Effect Lighting With the Rogue Flashbender Softbox

Introduction

The Rogue Flashbender v3 is an incredible (maybe even indispensable) accessory for event and wedding photographers shooting with a single on-camera flash. In my opinion it is just the ultimate bounce “card” one can get.

But wait, there is more!

The Flashbender can be purchased with an optional cover that turns it into a softbox - so I wondered whether it can be used to create a unique lighting effect for outdoor fashion portraiture - spoiler: It can!

Rogue Flashbender with the softbox attachment

Effect Lighting with the Flashbender Softbox

This is the dramatic look - note that the model had no makeup and only a tiny amount of retouching was required!

Setup

Choose a focal length between 50 to 90mm - the example images where shot with a Voigtlander 58mm lens.

I found that the easiest way to attach the softbox to the Flashbender is to first attach the reflector to the flash and then put the whole thing on a flat surface, so the softbox attachment can be fixed conveniently.

The Rogue Flashbender mounted on the camera flash - quite an impressive combination.

Camera Settings

I recommend setting the camera to fully manual and aim for about three stops under-exposure. The less under-exposure without flash, the less apparent the effect of the flash will be.

Also, set the flash to a balanced TTL-mode if available.

On a Nikon camera, go for the TTL BL setting for a well-balanced flash output.

So what happens is that we get kind of a beauty dish look but with somewhat dramatic shadows because of the lighting position. The further the camera is moved down, the lesser the nose shadow will be. The rules teach you to avoid harsh nose and chin shadows at all cost - but I don’t care about the rules - I prefer an interesting look instead.

Lighting diagram - side view

If I would have to describe the results, I’d say it is somewhat of a compact camera flash look but with a strong portion of beauty dish mixed in. Thanks to the size and direction of the light source, skin defects are greatly diminished.

Depending on the distance between the subject and the photographer, an off-center subject might influence the shadow direction slightly.