Strobist.com, he's your lighting daddy.

I find that in the last couple of years, since Vivi bought me my first Canon Speedlight flash, that my photography has improved greatly. And a big portion of the credit goes to David Hobby (in the photo) of www.strobist.com

For those that don't know, Strobist.com is, in his own words, "This website is about one thing: Learning how to use off-camera flash with your dSLR to take your photos to the next level. Or the next ten levels."

David is a (former) photojournalist who specializes in lighting with portable hotshoe flashes... with amazing results.

I used to be one of those "oh, I only shoot with natural light" snobs.. and that mostly had to do with the fact that I didn't know how to use flash properly..
Now I'm learning a lot and find my photos have improved very much (though I've not been doing much shooting lately!).

Yes, it takes a little time (and $$) to start your journey to better photos through good lighting.. but trust me, it's worth it. Your handicapping yourself if you don't learn how to light off camera with hotshoe flashes (or just one!).

You can start seeing how doable it is by reading his "Lighting 101" now conveniently in pdf format.
Click this link! Strobist Lighting 101 pdf
Also, check out the Strobist flickr.com account at http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/