Learn two things about your camera

I am not a professional photographer and I don't think I'll ever be one but I'm learning about photography and about my camera because the best video slide shows are made with the best photos. When you start learning about photography, you will soon start to pay attention to lighting. There are two controls that you have at your fingertips that will help your camera to maximize your lighting situation even if you are using a point and shoot camera.

White BalanceWhite Balance (WB) is the way that your camera interprets color. If you have never touched this control, your camera is probably set on "auto" but that doesn't mean that it's doing a good job of determining correct white balance all the time. If you see a yellow cast to your photos, the color range is too warm. If you see a blue cast to your photos, the range is too cool. You don't, however, need to be able to look at your lighting and determine if it is warm or cool. (Although with practice that would be possible.) Set your WB according to the lighting situations listed on the menu. These could include: daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy and flash.
Fill-in FlashYour flash isn't just for pictures shot in very dark situations. Locate the flash options on your camera and see if you have one for "fill-in". This kind of flash can help you get better results if your subject is backlit as in the example. With this photo the camera read the lighting information from the very bright background and not from the area where the subject is standing. Sensing sufficient light, the flash (on auto) didn't fire. Fill-in flash would have illuminated the subject. You could have this type of lighting outdoors too, if your subject is in the shade but there is a bright background area close by.
When you use your fill-in flash, either indoors or outdoors, be sure that you are not too close to your subject. Stand back a bit and you are less likely to make the subject too brightly lit. It will be easier later to crop the photo rather than edit the incorrect exposure.
White balance with fill-in flashSo what do you do when you want to set white balance while you are using fill-in flash? Would you use daylight or flash in the example photo? My answer -- I don't know. You will have to experiment. Take the shot with both WB settings and see what looks the best.
A Google search will help you learn as much as you might want to know about white balance and using your flash but the amount of information out there about digital photography is overwhelming. For now just learn these two things. They can help you start to take better photos. As you take better photos you'll be making it a habit to notice your lighting and as any good photographer knows, it's all about the light!