1. If the scene is essentially motionless and unchanging...

. . . normal use of flash/strobes does not disqualify a photograph from TTG. (Countless trusted news photographs have been made using flash.)

2. But if the scene has motion or changes in it...

. . . using multiple bursts of flash will usually result in ghost objects or SMP effects, either of which disqualifies the image from P4.

When a scene has motion or changes in it, the surest way to make a TTG photo is with a continuously lit, single-exposure photograph; depicting normal motion blur is no problem.

3. Flash reflections cannot be removed from a photograph or it is disqualified from TTG

Flash reflections on the subject count as “forms and shapes” and are subject to all of the restrictions enumerated in P2.

Other situations when flash can be an issue

A. If for any reason the result of using a flash cannot meet P7, then the photo is considered TTG-ineligible and cannot qualify as TTG no matter how it is manipulated, labeled, or captioned.

B. If the result of using a flash meets P7 but is potentially deceptive in a way that it cannot meet P8 without an “IC” alert, then at a minimum an “IC” must be added to the TTG label or the photograph cannot qualify as TTG.

C. If the image meets both P7 and P8 but something about the flash effect might be baffling or unfamiliar to viewers, the photographer can explain the effect to whatever extent is necessary to allay viewers’ concerns (see #3 here).

D. Lighting effects added by smartphones (#4 here) disqualify the resulting image from P7 — but those effects are easy to Undo (on the same device with which they were added) so that the image can meet P7.