Also, in terms of light direction, you cannot go wrong with a traditional loop lighting pattern (named for the shadow created by the nose on the cheek) where the light is placed at roughly a 45 degree angle to the side and a 45 degree angle above your subject.
Think Before You Shoot
Now before you set the power on your lights, think about what you want the portrait to look like and what sort of depth of field you will need. If it's a simple head shot and you want a nice shallow depth of field with the eyes in focus and the rest of the photo gently blurring into a beautiful bokeh, then choose a wide open aperture of f/4.0, or lower.
If you have props and other elements in the portrait that you need in focus, then choose a smaller aperture and a broader depth of field of f/11. ISO should be set as low as possible to prevent noise. Shutter speed is not much of a factor with studio strobes as the flash is illuminating everything, so I would keep it set just below your sync speed at something like 1/160 sec. Thus, let the aperture you want dictate the shot.
Now, you can either adjust the power of the strobe till it reaches the proper exposure for your shot, or if you want to get even more detailed you can go ahead and use a light meter to set the strobe at the exact aperture you require.
Experiment and Learn
Now just shoot! Move the light a little to the left or a little to the right. Bring the light farther from the subject or so close it is almost touching the subject. Experiment and learn. Stop worrying about making mistakes. That is how we learn and get better. What is the worst that can happen? We get a series of horrible captures? I do not know about you, but as a photographer I have had plenty of shoots that have been disappointing. Big deal! Study the bad shots to figure out what went wrong and try again. Learn to embrace your mistakes and I promise you that improvement is not far away.
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In the next few issues of NM CliQ Magazine, we will try to simplify, and demystify the highly-technical, sometimes scary topic of "STUDIO LIGHTING". This month's edition will focus on a single, off-camera light source. Once we master that, we will move on to two, then three and more light sources.
Light Placement
Without getting into too much physics, basically the closer the light source is to your subject the softer the light will be, giving you a nice gradual transition from light to shadow. Subsequently, the farther the light source is from your subject, the more harsh the light gets and you get a harder transition from light to shadow. Ultimately, you should try both scenarios to learn more about how it changes the look of your portrait. A good rule of thumb is to place your light source the same distance away from the subject as the size of the modifier - a 24" softbox should be about two feet from the subject. For this seven foot parabolic, start around 5 to 7 feet away and you will find it produces a softer, more diffuse light which is more flattering to your subject.