Ok, even with an ancient photography degree (circa 1984), I couldn't photo consistently with my Nikon D50. I had started digital photos in 2000, with a Sony Mavica, which saved to a floppy, and was happy with my little desktop studio, which I even showed others in Cindy Jenkins' "Beads of Glass" book.
With the elimination of floppy drives, my camera became somewhat obsolete so I bought a CanonA70, which was a dog. I hated it.
So I purchased a Nikon D50 and a 60mm macro lens on the advice of Andrea Guarino... (Thanks Andrea!) and I love the camera, but with the bead store, workshops, etc. I never had the time or the brains to understand all the settings and I've forgotten much of what I learned in the 80's about lighting.
So... last weekend Roger Legel, (husband of my good friend Jennifer Ross - "annisfo" here on LE) came to tweak my lights and show me how to set up the menus on my camera. Yay!
Ok here's the best advice I can give you... come to his workshop and let him do the same for you.
Shameless plug, I know, but honestly, I struggled for the last year trying to get back to what I used to be able to achieve... good light, good looking photos. I mean, the menus on these cameras are intense and complicated.
So if you're interested, here's a link to the class info:
http://www.bluefirebeads.com/pages/workshops.php
Before:
After:
Ok the beads aren't great but notice the light.
Hope this helps someone!