Help a dim wit please

[BRS]

To be blunt I dont know what I'm doig really with a camera I was into years ago and my memory gets flushed out with all things new.

I'm going to try take some pictures today outdoors of some products we make at work. Think caravan awnings (tents on the side of a caravan) I have a Canon 400D to use and a tripod, rather than just point and shoot on an auto setting I wanted to try get better quality shots.

Can the boffs give me a few ball park settings to try (std Canon EFS 18-55 lens) for some better images in what looks like it might be overcasts skys above.