An old newspaper instruction to photographers was “f/8 and be there”.

My version is: “f/2 and an 85mm lens and be there”, if you want good informal portraits.  Sometimes I keep it simple, of course. Like today, some pictures of Addison. Here she is, in a nice chiaroscuro photo:

And here’s a few more:

All those are SOOC (“straight out of camera”).

As you see, the use of this lens “almost” wide open (it’s an f/1.2 lens, set to f/2) allows you to shoot in a normal living room environment without the clutter making the photo into a snapshot. Of course f/2 with a moving toddler means that you will be using continuous focus (“AI Servo”), and even then a lot of your shots will not be in perfect focus. But many will, and in any case, the moment and the light are also essential, and those will occupy a lot of your mindspace.

So the speedlighter does not always use speedlights?  Nope, not always.