One of the “budget” flash solutions resides in a manufacturer rather close to my home. The
Morris Company builds MASTER & SLAVE flash units that screw right into regular 120v lamp sockets. They can make for an extremely affordable solution to main and background strobes. The MASTER-type units have a port on them that allows for wired triggering, or you can trigger them in SLAVE mode your camera’s pop up flash or external flash unit.
The SLAVE-units are a bit cheaper and can only trigger when they “sense” another flash going off. They have no wired-sync port.
All you have to do is place them in a standard 120v lamp socket, point the flash at your subject or background and you are in business.
Now, you have to bear in mind that these flash units are what they are,
simple units, as far as lumens go. There are no intensity adjustments on them to be made, other than positioning them closer or further away from your subject. You can use reflective devices and colored-lenses on them, to offer different lighting effects, but they are limited in that way.
The main attraction is that they are truly cost-effective, for what they do, and work as advertised. For 85% of the standard shots, you do not have to spend a lot of money to be effective. Sure, it helps to have better and more flexible gear, but what the heck, you should start somewhere and you can make a $100 go a lot further with a pair of these. You just have to understand what you have to work with, where the light really needs to be … and go from there.