides ENOUGH light to create an image on (film in the olden days) and nowadays on a digital sensor in the camera body. Without enough light, there is underexposure causing muddy or dark images or perhaps no discernable image at all. Illumination provides sufficient lighting volume.

Aesthetic lighting, not only provides sufficient illumination but enables many artistic possibilities to do with light and shadow, the creation of depth and dimensionality, rendition of textures and enables the introduction of mood and emotional content to your photographs.

Both kinds of light can be achieved with any light source from the sun, the open sky, light coming through a window, any kind of lamp or photographic light source. It all depends on the direction of the light, where it is coming from, in relation to the position of the subject and the camera. The artistic success in aesthetic lighting is dependent on the photographer's skill in SEEING and EVALUATING LIGHT and either finding light or creating it to suit the purpose of the image to be made. This is where the time, patience, diligence and dedication to master lighting come in and good flash technique is part of this scheme.

Think of your flash unit or Speedlight as a handy can of light that can be used in may ways. If it is used in the time-honored manner of being attached to the camera it will certainly provide enough illumination for a wide variety of picture-making requirements. In its simplest form, it will provide a FLAT lighting with little or no interesting formation of shadows. It will put out enough light for proper exposure when there is not enough available light to create a clean dependable image. This flat light, in measured quantities, is also great for augmenting natural lighting and/or as acting as a FILL LIGHT for off camera multiple flash techniques.

Of course, most basic Speedlight-like lighting units have provisions for BOUNCE or indirect lighting techniques and can be used with a wide variety of light modification devices both improvised and commercially available.

Basic, on-the-camera flash lighting has garnered a bad rap over the years because of certain disadvantages or gremlins that are part and parcel of the technique. As I alluded to before, it is flat and somewhat shadowless, it can cause overexposed foregrounds and underexposed backgrounds which amount to the telltale look a bad flash usage. It can wipe out the realistic play of light and shadow in any given environment and replace it with an artificial appearance. This is not the fault of the flash equipment, it is the result of poor flash technique and the ignorance of some of the basic methods that I have previously. mentioned. Simply raising the flash unit to a higher position directly above the lens can make all the difference. There are many brackets, extension cords and devices to enable this configuration. Of course, studying fine lighting methods and mastering your flash technique will yield all kinds of great results.

Study list: The inverse square law, guide numbers and BCPS ratings, bounce flash techniques, light modifiers, flash fill and synchronization methods, action stopping with electronic flash and studio flash techniques. It's all on the Internet!

I hope this helps