For #2, you MUST shoot on a dark background. I shot this Custom Works original Enforcer nose in my booth, but the black background is key. The soft-diffused lighting helps, too, in order to keep the bright high-spots off of the lexan surface. I'm a big proponent of dark backgrounds for most shooting, as it makes the object more color rich. White backgrounds do have their strong suits, but the object sometimes tend to float in space instead of looking grounded or on a plane.
This should have probably been cleaned up better before I shot it, but you get the idea...
