I can’t stress this enough so please pay attention. On camera flash (pop-up especially) is incredibly unflattering to your subject and really flattens your image. It could be from your DSLR camera or iPhone.
When the light comes from the same angle as the lens, you’re left without any of the scene’s natural shadows. Photos with on-camera flash may as well have been taken on your phone.
When I first started out, I hated the pop-up flash so much so that I didn’t consider myself a ‘flash’ person. This lasted until a friend talked me into buying an external flash unit.
I finally saw what I was missing – buy one now! Natural light as your only light source can only get you so far in the search for better pictures.