On this video portrait photographer Joe Edelman looks at how to use a Baby Pin Wall Plate and what you can do with it.
Baby Pin Wall Plates are a great solution to make short light stands and hang lights. A baby pin wall plate is a baby pin welded to a chrome plated steel plate. These plates generally have anywhere from 4 to 12 holes drilled, depending on the manufacturer and they will allow you to mount them to just about anything using simple screws.
The standard sizes are 3” 6” and 9”. These aren’t adjustable like a light stand, so you will generally use them in a situation where you want to mount a light permanently. You can also get Baby plates with a 90 degree angle if you want to hand a light from your wall and there is even a female version (see some examples on B&H).
Baby Pins have a cut-out on one end which is a safety feature. When you mount your light on the Baby Pin wall plate – you want it to slide on far enough that you can tighten the screw down on the recessed part of the pin. This way in the event that you haven’t tightened it properly or it somehow loosens, the light will not fall. Don’t forget – if you are going to hang your lights, secure them with a wire cable or cable ties (use a few strong ones).
You can find lot more lighting tutorials on our photography lighting section here on LensVid.