1) Take the light source off your camera. Direct light source from the camera creates glare, center hot-spots, and general flatness to a picture. If you're using a flash with tilt or swivel, bounce it off the ceiling or walls. If you're using a digital point-n-shoot, switch the flash off and place a light source (a lamp) off the camera. Even better is to have a lamp on one side of the object and a large white card on the other.

2) Use a tripod or rest your camera on a support. Once you switch the flash off and use a lamp or existing lighting, your camera will go to slow shutter mode (unless you're working with 500W studio lamps). Hand-hold the camera and you'll get blurry shots. Use a tripod, or rest it on a support and it'll sharpen right up.

3) Manually set your white-balance. The auto white-balance on most point-n-shoot are pretty good, but are still prone to error. If you're shooting with indoor lighting, manually set the white balance to Tungsten. Photos with an orange colour-cast are a result of shooting with indoor lighting while your camera still thinks it's outdoors.

4) Use the Macro function if you're closer than one (or even two) feet from the object. Most point-n-shoot can't focus under a foot under normal focus mode. Switch on Macro and you're good down to 6 inches. Always use Macro when shooting small objects.

gar.

Around here the quickest way to clear everyone out of a party is to bring out the pics. Just say you have some nice vacation photos and watch the concept of quantum theory in action; thats how fast they run. Except for the unawares guy coming out of the bathroom who gets collared and has to be the bobblehead doll for an hour.
Many use that strategy when guests stay too late.

I'm the world's worst at grabbing the digital camera we bought in the 1990's that needs to be replaced and just snapping a shot. That's OK for stuff a few feet away but every time I click a pic of a circuit board or something close up, I think how I need to go out and get a new camera...