Tried my hand at wired, old school studio flash with a film camera -- suffice to say, lots of difference between the digital/wireless incarnation! Fun, but wow do I have a learning curve ahead. It's good to be humbled and drop yourself into a situation where you don't know what you're doing!
@TheFlyingCamera Excellent point, and yes -- one of the first things I bought when I set out to try learn this was a flash meter. Makes a huge difference! And happily I can use it for metering ambient, too.
I'm just starting, I know I need to refine this a LOT -- more lights, more modifiers. I'm very inspired and respectful of photographer Tariq Tarey and the work he does with medium format and even 4x5 in a studio...fabulous stuff.
@Colin Corneau One thing I learned in a semester-long studio lighting course was "There is only one sun!". You can do a LOT with just one light. It all depends on how you position it. Before you go out buying lots of additional lights, just get one of those expandable 5-in-1 reflectors. That will help a LOT with shaping your light and controlling your contrast.
@Colin Corneau "...I'm just starting, I know I need to refine this a LOT -- more lights, more modifiers."
Mmm, maybe more lights, maybe not. It really depends on what you want/need the light to do. As @TheFlyingCamera suggests, you can learn a lot of different ways to use a single source, and I would guess that that's a far easier way to become proficient than multiple lights.
I really like the light falloff in your photo.
@jvo yeah- the most common modifier for shooting people portraits is a softbox. A softbox, a (large) umbrella, and a good bounce reflector will get you very very far. Fresnels are cool, but not a beginner accessory.