Photography studio single source lighting

I am in the process of setting up a photographic studio in a very small space so was researching single source lighting. A couple of articles stood out, this one complete with superb example photographs and this one which covers the basics really well i.e. the relationship between object and light source and the distance/size relationship. Unfortunately it looks as if the site is no longer maintained as the images are missing and other links don’t seem to work. It really is a pity.

This graf illustrates the clarity of writing:

But size is relative, not absolute. A large light source placed a long way from the subject is much smaller, in relative terms, than the same light source placed close to the subject, so if you move it further away the light will not be as diffused. And if you move it far enough away it will become a point source of light and will cast very hard shadows, just like the sun on a cloudless day.

And this one best sums up the take home message of both articles:

It follows therefore that bigger is generally better, because the larger the light source, the more potential it has to diffuse the light and to ‘wrap around’ the subject.

And a final grab, only because I totally agree with the 45 degree lighting cop out:

Single lights can produce a natural lighting effect – after all, studio photography is nothing more than a convenient way of emulating sunlight, and there is only 1 sun – using just 1 light, with a reflector or two if needed, is ideal for many portraits and will lift your work well above the standard of the “1 light at 45 degrees each side and 45 degrees up” practiced by shopping mall photographers and preached by too many photography magazines.