It's so great to see a hopeful actually taking the advice that's been given to her! I think you should take a look at the Self-Portraiture Group. Dot has a really great thread filled with advice, especially about lighting and even has a lighting map linked.
I believe we out here in the ether have not seen the set whence cometh the two profile images with the gold stockings. They look very pretty indeed. Perhaps this might qualify as a polite request that you consider posting them. There would then arise a great rejoicing in many circles.
Your introspective and thoughtful nature, insight into media and your social and political views are so appealing that seeing almost any picture of you is a happy and uplifting experience. I had to call up my old photographer's mindset to write anything about Poison besides "How lovely!" The equipment shortcomings notwithstanding, there's been a consistent thread of intellectual depth, artistic sensibility and charm in all the sets that I'm not imagining. I hope not to be challenged to provide objective evidence for such intangibles but I've never been wrong in this area. It's such a pleasure.
Your best bet is to shoot during the day. Diffused daylight will look better and you should have less noise. Shooting when it's too dark makes the photo noisy and blurry and unfortunately, a 75w bulb just isn't enough light. Most photographers use lamps that that have around 250w-500w bulbs. Sometimes more depending on the camera settings.
Keep all the other advice in mind and I'm sure you'll come up with an awesome set.
