Cigarette Packet Flash Diffuser

Ever wanted to take indoor photos at night, but hate the washed out look which your built in flash creates? I've often been at a pub and found the regular flash to be a bit of a pain. Thanks to a little drunken curiosity and an attention span problem, I created a flash diffuser using only an empty cigarette packet.

Step 1 Equipment Needed

SLR with built in flash
Cigarette packet
pocket knife

Comments

[Ranie-K]

Here's my diffuser -a rice paper lamp from IKEA:

[npasulj]

I like it ^^

[kwyles]

Cool sort of... but holy. That is a giant thing to have on your camera!

[Ranie-K]

It's collapsible.

[reptedjess]

NICE!

[ccardiaco]

Funnily interesting. I like it. Can I use 'cigar box' instead.

[tylercard]

Very Creative.

[vktr79]

Very interesting way to cover the flash, for some reason on Step 4, a packet is turned in the direction of the photographer. Incidentally a lot about photography, please visit http://knigipofoto.ru

[LasVegas]

Great Instructable! I'll have to change brands though. The shiny side of my Pall Malls wrapper is red. Now, if you could only solve the problem of the blurry pictures I get during my Smoker's Cough spells.

[binnie]

as if you smoke

little clue QUIT half my grandparents gone cuase of smoking * in the 70s and that it was big i guess lol wasnt bad for yo then

have lung( and like ) problems * and they quit while they were ahead * but today its a known thing its bad so i dont know why people still start ITS NOT COOL ITS DOWNRIGHT STUPID

[greezus]

but it does make me look very cool AND sophisticated at the same time!

[tcsoka]

yo learn english lol

[Nelson_Yepez]

HAHA

[CybergothiChe]

Don't forget your capital letters, both at the start of a sentence and on proper nouns, like English.

[Nelson_Yepez]

Like

[tcsoka]

Clearly the first time you've witnessed the pedantic sarcasm of an Englishman.

[flipdoggyplayer]

Ha, I put the reply under the wrong post. I meant to put "That could have an interesting effect" under this post in terms of the red paper. Then again, a hot bath also has interesting effects.

[wantoniak]

Fantastic idea! I made mine in 30 seconds, and most of that was finding the materials! Love it!

[munish4u911ex]

How can you get empty cigarette packets in first place if you quit smoking? ;-) :P

[kyle.erwin]

"if you don't smoke, I'm sure your friendly neighbourhood chain smoker will provide you with an empty." Ha! This is a great idea.

[Sparktv Productions]

u read my mind exactly, my neighbor is a big smoker. :D

[sug552]

Very Good.

[guitarman63mm]

You should have added a shot without using the flash at all.  I have a sneaking suspicion that you have incandescent lights, and that the second photo didn't really get much light, and it's just the available lighting.  I can't be sure, of course, without asking, but that's my assumption.

[rllphoto]

hahahaha! nice! great idea! and it´s work

[asda653]

I hope you don't mind the necroposting, but -
This is a great instructable, I adapted it to my film fisheye cam - the original flash was obscured by its honking huge lens. Basically the same as the guy down there did. I used the shiny side of aluminum foil instead of the carton foil for a brighter flash transfer but have yet to see the results - hopefully I'll finish up my roll tonight and develop it tomorrow.

Testing the flash out looks decent - if I dont get the effect I'm looking for though (ie. if the flash simply ends up at an odd degree or too far from the view angle) I will probably make a ring diffuser. Fingers crossed though!

[Reutan]

Very nice.

And to the last picture: "Gentlemen?"

[skylane]

Whatever you use, you will be loosing some light on your subject.  Most built in flashes are pretty limited. Most about 10 feet or so.  For the closer shots, like 3 feet (1 meter) or less, a difusser is great to have.  You can use a tissue, handkerchief, T-shirt, thin cardboard... you are limited by your imagination.
I have put my finger over my flash to reduce and defuse the light on close up shots.  It puts a lot of red into the pic...
Since digital pics are soooooooo cheap.. just play with stuff and see what happens.  A cotton ball or "mini-pad" can work too...
Aside from gravity.. there are no rules....

[glamourful]

Brilliant. I only smoke when I drink and I only drink a few times a month so when I buy a pack of cigarettes or prime times they last a while. I happened to have a pack of prime times when i came across this. i played around with it to suit my camera. I shoot with a Nikon D60 and i found cutting the bottom of the prime times box just before the P is perfect. Took a few with and without shots, and i am very excited about this. Also I find since the inside of the box is white, it doesn't make a difference with or with out the foil.

[oatmealfight]

Where the heck do you get tri-lingual smokes?

[Spaceman-Spliff]

Switzerland, of course....

[gizmodesbois]

In Belgium too :) We have tri-lingual smokes :)

[luvit]

dispose cigarettes properly

[emuman4evr]

Couldn't I achieve the same effect by putting a piece of white paper in front of the flash?

[guitarman63mm]

Well, no. This bounces the harsh light from the flash off of foil/paper, whatever, and reflects it back. Putting a piece of paper in front of your flash will just block it, and nothing will happen at all. It's the same as when studios point halogen lights at diffusing screens, to get a more even, balanced light without any harsh shadows.

[Longchamp]

Id really like to see 3 pics. One with direct flash, one with the indirect, and then one with no flash at all. All with the same exposure time of course.

[aimoto]

I did that here if you're interested.

[Longchamp]

That is amazing. Thank you

[aimoto]

Thanks for this! I tried it out and posted my results here. Also, I don't know what other people are talking about, but this sticking-a-piece-of-paper-to-the-flash business simply doesn't work.

[el.moro]

this is a great idea! my only comment is to try different cigarette packs--a gold foil creates a really warm effect, but sometimes is a bit too orange. Silver seems to work better for me. Just a comment. Thanks again!

[StealthDissident]

Did you use a flash synchronising device of some description to get that first shot? or was it just skill/luck/trial and error?