Need some general advice for a formal indoor portrait with basic equipment?
I'm getting ready to turn in my final project for this photography course. I have to take an indoor formal portrait of a young girl. It's a fake job for an actress who wants a headshot for her portfolio. The guidelines for the project says that I can use supplement lighting as simple as a table lamp.
I'm working with a Nikon D3100 18-55mm. I have one room with great window light. The photo can be in black and white so I can use household lighting without the worry of WB. Here is the model I'm using, this photo was for a previous informal outdoor nature portrait and I got 100% on it
So I'm just looking for some general tips, advice, things to look out for etc.
1.best way to get soft portrait lighting without studio equipment
2. Certain poses/unattractive flaws to avoid
3. Any particular part of a room to set up?
Some things I have learned to apply: Higher camera angle, a lamp lighting the edge of her hair, some fill light, but not totally absence of flattering shadows to highlight the contours of her face.
I'm sorry if this question is all over the place and badly written, I'm utterly exhausted!
Seems like we're going for a classic comp card headshot here.
A pose like this: 
Since you can;t use any fancy gear like a flash or studio light/softbox, you'd best use some decent window light. If you have some gauzy curtains to act like a diffusion pannel, that would be even better.
Sorta like this but better done (this was a candid, not a posed shot).
Just angle your "model" in a way that the nice, large soft box (aka: the window) acts as your main. I'd then use a desk lamp or an aclamp light with those big reflector dishes…
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/3/HouseHome/Lighting/WorkLights/PRD~0525063P/Likewise+Incandescent+Clamp+Utility+Light%2C+8.5-in.jsp?locale=en… Blasting away at the back of the subjects head to give us a nice contour to separate the subject from the darker background.
If you have one of those things people put in their windshields to block out the heat when the car is parked, you could use that (if it. The silvery type) as a reflector to act as a bit of fill to fill in the shadows.
That's probably how I'd deal with that type of request / challenge.
Easy as can be. Just use available light near a window. Get in a bright room and put some reflectors up, you can use foam core or almost anything white as a reflector. Look at my website, 90% of the indoor images are natural light with a reflector.