How To: Make the Simplest Flash Bounce Ever for Your Camera

Sick of washed out photos? How about red eye? Or maybe you can't get the right shot because your flash is causing too much shadow in the background. That's what a flash bounce is for—it reflects the light off of the ceiling or another surface so that your photos look more balanced.

If you only need it occasionally, or just don't want to spend any money, it's easy to DIY it. And if you really want to make it simple, you can do it for free. Joey Johnston posted a tutorial on how to make a papercraft version that should take you less than ten minutes, and it attaches right onto your camera.

All you'll need for this project is a piece of cardstock or other thick paper, some black tape, and some sort of cutting device (although an X-Acto knife would be your best bet). Just download the template that Joey posted, cut it out, cover one side with black tape, and fold according to his instructions.

You can see from Joey's example photos below that this quick fix actually makes a difference.

Wanna make your own? Check out his blog for more details and the template.

If this one doesn't look like it'll work with your camera, you can also try this camera-mounted version that uses a wire hanger and some foil-covered cardboard.