We’re big fans of LumoPro here at Midwest Photo Exchange and proud to be their exclusive U.S. dealer. Their products are affordable, durable, innovative, not to mention they work really, really well.

“LumoPro is a company that’s for photographers, by photographers,” says Kevin Deskins, LumoPro’s Product Manager (who also happens to teach our Off Camera Flash classes), the driving force behind products as widely revered as LumoPro’s famed flash, the LP160. The guiding philosophy behind LumoPro, Deskins says, is to offer lighting products at an affordable price without sacrificing quality. We think that’s a business model that any photographer can get behind.

Deskins’ experience as a photographer allows him to develop LumoPro’s product line with the perspective of how a product will function for the photographer. Being so directly keyed into the photography world means that Deskins has a good idea of how popular and how useful a product will be.

Most photo gear takes what it’s predecessors have done and builds off that. The first thing that LumoPro considers when developing a product is how to make a good product great. That includes making a product more durable and more functional. “The LP604 is a good example of this,” Deskins says. “We saw room for improvement in the light stand industry, so we made a light stand that we would want to use.”

LumoPro also takes its customer relations very seriously. “LumoPro wants to have real conversations with its customers,” says Deskins, “not just cookie-cutter canned responses.” Not only does it help build relationships with customers and photographers around the world, but it also can help drive product development. What better way to give the customer what they want than by asking them what they want?

This direct, transparent communication with their customers can be seen on LumoPro’s Facebook and Twitter feeds. There customers have direct access to LumoPro, and LumoPro responds to every question and comment they receive. It’s about education and it’s about having fun, Deskins says. “I’m not afraid to joke. I don’t care if I’m not funny. I’m going to try to be anyways.”

Over the past few months, LumoPro has been rolling out some of its best products. The LP739 Double Flash Speedring Bracket, which was released this past October, typifies LumoPro’s dedication to improving products with photographers in mind. LumoPro saw that there was room for improvement in existing double flash brackets: either they were too expensive, or they were hard to acquire and were made with less durable materials. Plus, they did not fit existing speedrings. LumoPro saw the limitations of existing double flash brackets and set to producing one that existed alongside softboxes that customers already owned. They improved sliding features and used magnesium alloy instead of aluminum since it’s lighter and more durable.

More recently, LumoPro released its new 22″ Multi-Mount Beauty Dish, adopting the relatively new swappable beauty dish design while pricing it at a lower cost for customers. The Multi-Mount Beauty dish adopts an interchangeable mounting adapter, making it compatible with many different lightsources, from your standard speedlights to more high-end studio lighting equipment. Additionally, the dish’s adapter is used in standard speedrings, including the LP739, making it an incredibly versatile modifier. It’s usable with virtually any lighting system but at a lower price. And you can buy it with a grid.

Another quality that LumoPro strives for is paying attention to the small details. This goes for the LP605S, which is the LP605 but with a strap, making the most portable light stand even more portable. “We are just constantly trying to improve in every aspect of our products,” says Deskins.

LumoPro’s newest offering to the lighting world is the LP735, LumoPro’s new umbrella. The coolest feature in the new umbrella is that all three umbrella types–white bounce-off, white shoot-through, and silver bounce-off–are represented in the umbrella, giving photographers an incredible amount of lighting versatility in one simple product. It also comes with an improved, roomier case. “Most umbrella cases are tight and it’s difficult to get the umbrella back in,” Deskins says. “Ours practically has a guest room and 1-1/2 baths.”

LumoPro is constantly improving and innovating lighting products. They know what customers want, and they’re not afraid to have a real conversation with their fans. These reasons are why LumoPro rocks.