Lighting can be used in many different ways to achieve many unique photos. Studio lighting in particular is great for portraits. It is often used in many different ways, from flash to a technique called practical lighting which is where the light source is visible in the frame but appears natural light a lamp in a set of a living room. Within portraiture there are many different techniques used to achieve the perfect shot.
The best lens for this type of photography would be a 35mm or a 50mm as both allow for different changes in lighting, while keeping the subject wholly in focus. These lens would work great in a studio situation where there is plenty space, as these lens allow for the subjects shoulders to be in the shot creating a photo that doesn’t seem cut off. The 50mm lens will give a great depth of field even at a low aperture where as the 35mm will give a wider point of view and allow for more of the models body to be in the shot.
There are many different styles of lights, in studios spot lights and flash heads are mostly commonly used. The cameras are equipped with transmitters that are connected to the flash heads to allow the flash heads to work.
Different lighting sources produce different levels of hard and soft lighting, soft lighting has little to no shadow and the hard lighting produces heavy shadow. To achieve hard lighting a continues light is used like the sun, a flash can also be used as the light is strong and directional. Soft lighting is created by a large light source but at distance to compared the subject so they illuminated rather than lit up. High key/low key lighting is often linked to hard and soft lighting as high key photos are created by using soft lighting and low key photos are created using hard lighting to created a dark contrasting image.
Warm vs Cool lighting
Cool lighting has deeper blue undertones where as the warmer the lighting is the deeper the yellow/orange undertones are. In portrait this is often used to make people appear friendlier or more closed off as the cooler the tone in a photo the more unwelcoming and sterile the photo can seem where as the warmer the tone in a photo the more welcoming and nostalgic the photo can be.