My camera chooses to work when it wants to.

I'm deployed and cannot take my Macbook into the nearest Apple Store! When I open Skype to call home, sometimes the camera will turn on, sometimes it won't. I can usually troubleshoot it by restarting the computer but even then, sometimes it won't turn on. I cannot find it anywhere in "System Preferences" to mess with the settings and when I looked it up in the User's Manual online, it doesn't say anything. I have Lion, and everything is up to date- the rest of it runs like a champ. I'm lost for what to do at this point. Please help me!