Photography

There's a book called Light: Science & Magic that covers a range of topics.

A few things that wouldn't hurt to have around:

• camera with manual settings
• a way to trigger the camera without pressing it (timer release setting on the camera, a cable release, or tethering it to a computer/tablet/phone)
• A tripod to keep the camera still in low light.
• Some pieces of white and black foam board to make little reflectors and flags with. Or maybe something like these LightRight Reflectors
• Some simple spring a-clamps that can be bought from a hardware store for a dollar or so a piece (use them as legs to hold up pieces of foam board)
• Some tracing paper or wax paper to use as a diffuser
• a roll of paper to act as a seamless backdrop (can start with a bedsheet if you want to be cheap)
• some basic clamp lights and light bulbs if you don't have photography lights
• optional: a flashlight to play with light painting (maybe some black tape if you want to make a little tube on the end to narrow down the beam)

In this video they very quickly show how you can tape seamless paper to a wall instead of relying on having a more elaborate stand setup. Tape it to the wall and then drape it over a table to have a small table top setup: The Ultimate Guide to Seamless Paper Backdrop Photography | Tips and Tricks for Beginners and Pros - YouTube

This video looks like it shows some ideas with light painting (light painting has grown to have two meanings... the one i was taught decades ago: painting the object that is sitting infront of the camera with light from different angles, and the other (which I've always called light drawing): using a flashlight to make an illustration by pointing the light at the camera): Light Painting Magic - Complete from start to finish including editing. - YouTube you don't need to do something that large, playing with a small object on a table in a dark room is fine.