Just calling it as I see it.
As for the flash, that's entirely subjective & a subject often open for debate. In terms of professional photography, atleast in Portraiture (for the most part), it's desirable to not have photos where it's blaringly obvious. If you spent a few days doing nothing but checking out pictures, eventually you'd be able to tell which pictures used flash & which didn't. The problem with flash is that people use it when they don't need it, or overuse it (as is common with point and shoot cameras), and end up blowing out skin tones & highlights, thus destroying an otherwise good picture. Flash isn't bad, it just has it's own purpose & place: such as softly filling in shadows.
Are you using an automatic camera, or are you able to control the shutter speed & aperture?