A Tip - A Better Sand Bag For Light Stands

Just something that I tried several years ago that has worked much better than sand bags for stabilizing my light stands. I didn't like using sand in the bags, because they leaked sand onto the floor. Switching to small gravel improved this, but I would still sometimes find gravel on my floor. I even tried putting the gravel into zip lock plastic bags and then into the photography type nylon sand bags, but after some use the zip lock bags would get torn. I haven't given up entirely on sand bag use, but for light stands I think I've found a better way. Less use = less chance of getting gravel on the floor.

I had a few of these canope leg weights (see photo) and tried them for weighting my light stands. They worked so well for me that I have purchased more and now I no longer weight the light stands in my studio with anything else. These leg weights are 4 lbs each and made of concrete, but their outer cover is PVC plastic. They don't scrape finish off of anything and have a smooth outer surface and rounded edges, so they are easy to handle and move when needed. The slot in them is 1 3/16 wide, so it fits all of my lighter weight light stands. I use one or two of these placed on the leg braces and around the post part of the legs. If I use two, I'll place them with the slot opposing each other. In this way they are less likely to slide off.

Charley

Hello Charley! Welcome to the site! Good job for joining us here. 

Hey there Charley! Welcome to the site! It is nice to meet you! 

Welcome Charley! Nice to meet you as well! 

Thanks for the big welcome everyone.

I'm new to "Photography Talk", but not really new to photography. I've been in and out of photography, but mostly as a hobby, since high school.  Photography has never been my full time occupation and I haven't been doing much even at a hobby level for almost 16 years. Back then I owned a retouching studio for a few years and did do some commercial work. Now, I'm building a photography studio in a large spare bedroom of my home, to be used for retouching, portraits, and whatever else interests me. It is almost complete now. The room is 17 X 26' and my digital darkroom is in the corner of it. I have a 6 X 8' closet off of this room for equipment storage.

I'm buying some new equipment, and dusting off some of the older equipment to use in it. Much of what I had was the latest back then, but it is very obsolete and needs replacing now. I'm 77 and fully retired now, so I doubt if I will be doing any more commercial work. It will just be for my friends and family this time around.

When I worked for a living, I was an EE (Electrical Engineer), mostly working in manufacturing automation, but I once worked on a camera positioning system that locked a camera on position during timed shutter exposures for mapping the back side of the Moon. The camera was in a rocket that was in orbit around the Moon for this, and the low light levels on the back side of the Moon required locking the camera lens on each position while the camera shutter was open.  I was also involved in the NASA Apollo Program, but not in anything connected with photography. Since 1996 I have gone in and out of retirement 5 times. Every time something interested me or paid too much to resist, I went back to work. I even drove a train for a year (always wanted to do that).

I presently live NE of Charlotte, NC. Is anybody near me? 

Charley

welcome Charley, its glad to meet you here. 

Welcome the site! Nice to meet you Charley! 

Yeah! Very welcome! Nice to welcome you here! 

Hello Charley! Nice to meet you! Happy to meet you! 

Hello and welcome here!