An optical lighting accessory is described for use with a handheld mobile device in photography or videography applications. The handheld mobile device includes at least a rear-facing camera and light source. The optical lighting accessory includes an accessory case having optical light ports and an attachment member for securing the device to the accessory case, an optical element coupled to at least one of the optical light ports, the optical element configured to receive, capture and communicate a plurality of light rays emitted by the light source, and a light diffuser layer coupled to the optical element and configured to receive the light rays communicated by the optical element, the light diffuser layer transforms the light rays into a diffused light source, the diffuser layer is configured to communicate the diffused light source to the rear-facing camera.