Ouch, Lightstand Fell Over

Yup, fell over yesterday. I had my 580 EX on my nano stand w/ an umbrella, everything was going good and then the slightest unnoticeable gust came along and blew it all over. The only casualty is the shoe mount clamp (busted right in half). My 580EX also got a tiny tiny scratch on the side of it. I feel lucky to have only lost the clamp (probably protected the mount on my 580EX by breaking).

Anyway, I went out and purchased two all weather 15lb sandbags to prevent this from happening again. The 15lb bags were $30/each which I thought was quite expensive, but the other option was 5lb bags which were $25/each and I would have wanted at least four of the 5lb bags which would given me 2/3 the weight for about twice the cost.

I'm interested to know if anyone has any thoughts on using one 15lb bag/stand outside. Is that enough? Too much?

You could go to Wal-Mart's sporting goods section and get ankle weights. They would be more cost-effective and can do double-duty (holding your light stands down and as exercise weights).

SkipD wrote in post #6009934
You could go to Wal-Mart's sporting goods section and get ankle weights. They would be more cost-effective and can do double-duty (holding your light stands down and as exercise weights).

I thought about that, but after checking prices at a few locations they didn't seem that much cheaper. The sales dude at my local camera store talked me into getting the all weather bags; he said that if the sand gets wet I will need to replace the bags shortly after becausethey will start to smell andthe bags themselves would rot. I don't know it it's true, but the AW bags were only $5 more. They had sme Boa bags that were filled w/ steel shot and much smaller; however they were way expensive.

I bought 10# of ankle weights from Target for $15.00 a set; got 2 sets.

What about Gallon bottles of water for weights they have a handle to carry them and are pretty cheap and in a pinch if you are in an area that has water you can just carry the bottle and fill it on location. Another idea maybe tent pegs if you are on bare ground. Just a couple of my thoughts on the subject John

I use giant staples made for geotextile when I'm working on soft ground. I just staple two of the legs to ground and shoot away. They work really well and are dirt cheap, but they are absolutely no good when your stand is on concrete or any other type of hard surface.

You could probably get by with the milk jugs, but I could see them being a royal PITA compared to sand bags. I do do a lot of hiking and if I ever decide to bring along some flashes the milk jugs would be just the ticket to minimize my pack weight.

Anyway I just wanted to post this to get people to start thinking about light stand stabilization if they they don't have some sort of system already. Really, yesterday it didn't seem like there was even the slightest breeze and then all of a sudden... wham. I have been doing a lot of research on studio lighting and off camera flash and today at the camera store was the first time I have heard of the sandbags.

Everyone handles this differently.

Three words....

SAND BAGS BABY!

I don't ever do a location shoot without having my duffle bag with sand bags. Whether you use water, sand, gravel, bird seed (lol), etc.. doesn't matter.

An aluminum light stand with a modifier and slight breeze can be the downfall of a shoot. I never take that chance even if I don't see or feel a breeze. I believe in being better safe than sorry.

The cost of bags is cheap compared to the cost of strobes.

Double Negative wrote in post #6013495
The cost of bags is cheap compared to the cost of strobes.

Great point! Kinda like filters as opposed to front elements!

ben_r_ wrote in post #6024088
Great point! Kinda like hoods as opposed to front elements!

Corrected

It had to be done

I had the same thing happen...the only casualty was the foot of my off camera cord and one umbrella. All things considered it could have been much worse!

ben_r_ wrote in post #6024088
Great point! Kinda like filters as opposed to front elements!

Oh, you didn't just go there...

TMR Design wrote in post #6012527
Everyone handles this differently.

Three words....

SAND BAGS BABY!

I don't ever do a location shoot without having my duffle bag with sand bags. Whether you use water, sand, gravel, bird seed (lol), etc.. doesn't matter.

.

haha... hmmm, which would be heavier, 15 pounds of sand or 15 pound of bird seed?

ben_r_ wrote in post #6024088
Great point! Kinda like filters as opposed to front elements!

NoooOOOooOOOoo...

I got myself some coin bags from the bank because they are very strong. Then filled heavy duty plastic bags with either child sand pit sand or kiln dried sand, the kind that is used in the paving industry. It is important that the sand is perfectly dry. Gaffer tape the bags secure and put inside the coin bags. TIP - don't over fill the bags, they need to drape over the stand.

Good idea Tony.