I have been working on understanding all the various factors to portraiture so I can make some for the Santa Paula Portrait Project. Gail Pidduck is blogging about her experiences and I’m working to catch up. I’ve taken a lot of portraits over the years but the portraits I want to make for the SPPP (Santa Paula Portrait Project) need to be a little different from my usual grab shots. 
I got a chance to take some time to make portraits of Santa Paula residents at an afternoon party in the backyard of Mary Beth and Denis. I brought some equipment and set it up. For simple, outdoor portraits I’m using a light stand with an umbrella that I shoot through, a Canon Speedlight 580 EX and two Pocket Wizards for wireless remote control from the camera to the lights. Lights were placed 45 degrees off axis from subjects and up in the air at a 45 degree angle. 
I was going to shoot some with my Canon 5D but just as I was about to shoot the screen went black. I took the lens off to look at the mirror. Later the mirror was found on the lawn. Much later I found that Canon is now fixing the 5D due to faulty glue. It’s being shipped back for repair now. I quickly switched to my Olympus Pen. That turned out just fine.
I liked shooting people I know well. In some ways that is easier. It was also easy in a party situation as nobody was in a rush to go anywhere. It was a fun diversion. Once the fellow guests saw other people getting their portrait taken they volunteered. Soon they started to show up as couples. 
I have other, more powerful strobes and hot lights but those need to be plugged into 110 volts. Those are for later and for shooting the actors at the Santa Paula Theater Center.
One issue I have been having as I practiced and studied was getting the Pocket Wizards to not only fire the flash but to adjust their intensity from the camera. After a week of frustration I learned that there is a new, improved model of Pocket Wizard that does that. I have some extra Pay Pal money from Ebay sales so that new model is on the way.
The challenge for me as a photographer of portraits is to make work that is different from the usual portraits that people pay to have made for their family room or their brochures. How can I make portraits that don’t look like high school graduation pictures? I’m constantly studying the history of photography for inspiration.
This is my first batch of portraits (besides actors for Backstage a SPTC) that I have done with strobe. Once my new Pocket Wizards arrive and my Canon 5D is repaired I’ll be ready to do more. One interesting aspect of this shoot is that it was done in public with others looking on. Working in public is an interesting aspect of this project. With battery powered strobes I can set up on the sidewalk in front of the Goodwill or post office or at the gazebo near the train depot. I’ll keep you posted.
John, I especially like the portraits of the couples, but all of them are really good. Did you pose people or did they pose themselves? This is such a good project!