>>3315113Part 1/?
I don't know know much about flashes but I'll tell you what I do know.
Don't get overwhelmed, take it at your own pace.
Flashes are pretty much universal to brands when used in manual mode. I think some are brand-specific like Nikon and Canon, but that is for more advanced modes that automatically alter the amount and duration of light like TTL(through the lens) stuff. I reccomend the Neewer NW-561 as a starter if you can't spend much money.
1. Flashes are very useful/versatile.
I use them for indoor head shots for paying clients and they worked great. Really professional looking photos. I've shot some friends playing basketball and got some cool dunk shots. I've used them for jewelry/product photography and got a clean high-key white look.
Also, flashes use something called a hot-shoe and cold-shoe. Hot shoes are on most cameras that are not point-and shoots. They electrically trigger when a picture is taken. They are universal. Cold shoes just mount the flash, and do not have electrical connections.
2. For maximum versatility, buy lightstands and remote triggers. Neewer brand has worked well for me on the budget side(check reviews though). Buying light stands (with the appropriate brackets) and shoot-through umbrellas, and remote triggers ( a little radio device that sits on top of your camera that sends a signal when you take a picture to the off-camera flash with a little reciever) will give you a world of possiblites.
Again, don't get overwhelmed, it's not as complicated as it sounds.
3. Lighting diagrams are your friend.
Look up lighting diagrams for photography and you'll see overhead diagrams that tell you where to place your lights, reflectors (seriously, buy a reflector, it's cheap and it's done wonders for my outdoor portraits, I say get the Neewer 32 inch one), background, subject, camera and what kind of lights/modifiers they used.
Here's a good lighting diagram
http://www.danrichard.com/postimages/2016/02/6c2Jxan.jpg 
