Do you already own a Rogue Flash Bender made by ExpoImaging? If so, then you will definitely want to pick up one of the new Diffusion Screens. These handy screens improve the light from the flash bender by diffusing the light giving it a softer quality, especially when used in close to your subjects.
The Rogue Flash Benders are handy speedlight modifiers that simply velcro on to your flash, and can then be adjusted and formed to better control and shape the light. The new Diffusion Screens simply velcro on to your already existing Flash Bender and help to spread and soften that light. The new Diffusion Screens also come in two sizes, one for the large Flash Bender and another for the smaller one. The large screen creates a 9" by 8" source of light and the smaller one is 9" by 4.5".
To give a frame of reference of the differences between using a bare flash and the Flash Bender with the new Diffusion Screens, check out the images below.
You can see in the photo above and to the left, what a hard shadow a bare speedlight creates, while in the photo to the right you can see how softer the shadows are and how much more diffused the light is by using the Flash Bender and Diffusion Screen. The flash used to light both of these photos was the same distance from the subject and also at the same angle. This modifier also appears to use roughly 2 stops of light. The only post work done to these photos was cropping, and combining them on one frame.
For something a little more useful, check out this portrait of my beautiful model using just a bare speedlight. While this particular model looks good in just about any light source, notice how hard the shadow lines are and how there is a little more texture and detail in the face. Also notice the shadow on the back wall and how sharp it appears.
In this next portrait, I used the large Flash Bender with the Diffusion Screen and right off you notice the better quality of light. The shadow lines appear much softer and the fall off of light on the background is much more subtle and diffused. Its hard to notice in these photos, but also the Flash Bender creates a larger catch light in the eyes, especially when using them in closer to your subject.
Another nice benefit of using these modifiers, is that they are light weight, and fold down so that they can be stuffed in just about any sized gear bag.
To see how the Diffusion Screens attach to your speedlight, check out this short video clip below...
The Diffusion Screens are sold separately from the Flash Benders so if you already own a Rogue Flash Bender (or two), you definitely will want to pick yourself up one of these. Maybe in the future ExpoImaging will come out with a deal for those folks that don't have either, which will include a Flash Bender AND a Diffusion Screen in one package. (hint, hint) :)
Chances are, if you're a photographer, you probably have dozens of AA batteries lying around. These days it seems like everything photography related uses them (if you're lucky), from speedlights, to radio triggers, to light meters etc etc. I know I have at least around three dozen batteries, all of which are rechargeable, and it can be a chore to keep them all organized and together.
I have tried every method and product imaginable for storing and keeping my batteries organized but have now found a product I truly love! Chris at Outdoor Photo Gear tipped me off to the PowerPax Battery Caddies. These little guys are a breeze to use and take up little to no space. What I really love about them is that I can keep groups of four batteries together, in a small and compact, secure device.
These caddies are made of a hard, durable plastic and aren't much bigger than a set of four AA batteries in your hand. The batteries simply pop in through the bottom of the case and snap into place, ensuring a snug fit. They won't fall out, due to the design of the case, however you can easily pop the batteries out with one hand, which if you shoot weddings or other venues where you need to reload batteries quickly, this feature can save valuable time. When on an assignment, I always carry at least two sets of AA batteries in my pockets and up until now, I felt like I had aliens growing out of my legs due to the size of the battery case. But with these new caddies, you don't even notice them in your pockets.
Another thing I really like about this system, is that you can get these cases that will hold various quantities and types. I personally prefer the 4-packs because most of the devices I use, either hold four AA's or two such as my radio triggers. The 4-packs are handy to me because one important thing with batteries is to not mix and match them. In other words, when you get a quantity of rechargeable batteries, you always want to keep them in the original group, otherwise you can have problems keeping them charged. Some chargers will not charge batteries evenly when you have batteries of various charge levels in the charger. So, when I get a set of four batteries, I mark them with a sharpie so that I know which set goes together. The new PowerPax cases now enable me to keep those same four batteries together in a much easier system.
A couple of other cool tidbits about the PowerPax caddies is that they come in multiple colors, which can help you even more in organizing your batteries. You can even get them in a glow-in-the-dark color! ...which should come in handy for all you night flashers ;)
This product has been on the market for some time and apparently, pilots, the military and other similar groups have been using these with great success. Now I can see these really taking off in the photography world.
To show how easy these are to use, I included a short video showing how to load and unload the batteries. (please excuse my poor video skills) Again I have to say I REALLY love this product and am planning on getting one of these for every set of batteries I have.
Finally! After many, many months (possibly even a year or so) of research and investigating, I finally purchased myself a ring light, or rather a ring flash modifier that I can use with my existing speedlights.
There are several makes and models to choose from which made the process a little more difficult than I expected, but I made a decision based on my shooting style, what would work with what I already have, and what my pocket book could let go of.
I decided on the Orbis Ring Flash adapter for quite a few reasons. Number one, it will work with my speedlights ...all of them. There are a few other ring flash adapters made for speedlights but some of them will only fit specific models. The Orbis is designed to be a universal fit, and it does indeed fit both sizes of my Nikon speedlights.
The next reason I chose the Orbis over other brands is that I like the quality of the light it produces. It doesn't seem to be as hard of a light source as some of the others, and its soft enough that I can use it off axis as another type of light modifier.
Yet another reason I picked the Orbis is that it is small and lightweight. I considered buying a self contained ring flash unit., but I know me, and if it's too much trouble to haul around, I simply won't use it. Plus, with a self contained unit, I would need additional power such as A/C or a battery pack, which is pretty inconvenient in most cases.
The last reason I picked the Orbis is cost. Pure and simple it seemed to me to be the best bang for the buck that I could afford. It cost me $200 which in my book, is more than fair enough, considering the quality of the product, and what it enables me to do. No other light source I have will give me the look the Orbis does.
Now, on to why I wanted a ring flash. I have to admit, I do love the simple portrait-against-the-wall-with-a-ring-flash look, but nowdays it seems way over done. That being said, I have shot a ton of shots like that just because I've never been able to get that "full-shadow halo" effect before as you can see in this pic. It's very big in certain circles, but its not the only trick I want in my bag.
What I'm more interested in with the Orbis ring flash is the ability to create on axis, fill light. When working with off camera lighting, you can create some really dramatic shadows. However, sometimes you might want those shadows to be a little more "opened up" in the darker recesses of your shot. That's where the Orbis absolutely sings! You can light someone or something with a hard or soft light off camera at a sharp angle, and then where you get those deep dark shadows, like in this photo, you can fill it in with just a wink of light from the ring flash. It's pretty much an effect that can be tailored to your own tastes, but the point is, using an on axis fill allows you to control those shadows and details as much or as little as you want.
"Why not just use and on camera flash or the pop-up flash on your camera for on axis fill" you say? Because it's just not the same quality of light--believe me I've tried it. A mounted, on camera flash will throw off a funny angle when shooting portraits and is also pretty harsh light. The pop-up flash will do the same somewhat and is not nearly as powerful as a separate flash unit. So the answer is definitely the Orbis!
Another neat thing about the Orbis is that due to the quality of the light it produces, it makes a really cool off axis light modifier. In this photo, I used my speedlight in the Orbis, dialed way down to just create a little fill light (camera left) to make more of an open, airy feeling shadow side. It's almost not even there, but just enough to make it noticeable. Sometimes less is more. (The main light for this shot was a speedlight in a 24" softbox camera right).
So in a nutshell, my overall impression and view of the Orbis Ring Flash adapter is fantastic. I absolutely love using it and hope to experiment more with it soon.
Oh, and you nature photographers out there, give it a shot with flowers. Incredible!
For something a little more useful, check out this portrait of my beautiful model using just a bare speedlight. While this particular model looks good in just about any light source, notice how hard the shadow lines are and how there is a little more texture and detail in the face. Also notice the shadow on the back wall and how sharp it appears.
In this next portrait, I used the large Flash Bender with the Diffusion Screen and right off you notice the better quality of light. The shadow lines appear much softer and the fall off of light on the background is much more subtle and diffused. Its hard to notice in these photos, but also the Flash Bender creates a larger catch light in the eyes, especially when using them in closer to your subject.
