My triple flash monstrosity. It consists of a Canon 550EX mounted on the camera, and 2 Canon 420EX flashes in brackets attached to the lens hood. The camera is the Canon EOS-1Ds with the EF 35-350 f/3.5-5.6L zoom lens. So what is the point of having 3 flashes, beyond making the camera look like some kind of Romulan starship? You increase range somewhat, but the main benefits are the reduction or elimination of harsh, distracting shadows, and a softer, more even illumination of the subject. Portraits taken with this setup accentuate skin blemishes less, and have fewer or less pronounced "shiny spots" on the subject's skin.

You need to look to find the shadows, and the lighting is fairly flattering to the subject. It's not exactly the same as a full-fledged studio lighting setup, but it comes reasonably close. And it is portable--you can walk around with it. So you can walk around in the crowd at a concerts or events and get well-lit, reasonably shadowless flash photos.