Rogue Portrait Lighting Kit

Each of these items deserves their own review, and the FlashBender got it’s own earlier this year. You can read more about that by clicking here. Still, I will try to do this kit some justice in a single write up… but any one of the items contained within this portable kit would stand on it’s own. Think of this lighting kit by Expo Imaging like a music festival where any one of the bands could headline and you get them all for the cost of a single ticket!

Allow me to begin with what I previously reviewed. This is the exact same FlashBender available for purchase separately. This item mounts to your existing Canon Speedlight flash, and allows you the ability to bounce your flash in all sorts of shapes which can provide some very clever lighting.

With a FlashBender attached to your camera you can diffuse the harsh nature of an on camera flash, block a portion of the light for creative lighting, make a tube and use your flash as a spotlight, and anything else your creative self can think of doing. The cool part is that the FlashBender has a bendable skeleton inside which holds firm and bends back to it’s original shape, so you can get as creative as you want. And don’t worry about smudges, you can clean the fabric of the flashbender with ease, so you can spend your time worrying about capturing the perfect portrait instead of worrying about your gear getting thrashed on location (and all the nature photographers say, “Amen!”)

If there is one thing I can’t stand in a portrait, it’s uneven lighting. You can have a beautiful location, a great subject, and a well composed shot and you’ll still look like Tom from MySpace shooting that infamous “duck face” bathroom mirror shot if you have uneven light. Harsh shadows belong in Tim Burton movies, not on beautiful photos. The Diffusion Panel in this kit may be just the ticket to getting rid of crap light on location.

Diffusion just means that light gets sifted so instead of being blasted out all at once. This finer more even light spreads across the surface of your subject like butter across warm toast. Paired with the FlashBender we just talked about, and what you have is a photo that looks so good that all your friends will want to hire you to shoot their weddings. This accessory packs flat and is made to fit using the hook and loop sewn on the edges of your FlashBender. The result you get from this accessory replicates a larger and more expensive soft box.

Sometimes you don’t need as big a bounce as the FlashBender offers. For smaller light reflection, the Bounce Card / Flag combo is the ticket. This can be used to bounce light onto your subject or as a Flag to shield light from your subject (depending on whether you use the reflective white fabric on the card, or the black fabric shielding attachment via velcro).

Whether you use this as a card, or as a flag… this is a great and non-invasive alternative to a larger setup. If you’re shooting the aforementioned wedding, you’ll want to be a part of the background and not in the spotlight. Sometimes size does matter, and with the Bounce Card the little guy wins.

There are 20 dynamic colors and correction filters in this gel kit which attach right to your SpeedLight to create some artistic shots! Of the 20 included colors, there are 5 color correction gels (because it’s always better to shoot what you want rather than trying to correct in post) and 1 diffusion gel.

You might choose to light your scene with a single flash or use several as set up as slaves. Add dramatic lighting or just accent your shot. Instead of investing a ton of your hard earned cash in spotlights or expensive backdrops you can take a simple white or grey and make it any color (or combination of colors) in the rainbow. You can choose from warmer reds and yellows to cooler greens and blues to set the mood of your photo, or you can just correct the light on location to improve the overall quality of your shot. You don’t always get the perk of shooting at the golden hour, but you can still get great light if you know how to light the scene yourself.

These aren’t a cheap ticket item either. These gels are manufactured to a high quality standard and clearly labeled so when you’re in the middle of a hectic schedule on a crazy shoot you won’t accidentally grab the wrong one. You have the f/stop loss and Kelvin color temperature right on the gel so you can set your camera manually to compensate. These gels measure 3″ x 2.5″ so they should fit most typical flashs.

Aside from all the pretty gels this is probably the coolest looking part of this kit. I know it shouldn’t matter, but if photo gear wasn’t cool I probably never would have gotten into photography.

What does this thing even do? That was the first question I asked as I eagerly unwrapped my Rogue Lighting Kit. I tinkered around with it and found this odd little device that has some honeycombed plastic barrels which fit into a little tube and go over the flash. Then I read a little and played a lot, and I was very happy with what I found!

The Honeycomb Grid acts like a spotlight, but with a twist. You get a gradual fall-off of light which makes for a natural and very unique vignette of light. There are three angles, 16°, 25°, and 45°. The smaller degree, the smaller and brighter the light. The larger the degree, the larger and more diffuse the light.

This is an easy to use device which fits right on your flash with ease, and adjusting the degree of light is cake because the rings are moulded so that they fit effortlessly together. There’s no guessing on how it’s supposed to work, this accessory is very intuitive. Expo Imaging says that this is typically used for hair lights in portraiture or as a background or accent light any time a photographer wants a more dramatic effect. I thought it was a fun spotlight, and I can see many creative uses for this accessory outside of studio portraiture. Again here I’d be remiss not to mention the cool factor.

Purchased separately, these would sell for about $170. Each item carries value to a photographer far exceeding that amount, and purchased in this kit you can get everything for less than $150. The creative potential is oozing from this lighting kit, and the cost (and effort) savings you see over bulkier and more cumbersome equipment can not be overstated. Expo Imaging is producing some fantastic lighting equipment that is professional quality at a consumer price point. If you don’t own a Rogue Lighting product, you’re really missing out!