I have often said, that when I teach, I learn the most.  During one of the recent workshops I put together here in LA, I demonstrated an array of modifiers. In the end we all had loads of fun getting to see the characteristics of each light source and how they performed.  We tried everything from a 80 inch umbrella to the 22 inch beauty dish.  The most important thing to remember about lighting and working with modifiers is the larger the source, (in relationship to your subject) the softer the light.  I just posted an article on prophotoresourse.com on this very subject. 

One light source that I keep coming back to is a small octagon bank or the 22 inch beauty dish and running it very close to the subject.  Here with Mustafa, I placed him close to a hard flat wall and allowed the light to hit the background.  I have produced a quick behind the scenes video of the shoot and just posted it on youtube.