Home Made Flash Diffuser

Flash Diffuser

 

From left to right: A bottle of rubbing alcohol, a relish container, and a vinegar bottle.


When using a flash the light produced is very hard (let’s just call it what it is–ugly) without a lighting modifier.

These small (usually hard plastic) diffusers are intended to spread light, make the light source slightly larger, and get a slightly softer light quality.

There are DOZENS (hundreds?) of different simple flash diffusers for sale in all different shapes and sizes.  Some of them, like the Gary Fong Lightsphere, are expensive and don’t do any better than Tupperware. 

My point in that article was simply to show that I see no difference in the resulting photo when using an expensive specialized light diffuser when compared to any old simple chunk of plastic.  The light quality in my testing is the same.

Let’s get down to business.  How do you make this amazing little flash diffuser for free?

Step #1: Take a simple frosted plastic container that is no longer in use.  Many different types of container can work for this.  Ed has used a 16 oz. rubbing alcohol bottle, a relish bottle, and a vinegar bottle.

Step #2: Cut around the edges of the container to get it to about the right size for a flash diffuser (see picture for an approximate)

Step #3

: Glue on a simple strip of velcro around the edge of the container that you can also connect to your flash if you want to keep it ultra secure.  I’ve found that it often stays on just fine without even putting the other velcro side onto the flash, but your results may vary.

Step #4: Shoot some photos!  It’s just enough to take the edge off the flash and make it look much nicer than the bare flash.

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