I use a Nikon P80 setup on a tripod, and then adjust the exposure, focous, and white balance manually on the camera. For macro photography and such, i.e closeups I use the manual focous and framing on the camera. It has a grid overlay toggle on the viewfinder which is really handy for making sure its properly framed.
I use natural lighting for almost all of my shots. Camera flashes wash out the image and can create bad lens flare in reflections. Simply standing back and zooming in is not the solution. Most cheap cameras have a digital zoom which simply enlarges the photo, as opposed to having a lens which actaully extends.
A good tripod can make a huge difference. To make sure I don't get any jitter in my shots I also use a timer on the shutter so that i'm not touching the camera or the tripod when it takes the photo.
When I do use it, typically I use Photoshop to adjust color balance or add hilighting. Here's a 'before and after' of the raw camera image and after post-work in Photoshop.
