Photo quality

[Fluesheet]

Bob, are you shooting in the auto mode or are you using any of the manual capabilities? Since you are shooting in low light conditions, I am betting that your camera is using a high ISO setting, the higher the ISO the grainier the image will be, if you are using the auto mode, the camera is probably using either 800 or 1600 ISO which will deffinately create some grain. You will want to use as low of a setting as you can, granted that cannot always be possible as the lower settings require more light. In this case you will want to increase the amount of light coming into the room, open some blinds if there are windows, use a flash, or use a tripod and have longer shutter speeds.

Keep us updated and be sure to post some pics for our viewing pleasure!

Freelancer

This is good advice - I'd second that lighting is most likely the issue. Try hanging a couple trouble lights around your photo subject, or take it outside on a bright day (doesn't have to be sunny) and see if you have the same graininess problems. If the issue goes away, you know the root cause.

Assuming you cannot make lighting changes in the area that you're trying to take photos, the only thing I'd add to Freelancer's advice is to invest in a tripod. Assuming you can make manual adjustments to your camera, set the ISO to 800 max and turn the flash off. Your camera *should* adjust by leaving the shutter open longer, which will give the camera's sensor and it's software with more light to work with, leaving fewer artifacts (grain).

Because the light is low, your camera will probably also set as wide an aperture as possible; your next conundrum will be how to get a good focal depth of field... (I'll try to post an example)

Matt