StephenDantzig:
I'm not sure that I understand your "2nd" comment. Did moving your subject give you more room to dial in the background light or were you controlling the spill from the main?

"3rd" Yup. Different light sources have different color temperatures which result in different color shifts...sometimes these shifts can be very interesting.

5th--I am always saying "Arch the back and suck in the belly!" It happens.

6th--??? Do you mean 500ws bulbs, or strobes? Do your strobes have control dials to reduce the output?

10th--Ouch!!!

Again, nice self-assignment. It sounds like you learned a lot.

I was always placing my subject at about 4ft from the backdrop. By placing them closer to 6 foot away I was able to control the DOF better and not get so much detail from the backdrop.

My bad. 500 watt constant. The strobes are adjustable, which is something I am really liking as opposed to moving the constant rigs closer/farther by hand to get the amount of light I want.

I learned something with the wedding this weekend also. When I went in to do the tests shots for the portraits it had not rained for some time. The day of the wedding it had been raining off and on for a couple of days. All of a sudden the ambient light from the sun was killing the shots because there was no smog or haze. Had to move everything to a different location.

Moving the lights also changes the quality of light!