My friend Steve presented me with a gift today. Actually he passed it along through my wife. What she delivered was rolled into a cylindrical shape held together with a rubber band. It's a small plastic sheet cut and prepared to be used for photography. On a piece of paper sandwiched between the plastic and rubber Steve wrote,

"I'm sure Mr. Ikea never imagined his kitchen shelf liner would be used for this!"

What Steve sent is a home remedy for one of an indoor photographer's biggest problem--harsh shadows from a camera mounted flash.

When multipoint lighting isn't practical many photographers opt for Gary Fong's Lightsphere products. Resembling the business end of a streetlight the sphere fits over a camera mounted flash and diffuses the light. It is very effective. Photos which should be filled with harsh shadows become softly lit. Fong claims to have sold a half million of these bad boys which range from $50 to $160 (depending on additional accouterments).

Here's my confession. I just couldn't imagine spending that much money on some molded plastic. Call me crazy... or cheap. It's just my nature. Obviously I'm not alone.

Steve and I have tried little cloth "bonnets" sold on Ebay and shipped from China. An elastic band is supposed to hold them on the flash. Then there was the suggestion we cut the mouth of a plastic alcohol bottle sold in drugstores and fit it over the flash. These methods work, but were far from perfect. Plus who wants to answer the "is that an alcohol bottle" question an alcohol bottle elicits.

Steve's latest solution seems the best so far. It comes from Artur Gajewski who posted detailed instructions on Instructables.com. Artur claims it costs about 20¢ to make, meaning Steve isn't quite the generous friend I thought he was. All you need is some Velcro and a roll of Ikea's clear drawer mats.

"Basically what it is, is a silicone drawer mat that is placed on the bottom of your kitchen drawers to prevent from scratches and the likes. I bet the IKEA engineers never thought about how great of a product they have for us photographers. You see, it has these nostles or pimples or whatever you want to call them on the surface of the mat. This diffuses the light in an efficient way."

The results are nothing short of amazing and though I feel awful about taking food out of Gary Fong's mouth... not that awful.