Tripod

A soft light only helps if it is in the right place, and the right place is almost never where you can reach. Held in your hand it is at your height. Propped on a shelf it is wherever the shelf is. Above and slightly to the side of your subject — the position that actually flatters a face — needs something to hold it there.

This is that something. Aluminium, three legs, folds into a bag, and carries a standard 1/4-20 thread — so it takes the Tube, a phone clamp, a small camera, or anything else in your bag with a tripod socket.

Which height

1.1 m for tabletop work, product shots, and lighting a seated subject. It folds to 40 cm and genuinely fits in a backpack.

2.1 m for standing subjects and for getting the light above eyeline, which is where most of the difference between “lit” and “lit well” lives. Folds to 67 cm.

If you shoot mostly at a desk, take the short one. If you shoot people standing up, take the tall one — you will not miss the extra 27 cm in the bag, and you will miss the metre of height every single time.

Specifications

In the box

• Stand
• Carrying bag