Flash - a necessary Evil, but how can it be made bearable?

[Dubious Drewski]

Visit the strobist site and learn what it's all about.

I've been there. It's some genius work, but I always assumed they used more than just an onboard flash for their amazing shots.

Let me clarify one thing:
I am not making the statement that flashes in general look bad. Of COURSE not! Remote flashes and studio lighting can look fantastic. I am specifically referring to situations where all you have is an onboard flash module.

And even so, I've been convinced. Good job guys! Now it's a matter of choosing the flash I need.

 

[Garbz]

Well if all you have is onboard flash then yes it's going to look bad. As people have pointed out you need to at least get the lighting softer and preferably bounce it off something so it appears to come off the camera axis. This can be done with nearly any flash unit not integrated into the camera.

John_Olexa all three photos suffer a very lifeless look. They are definitely shot with a flash. In the second one it worked well but for your spider and the woman sitting at the piano it is not a good addition to the photo.

 

[Dubious Drewski]

So, I'm going to begin the process of buying a flash for my K10. So far I've come across these two which seem to be working well for their owners: the Pentax Dedicated Promaster FTD 7000M and the Pentax AF-540 FGZ. What do you guys think?