Professor Kobré’s Lightscoop

07/02/08

Professor Ken Kobré’s best-selling textbook “Photojournalism: The Professionals’ Approach” has educated generations of professional photographers. Now the professor has packed the professionals’ approach into a simple lighting accessory. Professor Kobré’s Lightscoop™ instantly improves photos taken with the pop-up flash in certain Canon, Nikon, and Pentax 35mm SLR cameras—THE solution to ugly flash pictures.

No more red eye, harsh shadows, uneven and unnatural lighting. No technical expertise required.

Professor Kobré’s Lightscoop™ allows owners of certain SLRs with built-in flash to fully exploit their cameras’ potential without having to invest immediately in an expensive external flash. More advanced users who own an external flash will appreciate the Lightscoop as a lightweight, simple alternative for casual shooting when they’d prefer to leave their camera bags at home. The Lightscoop fits easily into a shirt pocket.

Professor Kobré began experimenting with the pop-up flash units in the Nikon and Canon SLR cameras when his students began showing up with those cameras in his classes. Though not the top-of-the-line digital models, these cameras still make a dent in a student budget. Adding the external flash is often cost-prohibitive for beginning shooters.

“I was impressed with the cameras’ technical excellence and light weight,” he says. “But I hated the ugly effects of the flash.

“In my classes, I demand that my students NEVER use direct flash. Of course, I spend a lot of time teaching them how to bounce an external flash in order to achieve more even, natural-looking lighting.

“Since the strobes on these cameras are just powerful enough to bounce and still properly expose a picture, I started experimenting with ways to redirect the light from the pop-up flash to bounce it off a ceiling or wall. I finally came up with the Lightscoop. The Lightscoop immediately solves most indoor flash problems. The great results sometimes surprise even me.

“I’m a professional,” he says, “but I love it for casual shooting.”

Professor Kobré calls his Lightscoop an ideal intermediary lighting tool for beginners who can’t yet afford the external strobe.

For non-professionals, he points out, the Lightscoop is the one additional piece of equipment that will instantly improve their photography — a $29.95 non-technical solution. They may graduate to an external strobe and all its bells and whistles later, but they won’t have to decide at the get-go between ugly flash pictures and breaking the bank.

“I wouldn’t head out for a professional assignment with just the Lightscoop,” he says, “but for most casual shooting situations, it’s ideal for creating professionally lit images using the pop-up flash in these cameras.”

Professor Kobré’s Lightscoop is available in two versions, one with a standard mirror and another with a gold-tinted mirror to provide a warming effect.

Ken Kobré is the author of “Photojournalism: The Professionals’ Approach” and inventor of Professor Kobré’s Lightscoop, the only camera accessory that instantly improves pop-up flash photos. For more information, see http://www.lightscoop.com, or contact Professor Kobré at asktheprof@lightscoop.com.

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Photo Quote: Think about the photo before and after, never during. The secret is to take your time. You mustn't go too fast. The subject must forget about you. Then, however, you must be very quick. - Henri Cartier-Bresson