Blogger problems: taking pictures

Not a post about a gorgeous polish today, but something I've been struggling with for a while now and the main reason why I haven't been posting as much as normal.

Everybody who's tried to take a picture of a mani in the middle of winter, has probably come across this problem: getting the color to show up accurately!
It's been so grey and dark outside, even in the day time, that I've been having major problems with my swatches. I just can't get a decent picture to save my life! I have started to take my polish bottles to work with me, so I can take a picture as soon as I have even the slightest bit of sunlight, but that's just not always convenient as I work full time. 

I end up with pictures looking like this, a little dark, a little dull, a little blurry and not quite color accurate, with a lot of glare... Not what I want to be showing!

Polishes used for those who want to know: China Glaze Icicle and OPI Lincoln park after dark. Triangles done with nail guides from Beyond the Nail.

This has been bugging me for a while now and I've decided to take action! I've been searching the web for the best solution, but I haven't found my ideal one yet. The most common solution seems to be to take the pictures in a light box, but my iPhone doesn't want to take normal pictures when using a light box. So I've decided my first step has to be a decent camera. Nothing too fancy, just a standard point and shoot. I think the fact that I take all my pictures with my phone is one of the big reasons they're not that good.

But hunting for a nice camera leads to my next problem: what's the best camera for me? I want a camera that is affordable, easy to manage with just one hand (since I'll be taking pictures of my other hand) and has a macro option so I can finally show close ups of all those gorgeous glitters!

Source: tweakers.net

I looked at a lot of different camera's and came to the realization I need help! So here's where you (hopefully) come in!

As I'm a total camera newbie, I have no clue what I should be looking for! I've asked for help in store, but most people don't seem to understand why in the world I would want to take perfect pictures of my nails. Seriously, one guy started laughing until he realized I was serious...
They keep talking about pixels, zoom and all that fancy stuff that I just don't care about!

What camera do you use for swatch pictures? What's a good point and shoot camera? What kind of specs should I be looking for?

Help me, please!

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