How do I choose an appropriate flash for my photographic needs?

Perhaps you can help me out, for someone that is just getting started with lighting and has no experience with flash photography, how do you go about picking the best flash for your needs?  

Norse Photographer wrote: Perhaps you can help me out, for someone that is just getting started with lighting and has no experience with flash photography, how do you go about picking the best flash for your needs?  

Not really a flash guy. I use softboxes for indoor stuff that need a larger area lit. For macro photography I use a led ringlight. I also have smaller (about the size of a large smart phone) led panels that I carry around with me for 'just in case'. These are great because they are  so versatile and can also be used as a battery pack.

What are you trying to shoot?

I don't use much flash these days ,  but when I did :

• Typically went for the big names such as Metz , Sunpak, Bowens ,  but  they are no longer in business .  Godox , ProFoto and Elinchrom  seem to be flavour of the year now . 
• Frequently chose one of those that could be used off the camera and triggered with a 'synchronising' cable plugged into the camera's PC sync port .  These days many flashes are triggered by modern blue-tooth or infra-red devices,  e.g., PocketWizard .  Godox may have a similar device .  Off-camera flash can lead to many different , flexible ways of illuminating a subject, instead of the same old boring on-camera flash illumination,  which gives a very flat, bland kind of effect .
• Chose a fairly powerful unit ,  because on the rare (for me) occasion of needing a flash , the subject would usually need a fair amount of light output  to achieve a decent result. 
• Flash light output is usually indicated by the flash's "guide number" , cited by manufacturer in the description , and is quoted relative to the ISO setting and  relative to either meters / or feet of subject distance from flash . 

For example,  guide number of 160 (feet) for ISO 100 ,  required lens aperture f/number  is calculated by dividing  guide number by distance from flash to subject ,  so when flash is , say , 20 feet from subject ,  160 / 20 = 8 ,    so required aperture would be f/8 .  
You didn't state what  your subjects would be – portraits , still-lifes , macro ... – so not sure  what kind of light output you  would be needing .

• The bigger brands  had a greater selection of light-modifying accessories  such as filters and diffusers ,  soft-boxes , snoots , umbrellas  to achieve  many different lighting effects .

Hope that's a useful starting guide for you .

db3348

Norse Photographer wrote: Perhaps you can help me out, for someone that is just getting started with lighting and has no experience with flash photography, how do you go about picking the best flash for your needs?

The first step ought to be to identify your needs.
Edit: Once you know what you need, it's a pretty simple matter to check the specifications of the various available units and choose whatever meets your needs.