A quick and easy job: photograph head shots for twenty nurses for use in a magazine. 

Images would also be used by the nurses for their ID badges.

Visiting the offices of the Royal College of Nurses, I picked a spot for the photos with ample window lighting coming in from the right, and with a clean background finish of brick wall.  I balanced the light on the left side of the subjects with a little fill flash - nice and high to catch some highlights on the hair also.  This is just about as easy as it gets in the lighting department.

There's nothing tricky about a regular portrait such as these.  Focus on the eyes, keep the top third of the frame orientation across the eyebrows, and finally ask them to smile.  Some people are uncomfortable with this arrangement so it takes a little cajoling to get a nice frame. Usually I find a little self-deprecation works and I invite them to laugh at my shoes or some other silly detail.  It takes their attention away from themselves and they loosen up.

I also ask subjects to stand turned away from the camera slightly (in this instance, turned towards my light stood camera left), then turn their heads to look at the camera.  This is a flattering angle on the face, especially with older people.

This is a quick job because, well, nurses don't have much time to spare so I had them on a production line.  And its an easy job because I made it so by choosing a simple background, paying attention to the natural light situation and adding a little light of my own to balance the scene.  Once those decisions are made, shooting these kind of pictures is super easy.