When One Sandbag Is Not Enough...

[Mark Elberson]

I was shooting on the beach of a small lake last weekend. The weather was gorgeous, but apparently there was the occasional wind gust. I was moving around the location and was about 50 feet from my lighting setup when I heard the unmistakable sound of a light stand crashing to the ground :-(

Here are the specifics:

Einstein E640 Flash Unit
13-foot Heavy Duty Light Stand
64" Extreme Silver PLM™ with On-Axis Speedring Mount
25 lb Sandbag

Here is the end result:



The silver lining, everything else faired well. My flash unit performed flawlessly later that day back in the studio. I got LUCKY!

[Jayson]

Very lucky indeed. Glad there was only minor damage!

[Sean Setters]

That's one reason I shy away from using my 63" PLM outside. When I do, I usually use 3 sandbags. ;-)

[Mark Elberson]

That's one reason I shy away from using my 63" PLM outside. When I do, I usually use 3 sandbags. ;-)

Yep, after that I said to myself, "maybe I should just use these things indoors" :-) It was weird, barely a noticeable breeze but when I picked up the sorry looking PLM from the ground I almost blew away with it! I'm thinking a beauty dish may be a little less of a sail :-) I just love how efficient and soft PLMs can be though!

[Steve U]

Ouch handy lesson for all of us.