Here's a little list of the best situations to pop that flash on.
1. When it's bright and sunny outside and there is either shadows on your subject or not enough light to brighten up their face.
2. When there is a strong light behind your subject. The flash will even out their light and exposure so your subject won't go dark.
3. When you are shooting a subject at sunset with the sun behind them. Sunset shots are usually optimum for getting a great portrait. That's because the light is so soft. But that means using the natural light to directly light up your subject. The problem is that many of us want to SEE the sunset behind them. That means the subject's back is to the nice light so you're not reaping the benefits of the perfect light. If you use the flash in these situations, your subject will be lit and the background will usually look great. Here's an example (see left). I was outside of a restaurant with my daughter while she was getting some energy out. It was getting dark there on the street because it was dusk. I turned on the flash and I think the shot came out really cool. She's all lit up from the flash (it helps that she was wearing the white that picked up the light)so it makes the shot interesting.
Here's a few tips when "flashing"-
1. Be sure you're close enough to your subject. Most of the time people are too far away from what they are shooting. Most PnS camera's flash won't work at a distance. So get close enough where your flash will make a difference.
2. Don't use your zoom when you use the flash. You will be too far away from your subject. I don't know why but whenever I've tried the zoom and the flash, I can never get a decent shot.
3.Try some with and some without so you can start to recognize what your camera does in both situations. The more you "test" and try experimenting the more you'll know what works best in different settings.
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