The Photography Device I Avoided for Years (And Regret It) - For years, I believed that truly real photographers shot with prime lenses, natural light, and absolutely never used a flash. I clung to this purist, natural-light-only mindset, and I deeply regret it. The device I avoided? The Speedlight (or external flash) ⚡. This fear of artificial light locked me out of countless creative opportunities and confined my shooting hours to only midday and Golden Hour. I genuinely thought using flash was cheating or that it would make my images look harsh and amateur. - Once I finally committed to learning off-camera flash (OCF), my photography exploded. Suddenly, every hour of the day became Golden Hour, and I could control the light source entirely, regardless of the weather. It took my portraiture from good to dramatic and polished. The key was learning to treat the flash not as a fix for low light, but as a deliberate modifier of light. I realized I wasn’t limited by my location; I was onl...