You don't drive your car at its maximum speed all the time, and you don't need to fire your camera's flash at its full intensity all the time, either. Of course, your camera tries to expose your photos properly even when the flash fires, but sometimes it just can't get it right--especially when you're shooting a subject that's really close. If you find that your subject is getting consistently overexposed, try reducing the intensity of the flash. Check your camera's user guide: Your camera's settings might allow you to reduce the flash's power. If not, you can try a low-tech solution: Tape a thin layer of tissue over the flash to reduce its intensity.

Light isn't the odorless, colorless substance it seems to be. Light has a definite color associated with it, and this is known as color temperature, measured in degrees Kelvin. Your camera has a color temperature control, also known as white balance, which most people tend to leave on Auto. But depending upon your camera, you can probably also choose to dial in a specific temperature setting or pick a lighting mode, like Sunset, Overcast, Tungsten, Florescent, or Candlelight. Here's a quick guide to some of the most common settings:

If you notice that your photo has a color cast after it's on your PC, you can use the color temperature or white balance tool in your photo editing program to fix it. Here, for example, you can see the effect of white balance on a scene--the pumpkin on the left is shot at about 3000K, while the one on the right is the same scene at 5500K: