[scoundrel1728]

I don't even own an external flash. I learned photography as a child back in the days when photographers were still using flashbulbs at ten cents a pop. This did not count batteries, which had to be fresh or the bulb would be a hair late in firing - not enough to notice at the time but enough to ruin the exposure. For someone on an allowance of 50 cents a week, flash photography was a heavy extra expenditure indeed. I did without it except for a few occasions. I would guess my entire lifetime output of flash pictures to be less than 500, of which thirty at most were taken with a flashbulb. I had fired off about 25,000 exposures since I went digital and before I stopped counting a few years ago.

Despite the ready availability and much lower incremental cost, I still go with available light or nonstrobe fixtures. I checked "outdoor fill" and "main light, but only when desperate."