PHOTOSHOP IS ESSENTIAL Why are we even talking about the subjects of Photoshop or Lighting?  I was once told by a great customizer that a good figure can be a "great" figure if it is presented properly.  If you have a great figure and have a shoddy picture that's blurry and the details aren't showing, all that hard work will be for nothing because no one can really see it.  In contrast, if you have a decent looking figure, it is greatly enhanced if you make it more presentable. Photoshop makes a good picture look great and a great figure look incredible.  It can add image effects like gunfire, text effects, extra shadowing, and even 3-D effects to make your figure look even more real.  There are even collectors who can make full-length comic books from their figures through Photoshop so don't ever underestimate it.  You'll love Photoshop. AS IS A GOOD DIGITAL CAMERA You need a digital camera.  Simple as that.  It is a requirement for showcasing your figures.  Most decent digital cameras range in the $200-400 range.  Anything below that range are usually for basic shooting and anything over that range are luxury cameras with bells and whistles you probably won't need.  But again, it's your money so shop wisely.  Personally, I have an Olympus C-4000 camera which I bought for roughly $600 a while ago.  I did quite a bit of comparing and reading up before I purchased it and I highly suggest you do the same.  For starters, http://cnet.com and http://pcmag.com have some great comparison and review shop list for digital cameras, what the various functions are, what mega-pixels, zooms, and power modes are available.  Read up on these articles (particularly PCMag's) before doing anything else.

BUT LIGHTING DOES THE TRICK . . .
Before you even attempt Photoshop, start thinking about lighting first.  Your enhancing a photo only goes so far when you have a good photo to work with.  Lighting is extremely important because it can change the mood of the picture.  A picture that's too dark can create a gloomy and dark atmosphere or it can hide a lot of the detail that you've put into your character.  Good lighting requires professional techniques used in film and studios.  

Three-Point Lighting
This set-up is something I actually picked up from Devilguns, who is a super-talented customizer (check out his site in my Favorites section).  Every picture I see from Devilguns just blows my mind.  His photos are always nice and clear and the Photoshop effects he puts in are always super cool - never too much where you don't see the figure anymore; Devilguns just enhances the figure.  Alright, enough of my babbling, here is the set-up.

This is a top view.  I'm currently using three "floodlights" that have clamps in the back with 6' cords.  They cost about $8 at Home Depot or your local hardware store.  I clamp the two side lamps onto the table top, put a thin sheet of posterboard as the bottom of the photo area and another for the background.  Since the background posterboard is quite sturdy, I just clamp the top light onto the board.

The thing with the 3-Point Lighting set-up is that it's supposed to give you lighting "all the way around" the figure.  The light in the back basically gives you light from the top (kind of like a ceiling light), then the two on each side takes away any shadows or dark spots the camera catches.  Thus, you get a nice, fully lighted picture all the time.  For extra fun, try turning one or more of the lights off for different shadowing and lighting effects.

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS
Photoshop is a great program.  Though it is very daunting at first try, it is very easy once you learn the basics.  Photoshop has a great tutorial built in too.  Go to the help section and learn that.  Once you learn the basics of working with layers and what not, there are tons and tons of tutorials on graphics and image effects that can be done.  The tutorials below are a compilation of what I regularly use.

White Backgrounds and Image Enhancing