D-I-Y Studio-On-The-Go! Thanks Derrel!

[tirediron]

One thing that's been bothering me recently is lack of light during small, out-door portrait sessions in parks and other places away from mains power and where toting a full kit's worth of studio gear isn't really practical. I was puzzling over solutions when I remembered a post (possibly more than one) by Derrel in which me mentioned putting a light, inverter and such in a granny cart to tow around. I realized I had pretty much everything I needed already except for the box, so I started thinking and came up with this rig, which uses my most single most valuable piece of photographic gear, my wheelie-ladder-dolly and contains an Innovatronix Explorer XT inverter, a 200 w/s Speedotron Brownline power supply, Tri-level controller, MW3U flash head, lightstand and umbrella. Everything fits VERY nicely into the Clever Crate which is lashed to the dolly part of the ladder.

Rather than tote sandbags, if there's a bit of wind, or things aren't even, I can simply lash the lightstand to the ladder frame; with everything in the box, it weighs 25 pounds or so, and if that won't hold it, I probably shouldn't be shooting...

Inverter (10+ years old and still good for 200+ full power pops on the 800 w/s power supply!), Brownline 200 w/s power supply and Tri-Level controller

Ready to roll!

It works very well, is quick and easy to set up, and I could actually tote a 4 or 800 w/s power supply and two lights & stands if I wanted. Definitely going to make small, remote location shooting a LOT easier.

 

[table1349]

Blessed Be Idleness for that sir is one Damn Fine Idea.

Wished I had thought of it. I too have a similar ladder and use a plastic trunk with wheels on one end as well. This is much simpler than my solution to combine the two.

 

[DarkShadow]

Clever Idea.

 

[Rick50]

Pretty clever idea. I need to find a box like that as I have a cart.
Now if you can just hook-up with Trever for some Models and your all set.

 

[tirediron]

View attachment 120216

Blessed Be Idleness for that sir is one Damn Fine Idea.

Wished I had thought of it. I too have a similar ladder and use a plastic trunk with wheels on one end as well. This is much simpler than my solution to combine the two.

Thanks! I'm happy to admit it... I'm lazy! Plain, pure & simple!

Clever Idea.

Cheers!

Pretty clever idea. I need to find a box like that as I have a cart.
Now if you can just hook-up with Trever for some Models and your all set.

That would be nice, wouldn't it. For anyone interested, this is the crate I used (46l solid-wall version).

 

[jcdeboever]

Brilliant.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[KmH]

Usually, if there is a will there is a way.
Well done.

 

[Watchful]

That's one way to do it.

 

[tirediron]

Brilliant.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Thanks!

Usually, if there is a will there is a way.
Well done.

Yep, and when you're as lazy as I am...

That's one way to do it.

It is... doubtless there are a dozen others, but this seems to suit my needs.

 

[Derrel]

Yeah....I've mentioned this a couple of times over the years. My current rig is made with a PFC luggage cart and one, or two, stacking crates. I also use a Tronix Explorer 1200, similar to yours but not quite as peppy as the XT model...the doggone thing weighs about 18 pounds.

Last month I was eyeing a sexier, newer, heavier-duty hand-truck at Office Depot, had I think 350 pound max weight rating, and was $39.95. I like this basic rig-up because it's got a LOT of ballast weight, about 32 pounds with the D402 pack in the crate, along with the inverter.

Today I took out the photo gear and threw it into my rig and took my son shooting, and instead of a pack and inverter, we put in the ammo bag, 4 handguns in small cases, targets, ballpoint pen, ear protection, duct tape, targets, water bottles, baseball caps, shooting glasses, etc.. We went to my brother's indoor/outdoor range and we sent lead downrange for multiple hours. Had a blast!

 

[Solarflare]

WHOW !!! AWESOME !!!

Definitely something I want to have now, too !

 

[pjaye]

This is brilliant.

 

[tirediron]

Yeah....I've mentioned this a couple of times over the years. My current rig is made with a PFC luggage cart and one, or two, stacking crates. I also use a Tronix Explorer 1200, similar to yours but not quite as peppy as the XT model...the doggone thing weighs about 18 pounds.

Last month I was eyeing a sexier, newer, heavier-duty hand-truck at Office Depot, had I think 350 pound max weight rating, and was $39.95. I like this basic rig-up because it's got a LOT of ballast weight, about 32 pounds with the D402 pack in the crate, along with the inverter.

Today I took out the photo gear and threw it into my rig and took my son shooting, and instead of a pack and inverter, we put in the ammo bag, 4 handguns in small cases, targets, ballpoint pen, ear protection, duct tape, targets, water bottles, baseball caps, shooting glasses, etc.. We went to my brother's indoor/outdoor range and we sent lead downrange for multiple hours. Had a blast!

I need to refine my method of attaching the crate to the dolly; I'm thinking a couple of strips of 1x1/8 aluminum strapping, 1/4NC bolts & wing-nuts, but other than that, it's ideal.

WHOW !!! AWESOME !!!

Definitely something I want to have now, too !

This is brilliant.

Thanks Barb!

 

[Derrel]

My next planned venture is a beach buggy rig...maybe basing the chassis off that of one of those 3-wheeled baby/child carriers for running parents...I saw one CHEAP at Goodwill last summer, and like an idiot, did not buy it! This one looks good, with the two, 20-inch diameter biccyle wheels on the back, but I would not want to pay $489 for this device. Thule Chariot Cheetah 1 Multi-Sport Child Carrier with Strolling Kit Green