have enough light to take a
shot. In these situations you
will usually have to rely on
the built-in flash that pops up
on top of your camera. But
anyone who has used this
little flash will know that it
doesn’t produce very nice
results. To soften the flash
and get a shot that looks like
it’s been taken in a studio,
simply inflate a thin white
plastic bag, tie it off to keep
the air in, and then hold it in
front of the flash as you take
the shot. The light will be
diffused through the bag
giving a much softer, more
professionallook.5
Use a match to
mimic film burn
Old film cameras
occasionally leaked light, and
the effect could be very cool.
You can easily recreate this
‘film burn’ look by striking
a match and holding it in
front of your lens as you take
a photograph. Experiment
with different distances, but
don’t burn your fingers!AboveAnglinglight
in toa lenswitha CD
pr oducescreative
flare ef fects.Above left
Free-lensing with
a camera can
imitate the effect
of a very expensive
tilt-shift lens.Left A cheap way to
take macro shots
is t o invest in a
reversing ring.PracTIcalPhOTOgraPhY.cOm 71free-lensingflare with cdreversing ringtip
start
experimenting
Online retailers sell Ajax
Scientific glass lenses that
you can hold in front of
your camera’s lens for
fun effects.