Light stands for weddings

[sactown024]

I am looking to pick up a couple light stands for wedding creatives and receptions. I am looking for something that has a little weight to it, the ones I have now are so wobbly and cheap, I paid like $10 for them when I was first getting into OCF. Also would like something that expands and retracts fast for easy setup.

Anyone use the cheetah stands? Any other recommendations?

 

[Big Mike]

It's always going to be a compromise. With weddings, there is often a lot of carrying the gear from place to place....so it's actually nice to have smaller, lighter stands. Of course, that means they will likely be less durable and less stable, but that's the compromise. One school of thought is that they are going to get used and abused anyway, so just by cheap ones and treat them as consumables. The other side of that is to buy big, robust stands that will take plenty of abuse...but be prepared to haul them around (maybe a problem for your assistant :er: ).

As for brands, it's hard to go wrong with Manfrotto.

A photographer that I shoot with sometimes, has a set of Manfrotto stands that stack or lock together when collapsed. That makes it a lot easier when you have to haul two or three of them to a location.

 

[sactown024]

thanks mike -

the ones I have are really cheap, PITA to setup and break down, they will mainly be used for receptions, when I do the creatives with the bride and groom ill just my assistant as my lightstand

 

[Derrel]

Avenger turtle-base STEEL stands do NOT get knocked over. They are heavy, but they are also very safe and stable. They can easily hold a softybox and 5-pound flash head without any need for a boom stand or boom arm. They are excellent in the wind and on uneven ground as well. A real bugger to carry, unless you have a small cart though.

Not sure if you know this, but if you are using "normal", light-weight aluminum lightstands at crowded events, one of the safest things to do is to ALWAYS clip or tape the light's power cord to the bottom, center of the stand, down near the floor. Because WHEN (not 'if", but "when") somebody's foot catches the cord as he walks, the light stand will simply scoot along the floor. If the cord runs from the ground, up, and then up to the flash head or monolight on the stand, if a person gets tangled in the cord and walks, then the pull tips the flash and stand OVER, from the top, where it's heavy, and the light falls down, and goes BOOM! (or tinnnnk...), and there goes a flashtube, and the reflector is often dented.

This is why there are cable-clips sold for the more-popular light stands...they allow you to "clip" the cable in very easily.

A second thing are caster-bases; these wheel sets are handy at preventing "fall down, go BOOM!" issues in case a person gets tangled with the cord.

 

[sactown024]

haha thanks Derrel - I use speedlights with triggers and power packs so I dont really need to worry about anyone tripping on cords. No way am I carrying strobes to a wedding, although I have seen it done.

 

[hirejn]

I use the Flashpoint stands from Adorama for Speedlights. They work great. Air cushioned stands are a good idea to protect equipment.

 

[Dion2020]

Well buddy i use the Flash light for that purpose and result of that light has excellent you must try in their home.Any body wants to share any information about it dude???

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