I decided that it was time to get a flash. I needed this upgrade for both work and the personal hobby of photography. Flash allows for more creativity (when used off the camera). For this reason I also purchased a light stand and an umbrella mount. Considering umbrellas are not that expensive, I will probably purchase one in the near future. This (umbrella) will allow me to take novice portraits, but at least it is a step forward. I am very anxious to try using the flash off camera and achieving dramatic lighting effects with it. Thankfully, the Canon EOS 60D has a built in wireless controller which can communicate with the flash (via slave mode). I will most definitely use it in the smoke photography shoot I have in mind. I also would like to try it out on a field (soccer field) with strong field lights.
Since the flash takes 4 AA batteries, I decided to go with rechargeable ones. Though my boss thinks rechargeable batteries are not as strong (after several uses), I feel that they can get the job done (when used in manual mode and not ETTL). I will have to take it upon myself to learn more about how to create these dramatic effects and how to get the most out of this speedlight.