Are there any photographers among my devoted readership? I looked at my own blog today, and a question came to mind that I've always had, but have never pursued the answer.

How do you take a close-up?

I'm not talking about a nice crop of someone's head. What I really need to know is, how do you set yourself up to take a close-up shot of something small. Since its current, and we've all seen it (you do check my photo links, right?), let's take my example from a few days ago, and the vial of mystery fluid.

Why didn't that work?

Its almost what I wanted. I snapped just the vial of water, and the half-ass background I made for it. Its almost in focus, but not really. What was my mistake? I tried it a bunch of ways, and it never turned out clear. I try sitting back and zooming. I tried being close, and not zooming. I fiddled with flash versus no flash, in case it was a lighting thing. I tried supporting my camera with something other than my shaky hands, and that didn't work. I wish I knew where my mistake was. There are many instances where I'd like to take a close-up of something small, but I never get it right.

Thoughts anyone?