Beware of the flash. The flash on a point and shoot camera is a tricky thing. Even though I personally try to avoid using the flash most of the time, I do believe it can improve the look of a picture in certain situations.

Note: Using the flash in a stadium or concert hall will not help at all; unless you're interested in seeing the heads' of those in front of you.

Too small – The flash on a point and shoot camera is good for about 10 or 12(3-4m) feel under normal conditions. This means that anything further away will not be lit well and, most likely, will turn out too dark. This definitely includes pictures in stadiums of any kind. The problem most people have is the flash is set to auto and in a dark stadium the camera assumes the flash will help when all it does is light up the heads of those in front of you.

Too close to the lens – This is what causes red-eye. When photographing people some have a tendency of getting red-eye no matter what. This is because the camera’s flash is reflected off the eye’s retina strait back to the camera’s lens. Why it only happens with some people, I don’t know, but the simple fact is that it’s annoying and, unfortunately, the red-eye reduction feature usually does not help at all. In fact, I always turn off the red-eye reduction feature because it’s only certain to do one thing and that’s slow down the camera. Some new cameras can eliminate red-eye after having taken the picture. Also, most photo organization applications, such as iPhoto® and Photoshop Album® do a great job with eliminating red-eye after downloading the pictures to your computer.

Reducing shadows – Assuming the subject is within 10 – 12 feet
(3-4m) use the flash to reduce shadows and make the subject more vibrant. Auto flash will not work in this case because the camera assumes there’s enough light and avoids using the flash. You must force the flash. Find your camera in the camera menu and learn how to change the flash mode using the Function search.

Brightening up a subject – In low light situations, such as indoors, use the flash to brighten up a subject and, in some cases, eliminate blurry pictures. Using the flash can increase the shutter speed thereby reducing blurriness with moving subjects or shaky hands.

So, to sum up, when to use the flash can be very subjective. Because of it’s short range, you’ll see that many pictures turn out with a very dark background, but at least the subject is well lit. This may be a desired effect, but I personally like seeing a subject’s atmosphere. If you’re the same way, or if you just want to experiment with what a picture would look like without flash, read about ISO and how that can affect the picture.