Portraits with a 50mm 1.8 lens

I borrowed a Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens from my son Will a couple weeks ago to try as a portrait lens on my Nikon D300 camera body.  I’d seen some impressive portraits using a lens similar to this and I wanted a chance to see for myself.  I found some willing subjects at the Lake Waramaug Country Club and set up a background and some lights on the club house porch.  Then came the happy surprise.  The lights I had brought along were totally pointless because the natural light on that porch was terrific.  Here’s just one example.