Light Stand in a Pinch: Your Shoe

This is exactly why I like doing these little exercises. You always learn something new.

Today's smack-my-forehead moment is courtesy of Daniel Berman, who used his sneaker as a makeshift light stand. If you need a quick way to mount a kicker or background flash, and you wear shoes, you're good to go.

Two things to consider:

You might want to just shove the foot of the flash down into the heel of the shoe to friction mount the flash so you can use the tilt/swivel to point it any way you want.

Also, while this makes a sweet little low-level light support, there's no reason you could not put it on a shelf, or on top of a partially opened door.

An added bennie for me: The mere act of removing one of my shoes would tend to quickly clear the room of any meddlesome onlookers.