Thank you cherry_ripe & choccy chic
Are you sharing the chocolate
Alas, the picture of the Lindt mini-bars is a picture "in memorium"
Do you use a digital camera?
Yup, I use a
Nikon D70s.
I find it difficult to keep the camera
steady when taking close-up photos.
I know what you mean. I've used a couple of the really light, compact digital cameras. I found them quite hard to hold still because it was like I wasn't really holding anything! I find heavier cameras much easier to hold (within reason!) as they "balance" better (the set-up I used for these pics weighs about 1.5kg!). There's a few ways to try to stop this - either (1) steady your hands, (2) change the camera settings, or (3) use technology.
(1) When you are getting ready to take the picture, try to breathe in a regular, slightly-deeper-than-normal pattern, and press the shutter release when you start to breathe out. When you press the shutter release, don't stab at it - "squeeze" it smoothly. Also, try not to take your finger off of it until after the picture has been taken (it's surprising how much of a difference these two things make!). Alternatively, you could buy a small tripod, or place a bean bag under the camera to try and deaden any movement.
(2) If your camera has manual controls, and you can find out what the focal length of the lens on your camera is (it's expressed in mm), and can get your camera to show you what shutter speed you are using, the denominator part of the shutter speed should be at bigger than the focal length (e.g. for a 105mm lens, you want 1/125s or faster). To get a faster shutter speed, you can either add flash, increase the sensitivity of the sensor (ISO value), or use a bigger aperture (the "f" number - they're really fractions, so the smaller number, the bigger the aperature [e.g. f2.8 is bigger than f8]).
(3) Some manufacturers make "compact" type digital cameras with image stabilisation on them. Canon make the S2 IS, Panasonic make the DMC-FZ30 and DMC-FZ7, and Nikon make the CoolPix 8800. None of these are cheap (the Panasonic's the cheapest at about £250), but I am told they make life easier. I haven't used any of them, but, from what I am told, the Panasonic and the Nikon are great (some semi-pros use the Nikon as a "backup"!) - both have sharp lenses, and the stabilisation works well. Apparently, the stabilisation works less well on the Canon, and it suffers from purple fringing a bit.
Hope this helps!
Well, that was a bit dry and boring!
Couple more I've just processed...
Cherry blossoms:
Double-bloom daffodil (not mine):