Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

watersedge I use speedlights for the lion's share of my commercial location assignments... they are by far the most important piece of gear in my kit... If you have a hard time understanding why, then I would strongly recommend that you assist commercial wedding photographers in your market... This has been my path and trust me, and virtually all commercial wedding photographers use speedlights (Nikon) or speedlites (Canon).

Controlling illumination is paramount... relying on "natural" illumination is unacceptable if you are working commercially... HHS is a huge advantage for creativity if deployed skillfully... It allows for a surreal window into realities way too ephemeral for the naked eye...

But rather than ranting on about this there is no substitute for example...
watersedge unless those posting on this thread provide samples of their experience with speedlights it is at best merely hearsay... hope this makes sense...

To this end here is a commercial shoot with a professional ballerina for a clothing designer.
Illumination with four Nikon SB910 speedlights in HSS through a 72 inch parabolic.
Camera: Nikon D3x
Lens: AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 ED IF VR II @ f/3.2
Shutter Speed: 1/2500 second
Exposure Mode: Manual
WB: Manual (5540K)
Exposure Compensation: -0.33EV
ISO: 400

I wish you well on your journey watersedge.
.

Four Nikon SB910 speedlights in HSS through a 72 inch parabolic

(Download)

Weddingguy Loc: British Columbia - Canada

Just for clarification . . .
Check out this video for proper TTL flash use indoors. Outdoors you can use high speed sync to reduce the brightness of a background lit by ambient light by using a faster shutter speed. Just remember that when using flash, there are two sources of light - the flash and ambient light. In camera Manual mode and the flash in TTL mode (Auto), the flash controls light from the flash on the subject, depending on the aperture setting and the ISO affects the reach of the flash. The shutter speed regulates the amount of ambient light that shows up in the photo but has no impact on the exposure of the subject from the light of the flash, . The flash does all of that work in TTL mode.

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

I also have a 7’ parabolic umbrella and it can be a great tool... have a good stand and some sandbags if using, especially outdoors...

williejoha

It is always best to take the shot with correct lighting and exposure. PP is used to fine tune, even though a lot of people shoot in RAW and use it to make things look good after the fact. Take your pick and judge or yourself.
WJH

jamesl Loc: Pennsylvania

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It doesn't lengthen the flash duration at all. I fires off a series of lower powered flashes instead of a single flash.

Weddingguy Loc: British Columbia - Canada

Please use " Quote Reply" instead of "Reply" so that everyone can tell with whom you are responding.

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Sometimes people just comment in general too...