When you’ve been shooting for any length of time, one thing many photographers tend to collect is tripods. Off the top of my head, I have seven (3 that I use regularly), and a monopod. Storing isn’t always easy. Most of mine are stacked up in the corner of a room (along with a dozen or so light stands of various sizes). Getting to a specific one you want can be a pain. Our friends over at Lensvid have come up with a great DIY solution for tripod storage. It should be easily adaptable to take care of that monopod, too, and those light stands. In this video, they take us through the whole process, from cutting to loading up with tripods, as well as how to help ensure it works for your size and style of tripods.
It’s a really simple solution for tripod storage, and pretty straightforward to make. You’ll want to cut five pieces of wood in total. Three of those are fixed the wall vertically. These will be the support struts to which the horizontal piece that holds the tripod, as well as another horizontal piece along the bottom to stop them banging into the wall. The slot into which the tripod is placed is a pretty neat design. First they drill 1″ holes along the length of the horizontal piece which will hold the tripods. For the length of wood they use in the video, 5 holes were created. These were then extended with the help of a jigsaw to create slot at the side, turning them into a sort of hook.
Although they used a 1″ spade bit in the video, they suggest that it would’ve probably been better to use a 1 1/4″ bit. They actually had to sand away at one of the slots to make it big enough for one particular tripod. Personally, I’d suggest measuring your tripods first, and you can figure out which size bit will be the best fit for your needs. Once everything’s cut, tested and painted, just attach the three vertical pieces to the wall. Then put the piece which holds the tripods at the top, attached with brackets. Make sure to keep it level! Finally attach the second horizontal piece to the bottom to stop the tripods banging into the wall itself.
After that, it’s just a case of loading it up with your tripods.
The weather here in the UK has taken a definite turn for the worst, now. So, I’ll be spending a lot more time in the house for a while. I think this could be a great little project to consume a some of that time, and start organising a bit of gear. Of course, then I have to figure out what to do about all the bags and cases in which my tripods currently reside. How do you store and organise your tripods, light stands and other support gear? Have you build a DIY storage solution for yours? Let us know, and show us in the comments. [via Lensvid]
