The idea is to illuminate the front of the object as much as possible. If you want to spread an even light across the front of your item, wrap aluminum foil around a piece of cardboard and reflect some of the light from the lamp so that the shadows are washed a bit. A piece of white foam-core or cardboard next to your item will also work wonders in filling out some of the shadows cast by your main light source. Look at the demonstration below to see that one light and a piece of white cardboard can do wonders when lighting an object. This demonstration also requires that you have Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher to view it.
Some objects are more difficult to photograph than others.
Clear or colored glass objects fall into this category. One way to bring out the brilliance of colored glass is to place a light behind the object and direct it through the glass, out of the camera shot. These are just a few ideas and examples. Don't be afraid to experiment with light. There are no hard and fast rules to lighting.