Quick Tip: Velcro ties can organize your photographic life!
These eight inch Velcro cable ties are the secret to sanity for the photographer on the go. (Copyright 2010 / Andrew Boyd)
I really, really like Velcro cable ties. My photographic existence more or less depends upon them! In addition to my camera bag and video camera bag, my other essential bag that travels everywhere with me is my laptop bag. As a working photojournalist (and web videographer) I’m frequently working out in the field remotely, shooting and transmitting images or video back to another location. Between these three bags, I have lots and lots of cords and cables, all of which are critical to how I do my job. Today for instance, I was shooting video all day and used: a set of headphones (with long cord), an ethernet cable, two firewire cables, a couple of USB cable/cords, a 25 ft. audio cable….the list goes on! And the only way I have any chance at all of keeping this stuff straight (both literally and figuratively) is with Velcro cable ties.
I buy these in two sizes at Home Depot: the eight inch size and the 15 inch version . The eight inch size is great for all of the small cables and cords: ethernet, firewire, etc. I use the longer ones mostly with my big strobe equipment, keeping my strobe, sync and power cords organized.
This would be a complete rat's nest without Velcro ties. (Copyright 2010 / Andrew Boyd)
Finally, I use cut-up Velcro with my small pack of light balancing gels, paired with the mating pieces on my portable strobe heads for easy on/off usage.
The Velcro material here on the gels mates with matching opposite pieces on the sides of my portable strobes. (Copyright 2010 / Andrew Boyd)
So if you haven’t already done so, buy yourself a couple of packs of these Velcro cable ties and spend a half hour getting yourself organized. I promise you won’t regret the investment!
Hi, I’m Andrew Boyd, a.k.a. The Discerning Photographer, and I hope this post has been interesting and informative. Please leave me a comment about it, let me know what you’d like to see more of on the site! You can also sign up for email delivery of all future articles or my RSS feed. Thanks!–DiscerningPhotog
Related Articles on the Web:
The Photographer’s Survival Guide ( Book Review) at YourPhotoTips
Organize: Coming to Grips With Image Management at Epic Edits
Ten Tools to Help You Manage Your Photography Business at Virtual Photography Studio
Developing an Efficient Photography Workflow at PictureCorrect
Great ideas!
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AAaahh, as a musician first and a photographer second, I know there’s absolutely NO excuse for poor ‘cable management’…!
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ehternet cables are still the ones that i use for my home networking applications “;-
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I think it is a great idea to keep the cables very organized and manageable. I remember I only encounter velcro in bags and shoes. It is nice that there are other ways to use velcro aside from being a replacement to zipper.
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