Question, David.
I was in a gym yesterday. I was sitting in a low light area focusing on people in a bright light area across the way. The picture was dark. Is there something to do besides move into the brighter light?
Shasta, if you had your flash turned on, there's your problem right there! Your camera's built-in flash only has an effective range of about 10 - 15 feet. If the subject is further away than that, the light from your flash isn't reaching anything, so there is nothing for the light to bounce off of. So, instead, you end up with a dark picture. If the gym was well lit, you should be able to easily photograph your subject without a flash. And even in darker situations, a flash is absolutely useless if the subject is located beyond your flash range. Did you ever notice all those flash bulbs going off at sporting events? Every one of those pictures will not turn out. Not unless they are using very powerful external flash, and/or they are 15 feet or closer to the subject.
If you are taking a picture in dark conditions and your subject is far away, you will still need to turn off your flash. It just won't do you any good at all. Instead, set a slower shutter speed and bump up your ISO a couple of notches. Bumping up the exposure compensation will help too. Then create a makeshift tripod by bracing the elbow of the arm holding the camera against your chest or stomach, take a breath, hold it and gently press down on the shutter button.
I hope that helps!
If your flash was turned off, you probably had your shutter speed set to fast. If you were using a scene mode, the camera probably auto programmed the flash to go off without you even knowing about it. Check your flash, and if the camera set it to fire, turn it off.