Should My Photographer Be Using Flashes Or Strobes ?

Photography is all about light. When I first started photographing seniors and families, I only used the light that was in the sky (natural light). While the pictures were good, there seemed to be something missing that the good photographers had. The eyes in my pictures were "dead". Since I shoot in the sunset on the beach, I soon found the reflectors were not strong enough to light up my senior's face and eyes in this low light. So I started using flashes, but not on the camera. This has helped me up my photography game and made my images so much better and interesting. This evolution happened over a couple of years. When evaluating a photographer, look at their eyes and how well lit they are and see if their subjects have dead eye, or have some catchlight.

Kelsey at sunset with a strobe lighting her from the front