Camera Hack: Flash Bounce - 12/31/07

One of the most flattering light sources you can use for a portrait subject is a large, even illumination. The wraparound shadows are softer and less harsh, making blemishes and wrinkles disappear. The trouble is, the most readily available light is a tiny camera flash. The flashes on most cameras—even the hot-shoe kind on a D-SLR—are anything but big and soft. For external flashes, there are an infinite number of ways to make the light more flattering—the most popular of which is to bounce the flash off of a low white ceiling or a white card. But with point-and-shoot flashes you’re limited because the tiny flash can’t pivot away from the lens—unless you’re a do-it-yourselfer like me, in which case nothing stops you from bouncing flash whenever possible. With something as simple as a piece of tape and a white sheet of paper, you can fashion a small white reflector and attach it to the camera to redirect the light from the flash up and away from the subject, letting it bounce off the ceiling to provide a large even illumination. It’s easy, cheap and it will make your subject happy, too, since it’s sure to show them in a better light.

Photo by William Sawalich