Lenses sometimes called portrait lenses are usually around 85 mm. They have enough magnification so that the photographer doesn't have to stand too close to the subject. Using a wide angle lens and standing close to the subject causes distortion. You don't want to make your subject's nose bigger and out of proportion to the rest of their face.
Outside we looked for open shade, an area out of direct sunlight but with lots of diffuse light bouncing around. We talked about bouncing light back into the shadow areas with reflectors. Commercial reflectors are very handy, but when you don't have one, a white wall, a piece of posterboard, or even a white diaper changing pad can do.
An accessory flash connected to your camera's hot shoe can add more light when necessary. We also looked for our camera's flash controls, including flash output compensation and fill flash settings. A great resource for information on taking your flash off of the camera and using it as a portable studio strobe is the website strobist.com.
We talked a little about basic posing and trying to make your subject look as good as possible. Having your subject face the camera with face and shoulders squarely toward the front has its place, but it's not flattering for most people. Angling shoulders and heads is usually more pleasing. If possible, have arms coming away from the body so that there is not one giant mass of arms and torso.
There is a difference between a portrait, where the photographer thinks about things like posing and lighting, and a candid shot, which is usually taken quickly and without much control of the conditions. Candids are often a part of photojournalism, or of a photojournalistic style of portraiture. When I was a high school yearbook advisor, I taught my students to capture the actions and reactions of what was happening, and not to take snapshots of people grinning at the camera.
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