Ah, the humble flash. Quite an ingenious device, isn't it? Without it, many great shots of celebrities, dimly lit locations and subjects otherwise shrouded in darkness couldn't exist. Truly, it is an essential tool in a photographer's armament.

However, you may have noticed, either yourself or in my preceding paragraph, that its uses, were in fact, quite limited. You see, just as a flashlight or candle is largely useless in daylight, so is flash photography. And therein lies today's lesson. That great shiny behemoth that sits atop your gleaming collection of gadgetry and lense-work? It is in fact not required during the vast majority of daytime outdoor photography.

With a chuckle, I'll usually try to dismiss any event where someone accidentally leaves their flash on while shooting outdoors in a well lit environment. However, when, and I am not joking here, I see what is practically a swarm of over-equipped morons shooting with their flash on, atop Seattle's Space Needle, on a warm, summer's day at 6:30PM, it takes every ounce of self control I posses to prevent myself from flashing white with rage myself and choking someone.

So, please, for the love of all that is good and proper in this world, pay heed. You do not need to use your flash with every godamn shot you take. You don't. And if you know someone who does this, please stop them, immediately, before I'm forced to take that shiny new expensive camera and use it to beat the stupid out of them. Honestly, I haven't seen such an absurd, pathetic and downright stupid attempt to unnecessarily turn everything white since Michael Jackson.