Cannot burn CD -R or DVD-R from VISTA

I have been trying to burn some pictures (copy) to a CD-R or a DVD-R and choosing Mastered and it seems to be doing it. I have also tried doing through Windows Media Player and also Picassa from Google. It says it is burning and when it is done, I try to read the CD, it says it is blank. I am frustrated.

Go to Picasa Help: Type- How to burn CD/DVD. They have a lot of treads. Have you tried better quality CD-R and DVD-R's ? Especially WMP11 many incompatibles....