For more years than I can accurately count, I carried my lighting equipment in a rolling sports equipment bag. In it I managed to stuff numerous light stands, speedlights, umbrellas, stand adapters, and a variety of clamps and flash modifiers. At the time, my light modifiers consisted mainly of shoot through umbrellas and a collection of CC gels, and some gaffer tape to hold them in place. While most of these accessories were never used, it was comforting to know everything was just a zipper's pull away.
The years have taken their toll, and the rolling bag is starting to fray around the edges. I was going to transfer everything to a Pelican case that was purchased at a camara show some years back. I remember making sure it would hold a compact light stand before I purchased it. For the record, it was a nearly-new Pelican IM 2500, used only once by a courier to transport some delicate equipment cross-country. It sat unused in my garage since the day of purchase.Earlier Attempts: In 2022, I repacked my location flash kit into a Tenba camera bag. Using a partitioned Domke lens module, I was able to get four Flashpoint speedlights, safe and upright, into the bag. There was still room for extra batteries and magnetic gel and grid attachments. The system was built around the first generation Flashpoint radio triggers which provided on-camera output adjustments, but no off-camera TTL capabilities. These speedlights use a proprietary Lithium-Ion battery that gives me short recycle times even when pushing full-power pops.One problem: There was nor provision for carrying a light stand. Rapid Deployment: My most recent assignment, a location portrait of a San Francisco Director at a small theater off Union Square, made me stop and think about what I carried, and why. On an earlier location portrait, I carried my camera bag over my shoulder, and both my rolling equipment bag AND my speedlight bag piled into a collapsible wagon. In truth, I only needed my "big" AD200 flash, and a light stand. for my key light, and a spare light stand for the accent light I pulled from my rolling equipment bag. In short, I carried way too much, and used way too little. This time I pared everything down to a bare minimum. My Domke camera bag would be slung over my shoulder, along with a tall light stand. Into the Pelican went 2 collapsible light stands, two umbrella brackets, two collapsable shoot-through umbrellas, a Glow 31x31" Quick Softbox, my AD200 flash, and a few loose gels thrown in as an afterthought. But I couldn't find my collection of grids and dedicated mounted gels, which forced me to improvise on the spot, wasting valuable time. In the end, the job was completed on time, but just barely. But it proved that bringing the Pelican case was a proper decision, as it was smaller and more maneuverable than the my soft equipment case. All I need to do is collect the missing bits and stow them safely.
Lid Organization: I learned that Pelican provides a variety of options for users who wish to explore the company's storage options. As purchased, my case was just an empty shell. But having gained some field experience, I knew I needed something not just for organization's sake, but something that would allow me to spend less time searching and more time shooting. I found this five-pouch insert on Amazon for half the cost of the nine-pouch version. Thrifty is as thrifty does. so I bought it immediately, and plan to have everything in it proper place for my next assignment.
When the project is completed I'll provide a postscript so we can see how it turned out. Just as an aside: I'm removing all Pelican stickers from the exterior of the case.
Joe McNally and Bob Krist: Most of my earliest inspiration came from Joe McNally, a Nikon photographer who championed the Nikon Creative LIght System. Before I converted to the Fuji system, I relied on Nikon SB800 and SB900 speedlights with their TTL exposure control. He and travel photographer Bob Krist put together a 2-DVD set describing, in detail, how the components of the CLS worked together to achieve full exposure control. One chapter of the DVD set features a complete equipment list for Bob Krist's traveling studio. Rather than listing the contents of his kit, you can view the equipment portion by clicking here. I followed his suggestions, and can truthfully say that I already own everything contained in Bob's kit. All I need to do is put everything in one case.
