Dark and Moody Hot Chili Pepper

I set up my very makeshift "studio" on my dining table, which is next to a window. Unfortunately I do not have curtains so I had to improvise. I used a light blocker (an art drawing pad with a black cover worked.) I loved the idea of the shaft of light coming in between the light blocker and the background to create some interest. I was using a very creased bed sheet to cover the table and a piece of hardwood I have lying around the house that I propped up with a heavy small box. I used a tripod, which enabled be to hold and manipulate the light blocker. I also switched my camera (Canon 760D) to manual focus because the auto focus isn't very happy with the large areas of black and keeps refocusing into a non-focus. I set the 2 second timer as I was using a slow shutter speed (1/10 sec. f/5 63mm, ISO 200), and this enabled me not to shake the camera and also to manipulate the light blocker. I imagine it's hard to do all this without help if you don't have a tripod. This was taken at a 45 degree angle which I liked the best.
My next challenge is making myself a chalk-board background, which will look a lot nicer than my creased bed sheet! (On principle I don't iron sheets! Who has the time?) So this is a very rough attempt to put into practice the wonderful advice of this class, and I am inspired to use more interesting subject matter and different backgrounds in the future.