>At some point I would like to provide users with the ability to shoot and store pictures in VFP. How do I get started on this?

Make search in MSDN for "Windows Image Acquisition" (WIA). As far as can understand from article "Using the WIA Scripting Model" it could be done like this:

oWia = CreateObject("Wia.Script")
oItem = oWia.Create(0) && Item object represents WIA hardware device
oItem.GetItemsFromUI(0, WIA_INTENT_IMAGE_TYPE_COLOR + WIA_INTENT_MAXIMIZE_QUALITY)
oItem.Transfer("c:\Folder\Filename.bmp")
*oItem.Transfer("clipboard") && transfers an image to clipboard