I've taken school I.D. And portraits before and our general set up was three strobes with soft boxes. We would place one behind our back drop to illuminate it, and 2 in front at 45 degree angles to the subject. For the 2 in front, One was higher than the other to illuminate their hair and sometimes have to adjust the height according to glare from glasses and such.
We used a light meter to ensure they were the same levels of output but you can just judge that on your computer/LCD and take a few test shots then adjust if you don't have a light meter. Using 2 lights from the front you will probably want them positioned between four and six feet from the subject at 45 angles.
For limited budgets, if you are only using one strobe you will want the largest soft box you can get to spread light across the entire subjects face and not cast a harsh shadow on your background and get it as close to the subject as you can also aiding to smooth the light.
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