Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Step1
See what the camera sees.
Imagine you have a spread out a white blanket on the ground for a picnic in the warm, spring sun. You place a dark-colored picnic basket in the center of the cloth. You look at the cloth and you see all its detail. Look at the basket, you can see all its detail.
You didn't think about it when you did it, but when you took your eyes off the cloth, your eyes adjusted to allow more light in the moment you looked at the basket.
The camera does not work that way.
If you took a picture of that basket, the basket will probably be underexposed and the blanket overexposed.
Step2
What can you do about it?
You can't make the camera adjust to expose light and dark objects together. But, you can alter the amount of light that hits each. Use your flash to increase the amount of light on the dark object. This use of flash, called "fill flash" is very handy for photographing people outside. It lightens shadows on faces.
Step3
If don't have a flash, change how much of the world your camera sees. I work full-time for a newspaper and use a telefoto lens whenever possible. One reason is it helps me make a more even exposure in uneven conditions.
Back to the picnic basket. The basket picture didn't work because the camera tries to make the entire frame the same exposure as neutral gray. The dark is too dark, light too light.
What we can do is change the composition to make it more camera friendly. If we get a little closer or zoom in on our basket to where there is very little of the white blanket in frame, the camera will properly expose the dark basket.
Enthusiast 
Comments
DUSTYMILLS said
on 4/15/2008 Thank you for clearing this up for me. I always have trouble getting the object I want to be really sharp to stand out against the background. I will try these tips............~Dusty
bookmom said
on 2/28/2008 I took my pictures outdoors this afternoon on our glass patio table and one item turned out great! The other I may need to experiment with indoor flash, as you suggested. Your advice been terrific.
DavePayneSr said
on 2/28/2008 Thank you for your kind comments. You could try taking it indoors, but the flash can be pretty harsh up close. I take pictures of harmonicas I sell on my Web site (elkriverharmonicas.com). The best I have taken of those have been outside on a cloudy day. That's when you have the most even, soft light.
Inside, the flash will be hit or miss on this. Try different distances, maybe take it at two feet on the macro setting, if it has one, four feet, six feet, etc. adjusting the zoom each time. What you're trying to do there is vary the distance so you get a better flash out of a point-and-shoot camera.
That is a good idea you have to try a different background. A darker background would certainly help. If you still don't get much detail, you could try a succession of darker background.
bookmom said
on 2/28/2008 Thank you so much for writing this! I sell things on Ebay and I have two black items that I can't seem to photograph any kind of detail on. I love your comments on background; that's exactly what happened! Unfortunately my camera has an automatic flash. Would you recommend taking a picture indoors so the flash goes off? What if I photograph on a neutral background, like gray or brown instead of white?