DIY Bounce Flash Attachment For Pennies

It’s amazing the things lying around the house that can be used as photo equipment. In an effort to save pennies whenever possible, I’m always looking for Do-It-Yourself accessories. I realized that I had a bounce flash attachment that costs just a few cents while eating a piece of delicious cheese cake. Actually the bounce flash attachment was under the cheese cake, and a package of one hundred can be purchased for a couple of bucks at a local grocery store.

I’m talking about common, small, white paper plates. These generally are around five to six inches in diameter and come in a fifty or one hundred count package. Sure you can pick up a LumiQuest ProMax Pocket Bouncer for only about twenty bucks online, but you lose the arts and crafts experience that comes with this ‘el cheapo’ solution. This solution is so simple, just take one paper plate and cut a 90 degree section out of each side at about one inch up from the bottom and from the side. See the example. It’s so easy and quick I didn’t even bother to cut straight lines. If you want professional looking paper plates, just use a steadier hand. I’m a slacker.

Once the ‘base’ is cut out, use a rubber band to attach this high-tech device to the back of your off-camera flash unit. This inexpensive solution will work on most flash units, but higher-end units that swivel vertically and/or horizontally will provide even better functionality. ‘duh.’

The first image sample was created using this classy attachment on my Promaster flash set at TTL metering and at a 90 degree angle. The flash was off-camera to the left of the lens. Since these paper plates are indented in the middle, the edge provides an additional down angle toward the subject. This portrait only included another small Quantaray slave flash to light up the background. The subject was completely lit with my Promaster flash and this top-of-the-line paper bounce attachment. I think the results were pretty good. The light is even and soft. I was only a few feet from the subject.

The paper plate attachment also does a pretty good job with product shots when the camera and flash are much closer to the subject. I placed my son’s Mickey Mouse baseball on a high-key muslin background and hand-held the camera and flash at about a foot from the object. The flash was set at 75 degrees. Again, this was a quick grab shot to show that it can be done fairly well. The off-camera flash with paper plate bounce was the only light source.

I now keep a couple of these in my camera bag with a few rubber bands just in case I need them. In addition to being cheap and a conversation starter, they take up little room in a camera bag and are easily replaceable. Not to mention they’re great for holding cheese cake.