{"id":439,"date":"2024-12-06T23:17:09","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T23:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/?p=439"},"modified":"2022-07-01T15:32:33","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T15:32:33","slug":"never-struggle-to-carry-your-off-camera-lights-again-a-diy-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/?p=439","title":{"rendered":"Never Struggle to Carry Your Off Camera Lights Again! A DIY Solution"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Do It Yourself Solution \u2014 Easily transport your off camera flash lighting equipment\u2026<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s hard to carry all the lighting gear from session to session\u2026 it\u2019s cumbersome and heavy.<\/h4>\n

If you shoot portraits with artificial lights, you share the same disdain as\u00a0me for carrying the cumbersome equipment for anything and everything off-camera-flash. \u00a0Not only are we carrying a camera or two, we have a lens bag, lights, light stand, umbrella or softbox, and of course, after a couple wind-generated accidents and broken parts, a\u00a020 lb. sandbag. \u00a0And when we need to move to a different location, contemplating\u00a0whether we collapse the light stand or just carry it to the next location, make\u00a0a second trip for\u00a0the sandbag, or just carry everything and looking like an unbalanced penguin.<\/p>\n

Or better yet, just leave all the lighting gear behind, label ourself a natural light photographer, and just play up the nice romantic\u00a0blown-out backgrounds, or better yet, just shoot only at the perfect golden hour.<\/p>\n

Sigh\u2026 let\u2019s just say \u201cbeen there, done that\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

So in a quest to solve this dilemma, I\u00a0had been\u00a0searching for that perfect light stand that\u2019s going to move with me easily from place to place. \u00a0A rollable stand that I can carry my gear on and also use the gear weight to replace the evil\u00a0sandbag. \u00a0A stand light enough that I can stow and remove easily from my car. \u00a0A stand that\u2019s quick to setup. \u00a0A stand that\u2019s not going to cost me an arm and a leg to make, since obviously there\u2019s none for sale that I know of.<\/p>\n

The inspiration:<\/h4>\n

One interesting solution I saw online was made out of a golf cart. \u00a0As a golfer (okay, that\u2019s a stretch), I know that golf carts can bear the weight of a heavy golf bag while traversing\u00a0over\u00a0smooth concrete surfaces, the not-so-smooth wet and dry grass fields, dirt, rocks, and even balance over steps. \u00a0Plus, they\u2019re designed to be lightweight, so you can haul it in and out of a car, and they\u2019re designed to hold a pretty heavy golf bag.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the\u00a0original\u00a0version of this golf push cart light stand was made by a fellow photographer, Peter Nguyen, and a\u00a0follow-on\u00a0by Joseph Philbert. \u00a0Both these solutions use a version of a\u00a0Bag Boy brand golf cart, which can be\u00a0pretty pricey brand\u00a0new, but you can sometimes find them\u00a0on Craigslist if you\u2019re lucky. \u00a0And they both use a solution that requires some drilling. \u00a0I don\u2019t mind drilling, but I wanted to avoid doing that if somehow the solution I came up with didn\u2019t work, and I needed to return something.<\/p>\n

My solution \u2014 based on the inspiration described above:<\/h4>\n

I found a similar\u00a0solution using a\u00a0CaddyTek SuperLite Deluxe Golf Push Cart\"ir, which sells for approximately $80 on Amazon new. \u00a0The solution still called for drilling a hole, but I challenged myself to\u00a0come up with a simpler solution that didn\u2019t require drilling. \u00a0If I couldn\u2019t come up with the solution, this would be what I would\u2019ve gone with.<\/p>\n

So thus began my mad research\u00a0online,\u00a0and three days later, I have this, using the same CaddyTek Golf Cart\u2026<\/h4>\n

\"AWP_9420-4103<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No drilling required<\/strong>, and the total cost of parts for this DIY solution \u2014 about\u00a0$170<\/strong>, of course, not including light, battery, softbox, gear bag, reflector, and water bottle. \u00a0While that might seem a little pricey to some, the benefit of a more stress-free shoot outweighs what amounts to a small fraction of what I\u2019ve spent on photography gear.<\/p>\n

So, the cart was identified, but what would I use for hanging the light? \u00a0Backing up a little, as I was contemplating what I can use for a light stand, I found that my\u00a0Impact Telescopic Collapsible Reflector Holder\"ir\u00a0which for some reason hasn\u2019t seem light of day, could be extended to like a\u00a0light stand and with the\u00a03\/8\u2033 diameter tip, I can mount and secure a speedlite adapter or a strobe. \u00a0It\u2019s not the typical 5\/8\u2033 diameter you see with light stands, but I mounted and screwed my speedlite adapter and my Paul C. Buff Einstein strobe, and they both seem to attach pretty solidly.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the\u00a0Impact Telescopic Collapsible Reflector Holder\"ir\u00a0looks.<\/p>\n

\"AWP_9442<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s the 3\/8\u2033 tip where the speedlite adapter or strobe would attach to.<\/p>\n

\"AWP_9443<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, I just needed a clamp that would tighten on the golf cart and at the same time provide a long enough\u00a0stub to mount the reflector holder.<\/p>\n

I had remembered that a\u00a0Manfrotto 035RL Super Clamp\"ir\u00a0came with a short stub just for mounting speedlites to wherever the Super\u00a0Clamp can be clamped on.<\/p>\n

\"AWP_9422<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And sure enough, that would work, but I felt I needed a longer stub to offset the reflector holder. \u00a0Luckily, I found a cheap solution with the\u00a0Avenger E600C 5\/8-Inch Snap-In Steel Pin for Super Clamp\"ir. \u00a0This is how they look connected.<\/p>\n

\"AWP_9423<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Super\u00a0Clamp comes with a little wedge that can be placed in the jaw to clamp onto a flat surface. \u00a0Make sure that wedge is in place. \u00a0The above photos show it in place, but it doesn\u2019t come pre-connected to the clamp. \u00a0Here\u2019s how the wedge looks separated from the clamp.<\/p>\n

Now you\u2019re ready to connect the clamp to the shaft of the golf cart. \u00a0I find that it\u2019s good to stick a strong velcro to the shaft on both sides before clamping so make sure the clamp doesn\u2019t slide around the smooth shaft. \u00a0I use the\u00a0Velcro Brand Industrial Strength Tape\"ir. \u00a0You may have something like this lying around the house.<\/p>\n

And make sure to tighten as much as you can without bending the shaft. \u00a0This is what\u2019s going to secure\u00a0the reflector holder and softbox while they\u2019re swaying in the wind. \u00a0Connect the reflector holder to the stud and tighten.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Straighten the post of the reflector holder. \u00a0It should be vertical.<\/p>\n

\"AWP_9435<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And adjust the post to be about 6 inches off the floor. \u00a0The post should be touching the golf cart\u2019s lower shaft. \u00a0Secure the post to the shaft with a long strip of velcro. \u00a0This will help limit\u00a0sideway movement of the post and will put less pressure on the clamp should the wind picks up. Make sure this velcro does not have the sticky glue and is easily removable so you can disconnect\u00a0the reflector holder from the golf cart.<\/p>\n

This is how everything\u00a0should look assembled.<\/p>\n

The really cool thing is that the main parts used can be re-used for other purposes since everything comes apart really easily. \u00a0The reflector holder can still be used on top of a light stand if you want to hang it down or at an angle. \u00a0The super clamp can be used to hang speedlites inconspicuously in a lot of places, for instance if you\u2019re shooting an event. \u00a0And of course, you can go for a round of 18 with the golf cart.<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Do It Yourself Solution \u2014 Easily transport your off camera flash…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-photography-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=439"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":597,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439\/revisions\/597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lumefind.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}