Buddy, Thanks for the response and the suggestions.
My lighting setup is a bent piece of plastic fluorescent light cover clamped to my workbench. I got some great tips on the threads here, I purchased two of the Daylight bulbs mentioned in an earlier thread, and arranged my box so that I can shoot down from the top rather than from the front. I'll attach a photo of my set up, it was taken before the changes. The light cover material I'm using for my box isn't ideal. It's got a pattern that shows up when I photograph mirror finishes.
I see your point with regard to the hard shadows in my shots. I'm not bouncing the light, just letting it flood in. That's probably part of the problem. I just tried to soften the shadows on one of the photos using Aperture's "Dodge & Burn" plug-in. I wasn't successful, I need to read the tutorial rather than just messing around with it. I'm not even sure it's the proper tool for the job. I guess adjusting the lights on my box is the better solution.
My camera is a Sony Mavica MVC-CD400. I purchased it about 5 years ago. It's a 4 megapixel and the photos are stored on a mini CD in the camera. I have a newer Pentax Optio 6 megapixel, but the Sony seems to take better pictures, I think because its got a Carl Zeiss lens.
I leave the camera on the automatic setting and switch it to Macro. It selected the following on my latest shots: Aperture
f/2, shutter speed 1/100, ISO 100. Not sure what it all means but that's whats listed under Metadata.
I don't have a camera tripod so I set up my building transit tripod and rest my arms on it when I shoot. It's a little goofy but I think it steadies me pretty good. You can see it set up in the photo below. I've visited the sites of the moderators and viewed their photos. I think I'm getting a better idea of composition, I'm going to out to try again now. Do you want to see my next attempt?
