Better pictures

I'm getting (slightly) better at taking pictures of my models. Bear in mind, when reading the following, I'm an absolute photography noob. Feel free to weigh in (semi-)expert opinions :-).
I use a simple compact camera, but have been playing around with the following parameters:

• No more handheld photos. I bought a cheap tripod (€4.50), about 15cm high.
• Remove all artificial light sources. They gave me unrealistic shadows anyway. I shot the pictures below on the floor of the spare bedroom, on a big white sheet of wallpaper. The only light source was indirect sunlight, the lights were turned off.
• Play around with camera settings on manual. Mine has an M-mode ("manual"), allowing to control diaphragm (lens opening) and shutter speed (i.e. exposure time = time the lens is open).
• put diaphragm as high as it goes, so you have focus in the front AND in the back (and not just on one point of the model), or at least as much as you're camera will allow (mine goes from 5.4 to 8.0, not a wide range)
• increase exposure time as high as needed, until the picture is clear enough. Normally this will be around 1/30 or 1/80 or much lower (the higher the fraction number, the lower the exposure time) for well-lit scenes. I set it to 1/1, i.e. 1 second. This is where the tripod is an absolute must-have.