I've been trying my hand at large format portraits and have been struggling to get fast enough shutter speeds to keep subject motion under control.

My experience is primarily 35mm/DSLR, where it's pretty easy to take portraits in any lighting environment, due to the greater aperture and ISO flexibility.

Even using Portra 400 or Ilford HP5 400 I am struggling, often ending up at 1/4, 1/8 or 1/15 shutter speeds even when shooting at wider apertures of f/8, f/11 etc. I tried to take a portrait of my friend in "open shade" this weekend, and the exposure was 1/8, f/8, ISO 400.

It would be helpful to hear some tips or thoughts.

- Is everyone just using flash, all the time, and that's just how it goes for LF? It seems like most of the LF portrait masters use(d) artificial lighting.

- Or do I need to limit portrait work without a flash to full sun at noon? Are there any "ideal" conditions for LF portrait work without flash? Bright overcast days? What do you prefer?

- How do you get natural-looking poses/faces/smiles when you are asking a person to hold perfectly still because of a slow shutter speed?

- Is a high end speedlight, like a Nikon SB-800 or SB-910 able to add enough light to make a difference? Or do you need a studio strobe and a battery pack?

- Or do you underexpose film deliberately and then just deal with it in developing or scanning?