How do you take macro photos

Your lens is the limiting factor to take macro photos, the kit lens provided with you camera won't focus very closely, nor it will have decent magnification. There are special purpose macro lenses which can stretch up to and over $1000 for a decent quality one. Tamron's 90mm f2.8 is probably the best value one.

A tripod will be of benefit too, as it slows down the process, so you think about your composition, use manual focus and a small aperture for better depth of focus (field).

The program setting with a flower-sign. Remember that the auto-focus might not work well with macro setting, so for the best results switch to manual focus.
Also using the longest tele setting helps. Flash may be out of range also with macro.
Try different settings and you'll find the best working one.