Artificial lights and modifiers can quickly add up in cost, but you might be surprised by just how much you can accomplish with only speedlights and basic modifiers. This excellent video tutorial will show you how you can produce professional-level portraits using just speedlights.
Coming to you from Mark Wallace with Adorama TV, this great video tutorial will show you how to light and shoot professional portraits using speedlights and basic modifiers. Dedicated monolights or pack and head systems offer the most power and versatility when it comes to artificial lighting, but the advantages of speedlights are that they are more portable and far cheaper, making them ideal for a beginner who is looking to learn the fundamentals of light, particularly if you are shooting indoors and do not need to worry about trying to overpower the sun. Plenty of photographers continue to work with speedlights even as they become more advanced. Wedding photographers frequently employ them since they are more portable and easily moved from location to location on a busy day. You can get a nice third-party speedlight kit with a few modifiers for under $200, so grab yours and start learning! Check out the video above for the full rundown from Wallace.
Speedlights are great and should be encouraged (instead of the expectations to push up shadows etc). Keep it up.