Hard Light and Portraits

Usually I try and use soft light in doing portraits, but I decided to try and use hard light, coming from either side, in conjunction with some soft light diffused through an umbrella from the front.

In all of these photos, the two side lights are at 1/4 power and the front light, which is also farther away, is at 1/4 power.

For the first and last one, the background light is coming from a skylight above and to the right of the picture. I kind of like how it looks, so the trick will be figuring out how to do it when it's totally overcast and I'll have to replicate it with a flash.

Camera Info:
ISO: 100
Aperture: 
Shutter Speed: 1/200s
Lens: Tamron 17-55mm
Focal Length: 25mm

Second photo, the glamour girl.

Camera Info:
ISO: 100
Aperture: F13
Shutter Speed: 1/200s
Lens: Tamron 17-55mm
Focal Length: 50mm

And the last photo - the Indian Princess.

Camera Info:
ISO: 100
Aperture: F13

Shutter Speed: 1/200s
Lens: Tamron 17-55mm
Focal Length: 31mm

If you look closely at the full size photos, one of the things you notice about the hard side light is that it really accentuates textures.