Stan,
I've been using bouce flash lately for many of my pics. Also a large diffuser on my flash helps. There are many lighting techniques to do the job. If these things sound foreign to you, stop by your local camera store and look thru their books for one on lighting, there's always one or two in all camera stores. Expensive lighting is not necessary if you improvise. You can make your own photo lighting from common hardware store lighting. Closeups require close, intense lighting. Try a halogen reading lamp or workshop lamp. Remember that glares bounce like billiard shots and try to keep surfaces/lights at angles that don't reflect directly back at the camera.
