After 1) subject and 2) lighting, the next most important aspect of a successful portrait is 3) location.
I recently photographed the band Every Time I Die in Chicago. They were playing at the House of Blues and I knew they wouldn’t be able to leave the venue for the shoot.
I got there early and scouted as much of the cavernous club as I could. Besides the main stage area, there were lots of VIP rooms, but the walls were covered with artwork and it was simply too busy.
Then I stumbled into what I can only describe as a gothic conference room. I tend to be picky about locations, and this one just jumped out at me.
I lit the scene with two Nikon SB900’s in the front, cross-lighting them with no light modifiers. On the ground in the back, I put another SB900 with an orange gel so it would look like there was a fire in the fireplace.
One of the band members hopped up on the mantle and I had my photo.
(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, ISO 800, 1/250 sec, f/5.6)