Because when used incompetently straight-on flashes make pictures awful. When used competently you get some very cool effects: https://www.google.com/search?q

Because when used incompetently straight-on flashes make pictures awful. When used competently you get some very cool effects: https://www.google.com/search?q=terry+richardson&aq=f&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&authuser=0&ei=DmaJUZ-JMYbo0QHimICQCA&biw=1801&bih=1214&sei=D2aJUd2LN4O70gGXiYHADg https://www.google.com/search?q=terry+richardson&aq=f&#3... (And oh God Google's URL sucks) So this whole "don't use your built-in flash ever" rule is really more "don't use your built-in flash unless you know what your'e doing", which seems less universal and more accurate. Also, a lot of what makes straight-on flash pictures awful is actually a problem with the camera's metering. Modern flashes will emit a less powerful, very brief pre-flash for the camera to get a fix on how the picture will look with the flash, and adjust its exposure settings accordingly. A bad algorithm (nowadays algorithms, back in the old days simpler) will overexpose and result in washed out images (blown highlights, in actual parlance). If you camera is competent at automatically metering its own built-in flash you can avoid a lot of this - this is a main feature that separates crappy point and shoot cameras from good point and shoot cameras.