Lighting

When I take photgraphs to include in my magazine I need to carefully think about the lighting so that my photo is a good quality and so the brightness is correct for the cover of a music magazine.
The first lighting that came to mind was natural lighting. If I was to work out side I would have to work with only the natural light as that is all I would have. So this would mean the photograph and quality of light could change due to facters such as time of the day, the weather and the location. From research over the internet I have found out that the best time of day to take a photograph using natural light is when the sun is low in the sky, as the light is warm and flattering for photographing people, because of this sunrise and sunset would be ideal. However a down side to photographing at these times can be the shaddows the subjects are left with on their face, as the low light could leave shaddows under their cheek bones or eyes, in this case, anywhere where the sun can not reach. I have decided that I am not going to take my final photographs by using natural light because I dont think this will look the most effective for a magazine.
Another form of lighting which I have considered is studio back lighting. This would meen having a light coming from the back of the subject I am photographing and using my cameras flash to ensure that there is enough light coming from the front. The effect of this would be a very well lit subject with very little shaddow and this would be ideal for the type of photographs which I want to take. I could also consider the settings on my camera when using a backlight, as I have found from research that many modern cameras have a setting specifically for taking back lit shots, this is because the flash on a camrea is usually too bright for this shot, so the spercific setting neutralises the effect of the backlighting, for professional results.
I then looked at using my flash. Usually when photographing to get professional results the flash should only be used when its essentially needed as it mutes the colours and creates dark shaddows that spoil the aesthetics of the photo. However in some cases the flash is needed and I have found out some factors which I need to take into consideration when photographing myself. The first thing is that the flash only reaches about five foot, so if I needed the flash the subject being photographed would have to be in this area in order to get a successful photo. The second thing is that if I was to turn off 'red eye reduction' to ensure my model does not get a red ring in her eyes because of the flash, would cause blurring, and the final thing is if I was to use my flash I would have to ensure my white balance is set correctly because if not the photo will be too bright, which would make me loose essential detail in the photograph.
I have also considered using a tripod. Using a tripod would ensure that my camera was still when taking photos, as it would reduce shaking, which would give a better photograph. This could be useful when taking a photo in low light conditions because in order for the camera to adjust to the lack of light the shutter speed would slow making the camera more susceptible to movement, which can cause blurring.
From my research I have decided to use studio back lighting to light the model for my front cover of my music magazine, as I want there to be minimal shaddows however I want the entite subject to be lit as this is conventional for an image on the front cover of a magazine.