John,
I folded a couple of sheets of copy paper so they could stand up and placed them in the foreground.
Reflectors - check
2-second timer set - check
Manual focus - check
Zoomed in to maximum optical zoom, I am about 2.5-3 feet away, and that's about as close as I can get it to focus.

I figured I'd use one of my guitars, since you are a guitar collector. I wish I had put something over the upholstery of the window seat, just to break the monotony of the tan tones. Need to figure out the vignette thing, Stewart seems to have this talent. Anyway, I like it better than any other shots I have taken.
So, I am on my way. I hope to improve my pics, please continue to give tips.

The bezel damage really shows up worse in pics than in person.