Keep in mind theres a variety of focus types and light metering. Firstly, all auto focus cameras require contrast in the scene to properly calibrate the lenses, so don't block your auto focus aide light (usually a small red grid light that projects out while depressing your shutter) if you have one or bring a small light to flash on your subject while the lens adjusts itself. Cameras meter the light for the most dominate tone in the picture... if its sunny or dark the camera will deliberately under or over expose respectively. You can compensate for this using either a grey card (which measures at 40% grey on the zone system) or the point at the grass or ground first which is a more neutral color, then your camera shouldn't over or under expose your scene. To eliminate flash hot spots in close up photogrpahy, look into flash diffusers which look like clear plastic grates. Or you can try tissue paper over the flash but that sometimes leads to harsher shadows. Like these guys mentioned, a mini tripod is great or you can use a small bean bag or weighted bag (pocket size) for more stability when resting your camera. If you're having trouble getting as close as you want to your subject, keep in mind all cameras have a minimum focusing distance which is in your cameras manual... and if you can't get close enough to your liking, try getting as close as you can while in focus and set your camera to a higher resolution and just crop in on your scene later. Lastly, if your camera has manual over-ride or aperture/shutter priority you can increase your depth of field. A small aperture (the diaphram that lets light in through the lens) gives you a greater depth of field (f8-f32 are small apertures) but that usually gives you a longer shutter time so make sure you have added support. If you want to blur your background, either switch to telephoto or set your aperture to a larger opening (f6-f2) which will cause mostly your subject to be in focus. And I believe the general rule with the smaller aperture openings is 1/3 in front of your subject and 2/3 behind will be in complete focus, so measure accordingly and you should get better results.