Mike,
I don't pretend to take photos as good as yours, I have a 5 year old "prosumer" Canon G3 which gets the job done for the internet. I use a Mac and have an old copy of Photoshop and a good friend on cal who has made a living for 25 years photographing shiny things (tableware, glassware, etc,).
I just wanted to let you know that my camera came with a program called Remote Capture, I have it set up on an old iMac dedicated for photos. The camera is on the tripod, a cable from the camera to the iMac computer. All functions are controlled at the keyboard, including all manual settings, zoom, macro, white balance, aperture, shutter speed, stops and the shutter. There is a viewfinder image on the computer screen. The image is downloaded directly onto my hard drive with a preview so I can re-shoot immediately if necessary. the only thing you need to touch the camera for is aiming.
I know that there are professional programs that do this (my friend uses one) and I don't know if Canon's Remote Capture can be used with other camera's but it certainly is worth a try.
Something you might want to look into. A lot easier than using a timer and a card reader.
Rob
