Rachel I posted the info and sent a message back with a link to this thread
I think we could be looking at what sort of camera to buy or what sort of camera do we use and somewhere in the ball park of price

example .. ( like I replied a canon powershot + my Olympus DSLR )
so we are looking at what camera ( open to suggestions )
also in my reply I have said that the Canon powershot ( 6 meg ) is a good camera with manual settings.

Also a Tripod
The Olympus DSLR ( 10 meg ) is also a good camera with a Macro lens and a Tripod
I do not know the members recommended budget
I guess for a newbie to play around with the Canon powershot is a fairly reasonable priced camera that will take good close up at around $250 dollars
as I alao said that the Olympus with a Macro lens is in the ball park of $1,000 dollars
Tripods can be from anything from $20.00 to 4 to 5 hundred dollars
gosh this post had me thinking of when I went shopping for the prices