Regular readers (or at least those with good memories) might recall a posting from about a year ago -- an article which described how travel-size Q-tip packs are the absolute best way to carry "AA" batteries while out on a shoot.
As a bit of an update to that article (and a very recent discovery), it's also worth mentioning that travel-size Q-tip packs are absolutely perfect (and I do mean PERFECT) for carrying around pre-cut gels for strobes. Honest, it's almost as if the folks at Q-tip and the manufacturers of portable strobes (Vivitar 285 strobes, at least) got together over beers one night and decided that they should form a mutual admiration society of sorts. Pre-cut gels that fit into a Vivitar strobe (and -- I suspect -- many other brands) also happen to fit into a Q-tip travel pack, and the fit is (here's that word again) perfect.
Other means for storing gels do exist. Business card holders work fairly well... CD holders are good, though kinda' bulky... Again, it's the size of a Q-tip pack (plus their price -- $1.39 at my local pharmacy) that really works in their favor. And did I mention that the Q-tip packs are made from a fairly dense piece of plastic AND that you (the photographer) will end up with more Q-tips than you'll ever know what to do with? It all just seems so... So.... Perfect.
Quick Tip: Label your gels with a sharpie so that you don't play the "gel guessing game."
In full daylight, it's fairly easy to tell a full CTO from a 3/4, 1/2, etc... But in a dark room (or outside at night), you'll never be able to figure out just what is what without some sort of system...
Monday, May 11, 2009
The Perfect (Yes... PERFECT!) Way To Carry and Store Your Gels...
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2 comments:
You must have the cleanest ear holes in the photography world with all the q-tips you go through. Or maybe you eat them when you are stranded in some foreign land? Hmmm. Could be!
Another great idea btw!
It's kinda' funny, but when I was recently at the counter of my local pharmacy with four travel-sized packs of Q-tips, the cashier gave me a "what the heck?" sort of look and then said: "You know, you could save some money if you just bought one big box of Q-tips..."
Of course, there was no way that I would have been able to explain just exactly what I was going to do with those Q-tip packs.
BTW -- I have very, very clean ears.
Matt
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