DIY "light stand in a paint can"...

I got this idea for the paint can light stand while watching the episode "Studio Product Lighting" over at Pro Photo Life.

There was a shot in the corner of about a dozen of these DIY stands made from paint cans and sticks, different size cans with different length sticks.

If you watch episode 4 they setup for a studio portrait shoot using nothing but these DIY stands, they used them for the backdrop, light stands, supports, reflector stands, you name it and they used these DIY stands for it. In this episode it looked like everything they used for the setup was DIY, including some pretty cool looking diffuser panels. Be sure to check it out, it's less than 5 minutes long so you'll get a bunch of great ideas in very a short period of time.

Be sure to go check out Pro Photo Life, you'll find dozens of well done and informative videos chock full of no cost/low cost photography ideas.

Now, back to the stand that I made, there are a couple things I did not mention in the video but will now:

1. I used a round dowel when making my stand, but I would suggest using a square or rectangular piece of wood. With a round dowel you run a higher possibility of having your clamp slip out of position, a problem you will not have if you use a piece of wood with flat surfaces.

2. In my paint can light stand I used Plaster of Paris, but you could just as easily use cement, plastic resin, or anything that solidifies/hardens. You could use sand or gravel, but it would require you to bolt the stick to the paint can, which adds work to the project and you would also run the risk of spilling the contents all over your studio floor if the cover dislodged. Chances are you will move your paint can light stand around by grabbing it by the stick which increases the likelihood that the bolts would eventually work their way through the side of the can.

If you make one of these please let us know how you do by dropping us a email and uploading a picture of your paint can to our Flickr group.

With out further delay, here is our video on making a "light stand in a paint can".


(yes, I know I screwed up at the end of the video)