Environmental Portraiture: Tell Your Subject’s Story and Create Dynamic Portraits with One Bag of Gear

Lightweight fold-up light stand

I have a lightweight camera stand that I borrowed from a studio kit. On top of the stand I’ve attached a speedlight adapter with a hot shoe mount for my flash. I like this stand because it folds up and is very lightweight and easy to carry from place to place. One disadvantage is that it can blow over easily because it is so light. A quick fix is to put the camera bag on top of one leg as a weight. On the upside, when in use, this stand supports only one speedlight and a small modifier so it’s not top heavy—a plus because there is no softbox to catch the wind like a sail.