I am a photographer (and throughout my 20's I was a professional stage lighting designer), so you guys feel free to ask me anything.

Those links are good. You don't have to spend alot of money (or any) to get good lighting for photography. The important thing to remember about making light hard or soft is the "size" of the light source (not brightness, how it is focused, distance, type, etc.). A bank of fluorescent tubes would have a size of 8 square-feet, while a standard type A light bulb has a size of 3 square-inches (approximately). The light bulb will give much harsher shadows and reflections then the 8 square-foot source. You can also take a "small" light source and bounce the light off of a surface to increase its "size". From a photographer's point-of-view the reflector is now the light source.

Also note that the light can become too soft and the details of the subject will lose definition. The best thing is to have a mix of hard and soft light for most subjects.

-ian