I recently checked a book out of my local library called "Light, Science & Magic" by Fil Hunter. It's chock full of great info on lighting various subjects. So I tried out a technique for lighting glass objects. I had no intention of this being anything more than playing around, but I was happier with the result than I expected to be, so here it is.

Materials used (besides lens, camera, and tripod): One cheesy desk lamp, 1 white foam core reflector, a spare dark blue 3-ring binder (background), my laptop lid (stage).

The edges of the glass were lit as I hoped (mostly, there are a few dim spots), but the various reflections are a result of other objects in the room. The book goes into how to make nice reflections that show the shape and texture of the glass, but I didn't go that far (need more foam core for that). But this was just for learning. Also, thank goodness for good clone tools, there's dust everywhere no matter how much you try to clean first.

Next try (who knows when I'll next have a spare hour) will be high-key with black edges.