This is for all you point-and-shooters out there. You’ve probably been frustrated with the quality of the flash on your digital camera and with good reason — the flash on point-and-shoot digital cameras is inflexible, often resulting in harsh shadows and washed-out areas in an image.

The solution to this is to diffuse the light coming from the flash. This makes the light less direct, resulting in softer shadows and more uniform lighting in a photograph. For advanced cameras and advanced flashes, there are very expensive solutions to diffuse the light. But you can diffuse the light from your point-and-shoot’s flash for a lot less effort and a lot less money.


Ready? Find white cellophane tape. Apply a strip directly over the flash. That’s it. Just make sure the cellophane tape is white, because the flash will pick up the color of the material it is firing through.

Any catch? Not really. The flash loses some power because it is being diffused, but as long as you can take your photo at close range, this shouldn’t be a problem and your flash photography will look a lot better.

Total cost: Roughly a nickel. Cool.

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