What can be done with minimal equipment . . .

Great examples, Ed! 

But I don't have windows in my studio... ...and there are loads of others whom only have use of a garage as a studio (I suppose they could open the garage door for light, but no window there, either).

Not trying to negate your wonderful examples by my comments above. I would love a tutorial on minimal, inexpensive lighting for those of us who don't have natural light in our studios.

(I really looooooove the lighting on that last picture!)

Do you have a stand for your reflectors, or do you use an assistant? I'm trying to decide whether to purchase a reflector stand or if it will just sit there collecting dust.

Unfortunately, my studio is one room inside a much larger building. Guess I need to start thinking "outside that box," hahahhaha. 

I have a stand to hold my reflectors and it is invaluable in my opinion.  They are not typically real expensive and come in real handy.  I use it to help control light both on location, and in my in-home studio with reflectors and gobos.  As for the garage idea, I am going to be setting up a studio in my garage when my new house is built.  I plan to make a system that will drop a large white translucent material (like a sheet) down over the door as the garage door goes up.  I don't expect that to be very expensive either, and now I have a 7'X18' softbox as a main light.  It will be great for large groups and families, I think.  One other idea; do you own a electronic flash?  I started my lighting with a flash and a $15 translucent umbrella on a $22 light stand.  If you don't already have a flash, and your budget's too tight, you will still need to resort to the natural light ideas, but if you can get a flash, I would recommend it.  Just get it off the camera for your portrait work!  You may go to the Member list and look up posts by Amy N.  She was a natural light guru and did everything with only natural light.  She did some awesome work, if you can find any.  Also, Ginnypenny does most of her work on location and with natural lighting for her bridals and portraits, she has a lot of great images posted on here for you to look at also.  Then maybe you can make some more specific questions as to how those images were created as well, and learn from what you see.

Travis

Thank you so much Ed.  You have inspired me.  I am going to mess with the adjustments on my camera and try using some natural light.  I will post here when I get some that I think are worth critiquing.  Thanks again Ed, you are a true inspiration!

completely different type of shooting, but Rolando at Glamour1 (not the type of photos most here approve of) tries to do one photo at each session with only one light.

using a shop light and an umbrella for your main light will not work as well as a window but will work as long as you set your white balance using a gray card.

Another source for reflectors is those sun screens for your car that come in two expandable pieces. (one side is sliver)