Speedlight Gel Question

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cargo

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Gary
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Hi All

Playing around at home with my speedlights and some gells I got.
I was trying to light one half me with red and the other with blue why you may ask, truth is I have no idea :). As you can see the red is very obvious but I couldnt get the blue anywhere near.I have read that you need the power lower on the flash to get a deeper colour but nothing seemed to make that much differance.

So can anyone shed to some light on the matter for me ?

Gaz

red_blue.jpg


ps: after adding the image to this post there does look to be blueish tint, or that maybe just me.I didnt want it to be as vivid as the red.
 
Cant help you myself but will be interested in the answer - ?something to do with skin being reddish already so thread gel intensifies whereas the blue one is 'fighting' the existing red.

By the way - seems a perfectly reasonable thing to try out - you (we) will learn something from, it and that has to be good:)
 
I'm no expert with the gels but (to me) logic dictates that the colour will be determined by power of flash, surface light lands on and the actual colour of the gel. Lighter surfaces I guess would give more pas telly colours and darker surfaces deeper colours.

I'll await an expert to explain it properly!

S
 
I would say, in the main always start with one light first and get it right. So take out the red light and experiment with just a single flash + blue until you get the desired effect. Depending upon the colour intensity of the blue gel you may need to stack more than one to get the right depth of colour, and low powered to start with as noted and build up (you'll need more power if you stack). I imagine some colours (i've never try to light a person with gel directly) won't take well to white skin though.

I use colour cellophane sheets on studio strobes as an alternative to expensive photography gels (turning off the modelling light as they aren't heat resistant). 48 a4 sheets of mixed colours are less than £4 and will last a long time. No problems with colour intensity or layering different colour together to get a new colour when fired into a dark grey (Charcoal 57) background paper. Obviously different to what you're trying to achieve though.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261179592185
 
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Just pop some 3d glasses on , makes perfect sense then :) Best way to find out if it works or not, is to try it! Thanks for sharing that, saves me some time when I finally get around to playing with a gel set I have and barn doors that are still in their packet... yikes.
 
Thanks to everyone whom has posted a reply, most kind :)

Wb was auto on this occassion.
Shaheed. Yep liking that blue you got going on there.
Sharky. That sounds a good idea to take the red out. I am pretty sure I tried that though :-( There again maybe not I will try again.
Carlh. c'mon pull ya finger out or maybe just pull ya gels out and show me how it's done ;-)


Gaz
 
cargo said:
Thanks to everyone whom has posted a reply, most kind :)

Wb was auto on this occassion.
Shaheed. Yep liking that blue you got going on there.
Sharky. That sounds a good idea to take the red out. I am pretty sure I tried that though :-( There again maybe not I will try again.
Carlh. c'mon pull ya finger out or maybe just pull ya gels out and show me how it's done ;-)


Gaz
Click to expand...

Had a spare few minutes to try this out and talk through the steps I followed.

Firstly I set my white balance to 5600k (roughly where it should be for small flashes)

Kept the power very low on the flashguns and very close to subject.

This is a straight from camera jpeg using blue and red gels

View attachment 23411

I took the gels back off for another shot to show what the white balance set at 5600k looks like with flash being the only light source. (adjusted aperture by one stop for the extra light without gels)

View attachment 23412
 
Hi Colin. Thats amazing you made this sound so simple and also proved it. Can't thank you enough for going to the trouble of doing that for me and the rest of the users whom have posted.

Gaz
 
Yes - thanks - now when I have a go at something similar I will have a better idea of which variable to try altering:)
 
Well I tried again with Colin's advice tucked under the belt.

Results are below.
Not pshoped just cropped as on self timer and running back and forth from camera hard to focus and frame.

Two speedlights bare with gels red and blue about 12 inces ish away from head both on 128th power.

1_ same as earlier only WB set to 5600k
Single_gel_as_before_5600k_forum_size.jpg


2_Found a lighter blueish gel so added that to the blue WB 5600k
double_gel_5600wb_forum.jpg


3_Same as number 2 only WB Auto.

double_gel_auto_white_b_forum.jpg



Gaz
 
Looking much better. You'll probably need to move the blue in very close and then move the red further away due to the colours involved.

Two strobes:
1. SOOC = img_7787_resize
2. LR tweak = img_7787

*edited* :)
rushed my reply
 
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Sharky said:
Looking much better. You'll probably need to move the blue in very close and then move the red further away due to the colours involved.

Two strobes:
1. SOOC = img_7787_resize
2. LR tweak = img_7787

*edited* :)
rushed my reply
Click to expand...
You got it going on there too. I seem to be missing the obvious things eg: move the more dominant colour a touch further away.
Thanks for taking the time to show how these things work.
Gaz
Barrysprout said:
But you've got us all doing it now! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
:D Seems I need to use my dolls head too_______mind you that could be a different thread altogether:eek:
 
cargo said:
Not pshoped just cropped as on self timer and running back and forth from camera hard to focus and frame.
Click to expand...

If you have smartphone / tablet you can always use the EOS app to remotely fire the camera via wifi and check composition / focus etc. Or i prefer using DSLRcontroller (http://dslrcontroller.com/) which for the price is a no brainer for all kinds of work :)

Overly long but you get the idea :
 
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minnnt said:
Ok, a few questions...

1. Why do you all have these scary dolls?
2. Do I need to get one?

:D
Click to expand...
I thought it creepy too :) Gonna teach mine to take the photos___Probs better than I can too:)

c'mon don't be shy__you can admit to having one :)

Gaz
 
minnnt said:
Ok, a few questions...

1. Why do you all have these scary dolls?
2. Do I need to get one?

:D
Click to expand...
You mean you don't have a creepy severed head? Shocking tbh. It's not that fact they are ideal to practice lighting ideas on, get a setup perfect before client / partner / kids walk on set (less tinkering more shots with the talent) etc. No the best thing is sticking it on a light stand behind a closed door with no lights on in a room and waiting for your partner to enter, now that is priceless. The scream emitted is generally like nothing on earth hehe :D

Search "hairdressing training head" on ebay now, you're missing out!!
 
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Sharky said:
You mean you don't have a creepy severed head? Shocking tbh. It's not that fact they are ideal to practice lighting ideas on, get a setup perfect before client / partner / kids walk on set (less tinkering more shots with the talent) etc. No the best thing is sticking it on a light stand behind a closed door with no lights on in a room and waiting for your partner to enter, now that is priceless. The scream emitted is generally like nothing on earth hehe :D

Search "hairdressing training head" on ebay now, you're missing out!!
Click to expand...
Must try this :eek: Will set that up before going to bed. Mrs is a true get up nd go type of gal. Sat and Sunday she be up and out running about 7 am before dragging me swimming, then she does zumba or some jumping around thingy. Will scare the pants off of her @ that time of the morning______________________ Mind you I then run the risk of revenge and i'm a right s_ _ _ _house :giggle:

Gaz
 
Them are fab fella. you sure know how to light stuff :)

Gaz
 
Sharky said:
No the best thing is sticking it on a light stand behind a closed door with no lights on in a room and waiting for your partner to enter, now that is priceless. The scream emitted is generally like nothing on earth hehe :D
Click to expand...

Hmmm tried this after clobbering me she ran off with the doll :confused:

Gaz

tp_2.jpg
 
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