How to Soften the Light from Your Flash

Okay, so you’ve used all the tricks we’ve covered so far, and your flash photos are already looking better—but there’s still a problem. The light is still harsh because the flash itself is very small, and the smaller the light source, the harsher the light. So, to get softer, more flattering light, you need to make your light source larger, right? Right! There are a number of different tricks for doing this, and each pro does it differently, but I will tell you this—they all do it. They all use tricks to soften and diffuse the light from their flash (it’s the third secret for getting professional-looking light from your dedicated flash). Probably the quickest and easiest way to soften the light from your flash is to snap a diffusion dome cap over the end of your flash (like the one shown above), which softens and diffuses your light. Considering how small and light it is, it does a pretty decent job. Once this cap is on, you aim your flash head upward at a 45° angle and it takes care of the rest. If you’re a Nikon user and buy a Nikon SB-900 flash, it comes with the diffusion dome you see above right in the box (if you’ve lost your SW-13H dome, you can buy a replacement from B&H Photo). If you have a Canon flash, you can buy a diffusion dome separately, and the one I recommend is the Sto-Fen Omni-Bounce, which does a great job and is a favorite with pro wedding and event photographers (it sells for around $9.75 at B&H Photo). One thing to note: Adding this diffusion dome works great indoors, but outdoors where there’s really nothing much for the light to bounce off of, it doesn’t do much at all. Hey, I thought you should know.