When you take pictures with the built-in flash on your digital camera, it’s common to get a washed-out, deer-in-headlights result from your subject. This is particularly noticeable with portraits and close-range photography. To obtain a softer, more natural look from your photographs and eliminate the glare, you need a flash diffuser to help disperse and soften the light.

If you have an old white film canister and an x-acto knife, you can make a clever little flash diffuser that will slip over the flash on your typical SLR camera. Photojojo has a guide for making one. It should really take you about 5 minutes (assuming you have a canister on hand), so give it a shot. Your photographs—and your photo subjects—will thank you for it.

Make Your Own Flash Diffuser from an Old Film Container