Cornered light

I'm sure I'll work out how to smile for the camera eventually. But for now, here I am looking dour as usual. Comes of taking pictures by yourself in a silent room! Spent an hour stuck in a corner, trying to work out how to light with just one strobe. The flash is on the camera right, bounced into a silvered umbrella at about 45 degrees to me. The camera left wall is being used for fill and the wall behind me is providing the backdrop.

Camera was set on f5.6 at 1/250s (the max sync speed for the strobe) . Flash is being triggered by a wireless remote (about $20 on ebay) Playing around with the distance between me, the strobe, the side wall and the background changes the relative light levels. Move the camera, flash and me forward, the background gets darker. Move it all towards the wall, the background gets brighter. Move everything away from the side wall, the lighting ratio on the face goes up. Move it all closer to the wall, the lighting ratio evens out. Change the distance of me to the strobe changes the intensity of the main light on my face. One light, so many variables to play with - and that's without changing the angle of the light to me, messing with the camera aperture or starting to mix in ambient light with a slower shutter speed.