Need Advice - What to buy next....

[Paul_Card]

Hi,

I'm still new to photography so am hoping members can offer me some advice on what my next purchase should be... A flashgun, new software or an external hard drive...

My wife has just given birth, three weeks ago today, to our first child. I'd been considering purchasing a DSLR and thought this was the ideal time so I bought a Canon 550D four months ago.

I've got the photography bug now, although mainly portraiture at the moment, and was advised to purchase a "nifty 50" lens add a shallower depth of field to my portraits and I'm delighted with the results.

I'm using Cyberlnk Photo Director software that was free with Digital Camera magazine a few months ago and am getting to grips with that and getting pleasing results.

I would now appreciate some advice on what to purchase next and am considering three options:
1. A flashgun or compact flashgun (althought I've not really experimented with flash yet)
2. Photoshop Elements 10 (as all the magazine tutorials seem to be geared towards Photoshop)
3. An external hard drive for storage (although my laptop has plenty of space but I'd rather not clog it up and slow it down)

I have £80 saved so far so should I purchase Photoshop, a compact flashgun or hard drive now or continue saving for a bigger, better flashgun?

Any advice and opinions would be really appreciated!

Thanks,

Paul