With a shade, the light is pleasant and diffused, just like the light created with a diffusion dome on your speedlight.īouncing the light off a wall or ceiling will also help reduce the harsh shadows since the angle of the light source is not straight on. Without a lamp shade, the light is harsh. Putting a diffusion dome or a softbox on your flash will spread the light across a larger surface area (almost simulating a cloudy day) which will provide a more natural-looking light. The same principle can be applied to your speedlight. However, on a cloudy day the light is diffused by the clouds and scattered across the sky so it’s softer with less distinct shadows. Think about the sun: on a bright sunny day, the light comes from a very specific point in the sky, creating hard light with distinct shadows. The closer to the subject you are, the softer the light will be. Hard and/or soft light is created by the size of the light in relation to the distance from your subject. To understand why a diffusion dome helps reduce hard shadows, it’s important to understand how hard and soft light are created. A diffusion dome is at its best if you are shooting indoors and have the option of bouncing the light off a wall or ceiling. A diffusion dome is also not very effective if you are shooting very far away from your subject. If you are using a diffusion dome outdoors, it is ineffective: while you are scattering the light, there’s nothing to bounce it off of. However, a diffusion dome really only works indoors. With a diffusion dome on your flash head, you can direct your flash upward and bounce it off the ceiling. The dome diffuses the light and scatters it around 360 degrees, softening the light as it’s reflected around the room.
Have you ever wondered how to reduce harsh shadows indoors when using your external flash? A diffusion dome is one solution.Ī diffusion dome is a piece of plastic that attaches to the flash head and produces omnidirectional light.