Imagine you're at a dinner party and want to get some pics of the lovely people you're sharing the evening with.

We've all come home with nasty harshly lit flash pictures with burnt out highlights, dark backgrounds and black shadows like the one on the left. But it doesn't have to be like that!

By diffusing the flash the light is shattered (like water from a garden sprinkler) and that'll soften shadows and get rid of the 'shiny' bits.

But for a much more natural looking picture like the one on the right - bounce flash is the way to go.

With a dedicated flash gun you can point the head in any direction you like and bounce flash off walls and ceilings for beautiful soft light that wraps itself around your subject giving you a natural looking shadow free image.

You can also make your flash brighter or darker too with the flash exposure controls either on your camera or on the flash gun itself.

• I Mess Up Salsibury Catherdral Photo Shoot - EP31
• Photographing A Landscape Landmark PT2 - EP30
• Photographing A Landscape Landmark PT1 - EP29
• Exposure Bracketing Explained - EP28
• Woodland Photography with Gary Gough - EP27