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How to Make a Paper Light Diffuser in Photography

Using flash on a camera can create harsh shadows, produce red eye in your subjects and add glare to pictures, but when shooting in dark conditions, additional light is often needed to attain correct exposure. In order to get sufficient light without the harsh effects, many photographers use diffusers on their flash units. The diffuser softens the light by distributing it throughout a larger area and making it less direct. If you do not have a commercially manufactured diffuser for your flash unit, you can easily make an inexpensive diffuser out of paper that will work just as well.

Things You'll Need

White paper
Tape
Scissors

Instructions

- 1
  Choose some paper to make the diffuser. Use white paper to keep the diffuser from changing the color temperature of your pictures. Most types of white paper will work, but thinner, slightly translucent paper will allow more light through while still doing a good job of diffusing it. Heavy card stock will block too much light and drain the flash batteries quickly because the unit will need to be set to a much high power to get enough light for the exposure. Average 20-pound copy paper works well. If there is none available, a sheet of toilet paper can work.
- 2
  Cut the paper in a rectangle so that it fits over the front of the flash head with an extra inch on the top, bottom and sides.
- 3
  Tape the top of the paper to a hot shoe-mount flash head. Do not tape it in front of the bulb, but on the top side of the unit. Tape the bottom portion of the paper underneath the bulb, being careful not to obscure the bulb with the tape. The paper should bulge out from the flash unit, but will still work if it doesn't. Tape the side edges of the paper to the sides of the flash unit. It is OK if there are gaps in the paper on the corners. This will not affect the diffusing quality of the paper because the light will be bounced sideways through it.
- 4
  If adding a paper diffuser to a pop-up camera flash, cut the paper so that it is one inch taller than the pop-up flash, and just slightly wider. Use a small piece of tape to attach the paper to the top of the camera just in front of the hot-shoe mount. Fold the paper back toward the front of the camera and pop the flash up. Release the paper back to allow it to lean up against the flash and cover the exposed bulb.

Photography