Taking Pictures ~ What works for me

Do not use the zoom. Get as close to your object with no zoom. The colors and quality will be a lot better.

Purchase White posterboard for the background; for my white objects I also have light blue, yellow, light pink and neon green.

I use a light box (Photos of my Box), but it isn't needed.
For small items, curve a piece of posterboard in front of a window with lots of sunlight (not direct light). You can use pieces of cardboard like this post by donnapool Donna's Taking Pictures Tips

With a light box ~ Manually set the white balance with a sheet of extra bright white computer paper.

Change the EV Shift to a brighter setting (mine is at +1.3) ~ it makes the photos brighter before editing them on the computer. I learned how in this Storque article, bright-light-big-color-using-ev-and-white-balance

Set camera to the Macro Setting for upclose objects.

My camera (not a new fancy one) allows you to save the settings based on previous photos you have taken. When I get a photo that the color looks really good and it is easy to clean up, I save it so I can easily go back and start from that point the next time.

Here is a blog post on how I remove the background on my photos.
White Background Blog Post

My color is usually pretty good, but I do add brightness and contrast to all of my photos.

I am not at all an expert, just thought I could offer what has been working for me lately.