How does everyone take such nice pictures?

Hi, I have seen such nice pictures from everybody and was wondering what people use. Do you use a light box setup or a setup with an arrangement of different lights not in a light box? What kinds of things do you put them on such as linen, cloth, etc? Also, what kind of camera is a good one to take some decent pictures? Thanks.

Having a camera with adjustable white balance and f-stop. being able to balance color and light exposure is the biggest key.

I just take them in my snake room. I guess I'm lucky :confusd: I use an older Cannon Elph point and shoot digital camera.

I have a DIY homemade light tent. It was made from pre-cut PVC scrap pieces from the hardware store, a sheet, a piece of white poster board for the background, and daylight bulbs.

I also use a Nikon D3100 DSLR camera. Camera makes a big difference as well as good lighting.

This isn't my photo, but my set up looks very similar to this when assembled:
http://i650.photobucket.com/albums/u.../IMG_6874b.jpg

My mojave girl in my light tent:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...f/mojave10.jpg

I have a nice digital camera that we got for free from my girlfriend's parents who are photographers/videographers by profession. I then got a collapsable hamper from Walmart for 5 bucks and a white sheet from the dollar store for 1 dollar and wrapped the hamper in the sheet. I put a small flourescent light on top and turn all of the lights on in the room and VOILA! light tent.