My bedroom. 1 bed. 3 pillows, 1 doll. 2 lamps both crappy but they give light. 1 fixed lamp of 60W that reflects on the ceiling. And I used 1 spot normally used for reading of 100W that was directed on the doll (right side). Yellowish light. No light through window. Grey day anyway and not much light from outside so I closed window.
Used a tripod and 2 lenzes. A 18-200 and 105 Micro, ISO 200. I made like 200 pics (deleted 190 and I was not happy with any full body picture) with all different settings and some gave sometimes a result opposite then what I read. And some settings look the same. For example landscape or no flash gave sometimes the same result. I also noticed that using a very slow shutter time (I did some tests at 30sec) didnt look better.
When I took pictures WITH flash I have the feel they were sharper (the 18-200 lens) and her hair/body have a more correct color ... Well see for yourself.
With flash the books around my doll have correct color but her hair is darker, the sheet has also the correct color, the body has not same color everywhere but the color is correct. Without flash I used a 6s shutter time, the sheet under her is now to yellow, her hair is to dark, the color of her body is everywhere the same and its not the correct, my doll doenst look so brown at all. The text on the books also look less sharp.
First pic is with normal lens, 2nd pic is macro lens. I find 2nd pic better for sharpness but dont like light on both. Used autosetting with No Flash.
Also the color of her hair with the macro is correct (like I see it with naked eye)
I like this picture (looks great as background from a distance) but here the disadvantage of macro lens is visible when you look in detail, all the dust is visible and not everything has the same sharpness. Her hair is darker because I put a dark thing around her neck.
Detail made with macro lens, cant get this sharpness with my normal lens.
Please comment where I ... up. I want to make better pictures and I want to show my doll like how I see her. As I am thinking to buy a new low light portrait lens in the hope to get the same level of detail as my macro, it might be interesting what you have to say before I spend xxx Euro.
Oh yes none of the pics have been altered. I shot them in raw then with IrfanView I changed them to JPG with quality 90%.
Though I have never read any of his. Looks like the Wizard's First Rule cover.
Good luck with your photography. 
, its a nikon D90 but not sure that matters alot. The lens is more important I read almost everywhere. 
