In honor of Deviant Appreciation Day, I'm going to share some simple, inexpensive tricks that I use to compensate for not being able to afford external flashes.

First, I don't have an external flash. I have to use the the built in one, which can be pretty bright. To correct this, I use a tissue and a rubber band. Just fold the tissue so it is double or triple thickness and attach it with the the rubber band. This works very well for diffusing the flash.

Second, when shooting macro, a long lens barrel or a lens + extension tubes, tends to block the flash from your subject. To correct this, I use a piece of aluminum foil. Just take a piece about 5x3 inches and hold it above your flash parallel with the lens barrel. You can also attach it to the flash along with the tissue paper if you need two hands.

Well, this is how I shoot macro with limited equipment. Give it try it works really well. The proof is right there to the left of this.