Ok..so here's the deal. I love off camera flash so I've been trying to do more engagement shoots this way. I have an assistant/second shooter for weddings but I do my engagement shoots alone.
The thing is that it's so damn windy here, that the flash, tripod and umbrella pretty much become a kite.

I'm trying to bring some weights to hold the stand down..but they are so heavy. With all my other gear it just get so cumbersome.

Anyone have any tips for me??? Do you do off camera lighting without an assistant?

Sand bags... however its a real pain in the bum to carry it all over the place.

Another option is 4L milk jugs filled with water then attach the jug handle to the stand in some sort of fashion

I think a portable small soft box would be better , it may have less resistance to the wind and fewer sand bags would be needed. also i saw a guy once that using a shoot through umbrella but he made a couple of small holes in it , to me it looked crazy and I really didn't know how much light loss he was loosing but it helped the resistance of the wind. My only assistant is the light I work with............hope i was helpful.............

I have decided to bring along my assistant to the engagement shoots. Why try and deal with off camera lighting yourself if help is available.

In windy conditions just forget the umbrellas/softbox and go with straight off camera flash. IMO it's still way better then on camera flash in most cases and sometimes it gives you a chance to work some more edgier lighting then you would normally. I look at it like a chance to do something different and stretch instead of a negative situation. But that's just me.

What Dan said.

I use either the Q-flash with the quantum diffuser or I use a Sunpak 544 with a Micro Apollo. I put a quick release plate on the bottom of the 544 and I attach it to a Manfrotto tripod w/ a speedgrip head. The tripod is sturdier than a lightstand when it's windy. Plus...the tripod as a light stand allows me to put the light in places where I might not be able to put a light stand (such as on a hill where I'd need to shorten one of the tripod legs).

I am experimenting w/ a off shoe cord and holding the light to the side.

Thanks,
Mike

I actually just did my first engagement shoot with some off camera flash and I just put the lightsphere on my flash and I think that diffused the light very nice.

I too have been wondering this. I just went to Zack's one light workshop. I haven't tried it yet on a customer for the exact reason's you are mentioning. I want to play with it more though...

+1... I use the lightshere in lieu of an umbrella. Someone else recommended those blow up Soft box diffusers, but I never did look into them!

If it's too windy I dispense with the umbrella and go with bare flash. You can soften the shadows with a little fill from camera position if needed or you can shoot closer to ambient.

You could always use a sto-fen instead of an umbrella, also if you were feeling really enterprising you could use a monopod and your free arm. It looks goofy as all heck, but hey... it works.