I set my mode dial to "M"
I use manual focus.
none of the other settings or functions should interfere....(i have the aperture ring feature in the custom function menu set to on)
I have elenchrom radio trigger and it works (not terribly reliable on my canons or pentax...)
I have no problems with the ds2.
I have the latest update which I installed immediately upon buying the k10.

apparently, (read thread "Argh!! Expensive day in the studio...." if you throw a 360 fgz at the "Test" button on your studio units.......
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seriously...I have a Nikon hotshoe to pc cord adapter, and it fires my elinchroms just fine.
I can use the 360 fgz in auto or manual to fire the studio units in slave mode just fine.

never felt compelled to try the built in flash unit though....

does it still work in slave mode?
if so I'd gut it, modd it and maybe use it in a snoot, or homemade softbox, alonside the new flash you must now buy....

Wow....I got a mint one years back for $20.00 canadian.
Mine gets used regularly with my 50 1.4 and my 85 soft 2.2. Stunning images when used with the 2.2...I'm bad at math, but 85mm, times 1.7 af converter,times the 1.5 crop on digital equalls lot's of happy female portrait subjects!

tripod?
manual exposure?
manual focus?
slow (100-200) iso?
slow shutter?
raw capture?
nd filter if needed? (some will question this one....but...if you have a brightlight city, and want any detail in the sky...an upside down graduated nd filter will work).
Bracket exposures by using various times in BULB mode?

I follow JR's logic. I use smaller cards.
But I'm also open to change....How many people have had failed cards at 2igs or more? I asked around at a convention recently and nobody personally knew of any person that could confirm that high speed high capacity cards failed more often than lower capacity cards....no one knew anybody that had ANY failures with sandisk or lexar cards in recent years...

so I'm buying a new 4 gig card, but adopting the existing logic of not keeping all my eggs in one basket.
I hope to reap the benifits of both, not having to swap cards at a critical moment, and not having all my images on one card.

wasn't an issue for me until aperture made it possible to incorporate raw files seamlessly into my workflow.

in addition, it helps to know what you like in a portrait.
I use the m 50mm 1.4, the 85 soft focus, and various others including the 50mm macro.
in general, longer focal lengths for big noses, wider apertures for shallow dof, all the usual tips.
my belief is that ALL modern lenses are too sharp for most portrait work.
so which ever lens you go with (ie kit lenses JR already mentioned) consider adding some diffusion (filters, pre or post), and use the widest aperture possible.
I do consider the 50mm macro 2.8, in combination with my ds2 (compatibility with older flashes) my af 080c ringflash to be an outstanding portrait lens.
I'm hoping for the 70 for xmas.

you got me thinking with this subject....
I noticed that when I shoot and recompose, I do not tilt or swing my camera around at all....I tend to move my body by stepping side to side, and bend at the kneees when recomosing. It would seem that I've been instinctually keeping my camera parallel and level, and maintaining an accurate distance even when recomposing.

the effect described in the text might come into play, if one recomposed by tilting or swinging the camera while fixed on a tripod, essentially you'd have to refocus because you changed your camera angle. How much leeway you get would matter if your dof was very shallow....

In theory, a guy with my looks, wit, intelligence, and charm should be rich and famous....in theory.....
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In reality, I can only speak for hands on results with thousands of portraits under my belt and say I wouldn't recomend something that didn't work for me.
focus, recompose and shoot works for me whenever I'm not using manual.

Pete I'm sure they'll be happy with thier images. I suspect you'll try to improve each and everytime, so hhere's a decent book, you might lioke:
Digital Wedding Photography
capturing beautiful memories
Glen Johnson

publisher: Wiley