Gear Organization Series #1: Flash Gear

Once the photography bug hits you, you start acquiring a lot of stuff.  The more stuff you get, the more difficult it is to keep everything organized.  It gets even more difficult when you become a professional. You have a TON of stuff.

The amount of stuff is not the issue - the issue is how do you get to the stuff you need quickly.  Organization is the key.

Today we are going to look at a relatively new piece of organizational gear I am using for my speed lights and accessories.  I got this thing for $30 at The Home Depot.  It is the Husky 22 inch Organizer.

Image © The Home Depot

More After The Break....

Previous to having this organizer, I had a small bag that held everything. Pretty much that email bag was stuffed with my flash items organized inside Ziploc baggies. As you can imagine, I'd have to dig through all kinds of bags just to get a small item like a sync cable or a cold shoe. Honestly, getting the items was not as big a headache as trying to put everything back.

There are just times at a shoot when you do not have the luxury of being able to put everything away in the time you have to clean up. This organizer gives you the ability to keep everything organized and since it is really made for construction work, it is rugged and durable. Husky also makes a slightly deeper version(22in Husky Organizer Toolbox) of this organizer for the same price.

I found that the normal one fit all my flash gear just fine. Just keep in mind what you have and your needs. There are metal clips that secure the case. It has two areas, the top clear section and the area below that. Each section has a bin system that can be used for organizing your cables, batteries, cold shoes and what not. The nice thing about the bin system is that they are removable and customizable. I left all the bins in the top section but removed all but two rows in the bottom.

 The top section has all the small pieces, batteries, cold shoes, stuff like that... things you might need all the time.

with the plastic cover on

Plastic cover open

The bottom holds items like the speed lights, radio triggers, grids.... bigger stuff.

 It also has a great handle that folds down, is big and easy to carry. I put this in one of my rolling bags that I bring my light stands and reflectors(I'll get into that in another post). I just love to share these kinds of things because at times the specially made photo bags and organizers are very expensive and may not be a modular system that is customizable to your needs.