Finding somewhere to put down a light stand on location isn’t always easy. Especially if those locations are woodlands or other wilderness areas where the ground isn’t exactly flat and level. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and finding a good light stand on location was a need for motocross photographer Colin Brister. So, he made his own. The Spike. And now it’s available for you to buy, too.
It’s a problem I often face myself. Most of my shoots are in the woods, rivers and similar sorts of locations where light stands aren’t very practical, especially if I don’t have an assistant with me who can hold it to ensure it doesn’t fall. A spike looks really handy for some of these types of situations. The spike is available in two sizes – 12″ and 24″, and can be extended to about double that height. So they’re not super tall, and you’re not going to be throwing a 4ft Octabox on here. But it will allow you to get your flashes in places that might otherwise be impossible to use. You can also put a tripod head on there and use it for your camera, too. The 12″ one looks ideal for getting your camera low to the ground for some macro or other low perspective shots. This is potentially a very handy feature for sports shooters who want to get low to catch the action or wildlife shooters placing remote cameras in difficult spots.
The stand as a whole a pretty cool idea, and should work perfectly for those who need to set up lights on uneven ground. For me, for lights, it’s still a little short for my own needs. I like putting big boxes on strobes on location. So, I’ll wait until there’s a 6ft version. The Spike is available now and you can buy the 12″ for £40 or the 24″ for £49.99 from Pixapro in the UK.
