Man...what I need to know is how to take better photos. If anyone out there has any info on building a cheap light box, or creating a good light environment for close-ups, please let me know.
My wife has a Rebel XT with a macro, and that damned camera outsmarts both of us.
I'm sure Ken Lunde will be along sometime to share his insights and advice with both of us. If anyone else can help, please do.
Thanks.
OK, Jason, here are my tips. You can buy a cheap light tent/box on eBay or maybe Amazon (haven't checked Amazon) for about $50 or less. Get one bigger than you think you need, and taller. Bigger lets you do group shots, and taller lets you position the camera over the subject while still diffusing the top light through the tent material.
Place the tent/box on a low table in a room that has space around the table.
Buy three light stands from b&h. Sometimes their used equip are good deals. You'll also need bulb sockets and lamp heads that fit the screw size of your stands. For one of those stands, get a boom kit with counterweight and screw-on end, so you can attach the top light and hover it over your tent.
For light bulbs, go the Home Depot and buy their large size 100 watt daylight spectrum compact fluorescents. Read the find print, you want the Kelvin temperature of the bulb to be around 5500 K or higher.
You might want a power strip to plug the lights into.
Set it all up so you have light coming from either side, and from the top. Use a large tile with something under it to tilt the tile toward the camera for better angles. Then lay whatever fabric or background you want to use over the tile.
Use the custom white balance setting on your Canon. Read the manual to learn how to set it, once your lighting is set up. Use a tripod. Use the timer feature so the picture happens after you let go of the shutter button. 2-10 seconds is fine. Disable the flash on your camera. For shots where the knife is at an angle, you'll need to use custom aperture mode to bump to f-stop up to at least 8. For straight on shots, you can just use auto mode.
Auto focus is fine.
I have found that shooting in RAW mode produces better detail, but for most general shots I still shoot in jpeg. For special shots I shoot in RAW.
Get yourself a good basic photo editing software. I like Photoshop Elements. It's much cheaper than the full Photoshop suite, and does everything you need and more.
Learning how to use Photoshop takes time, but you can start with basics, like remove color cast, adjusting levels, and unsharp mask.
Of course you can set something up for alot less money, like building the cheap light box someone linked to, and a couple halogen work lights on the sides. I used to have a cheaper set-up, but after a while I wanted more room and flexibility than that set-up would allow. Halogen lighting is OK, but not as good as full daylight spectrum for revealing detail.
Another easier and simpler turn-key option, if you don't want to go through the hassle of ordering separate parts from b&h, is to find a light box kit that includes the lights, stands, etc. These can be a good starter solution, but like I said, they usually don't perform as well, or offer as much flexibility as a set-up you build yourself.
Just to reiterate what has been said before in this thread by others. The most important factore in good shots is your lighting. 3-point lighting (sides and top) is better than 2-point (just 2 lights on the sides) lighting, but 2-point will do fine in a pinch. The next priority is a good lens. Glass and optics make more of a difference than the camera itself. Don't rule out point & shoots, though. I know some Canon point & shoots that take better knife shots than some SLRs. That may have something to do with the built in macro-mode of some point & shoots, vs. the SLR not having a great lens or right kind of lens.
Third is your skill in manipulating custom settings like aperture and composition, as well as your proficiency with a photo editor.
Fourth is the camera itself.
I have very gradually upgraded my knife shooting technique over the last 7 years. In fact, there's a section of my pbase/balisong site that showcases the development of my photography, and it's pretty funny to see. I think it's under my personal gallery under misc.
What I'm going for next is sharper shots, and better optics. My pictures have been frustratingly soft, so I want a camera that will focus better and a sharp lens to go along with it. From that lens I also want better optics than what I currently have.
Hope all that helps! Maybe one day I'll start upgrading to some of the stuff Ken is talking about.
Did I mention that this can be an expensive hobby? 
