Looking for rental advice

[robitussin217]

At my church, we have a program called upward basketball where kids come to play basketball or cheerlead. My experience so far has been taking family photos with an SB 400 for bouncing and fill flash. That's the extent of my knowledge.

I've been asked to take portraits of the individual kids in two weeks. It's unpaid so the pictures are free so no pressure. However, I might be able to rent some equipment so I'd like to take the opportunity to learn a little about portrait lighting.

I only have the tiny SB 400, 35mm 1.8, ML-L3 remote, and Nikon D7000. Any advice on the most basic, beginner's setup would be very much appreciated or knowledge about a website with a good basic kit.

Thanks for you consideration.

 

[analog.universe]

I'd suggest reading Lighting 101 at Strobist.

Best introduction to this stuff I've seen...

Chances are I'd look at buying a basic radio control speedlight setup, instead of spending money on renting something that is probably overkill and you will have to give back. Depends on what you want to accomplish I guess. I'd read up on the theory though and how to do OCF effectively, and then you'll be able to decide what's best.

 

[KmH]

Here is a direct link to Strobist's Lighting 101 - Strobist: Lighting 101

I would also recommend Neil Van Niekerk's - http://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/