I do most of my photography using natural light - I know where I am with natural light - what you see is what you get. I use reflectors and diffusers to modify the light if necessary. I used to have a large bay window where I could place my flowers and such - great light.

Now I use a greenhouse - fantastic light - even on a cloudy day. But you do get extremes of temperature ;) Coats (and sometimes wellingtons ;) ) needed in Winter; sunhat and iced lemonade in Summer. On a sunny day you also get extremes in the light - diffusers are essential to avoid burnt out highlights.

I am still debating what sort of studio lighting to get. In the meantime, I bought a speedlight (430 EX II) for my Canon (in 2012 at the Focus on Imaging show) and this year at the same show I bought a stand and a couple of brollies and a bracket to fix them all together. So now I had no excuse not to learn how to use them lol

I have no wireless trigger so I rely on the camera flash to trigger the Speedlight. No problem there unless the still life contains light reflecting objects - then you can see the on camera flash in the reflection, I can see I will have to look at wireless triggers soon.

I am enjoying experimenting with the speedlight but still feel I have much to learn. Putting the bits together and getting it to work was easier than I had imagined. I can see that getting the results I really want will take a bit longer.

I will be posting more about my lighting adventures - so stay tuned :)