I'll give you the best advice possible--if you're using flash, use it off-camera. On camera flash tends to make pictures look flat and unnatural (how often do you view the world with a lightsource coming out of your forehead??). I realize you can't use the built-in flash off-camera, but there are relatively cheap flashes (a used Vivitar 285HV, for example) and wireless triggering options (Cactus V2S, YongNuo on ebay) that enable you to get the flash off your camera. There are also many options for light modifiers (like umbrellas, softboxes) that make the effective size of the light source much larger (and, therefore, more soft and flattering).


Take a look at this example:


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.21.08/3013215671_5F00_0b5ba7942a_5F00_b-small.jpg[/img]


Here, I actually had to use 2 flashes at full power as the mainlight because I was using an ND filter when I shot (enabling me to use a wider aperture in broad daylight to blur the background somewhat). So, I have two flashes as the mainlight camera right, shot into a reflective umbrella, 1 flash behind the subject camera right acting as a rim light, and the sun camera left behind the subject acting as another rim light.


Here's the finished product:


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.21.08/IMG_5F00_1085_5F00_crop-small.jpg[/img]