Gels for sunset portrait

[tirediron]

So what Derrel is trying to convey is that he likes when they look like this:

Sunset girl 2 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!


and not this:

IMG_5062 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Fair enough; when I said 'bare flash' I didn't mean a bare 2200 w/s Speedotron blasted in their face; I was thinking something subtler. A LOT subtler than the second example.

 

[Robin_Usagani]

Can some please a'splain to me homecomeforwhy you want subjects with orange(ish) skin?

If the subject is warm, you have more room to make the subject cooler, then the background will not be as orange. I personally wish I had gelled this shot.

 

[tirediron]

Really? That's almost exactly the look I would go for.

 

[Robin_Usagani]

Really? That's almost exactly the look I would go for.

I rather have my subject be a little warmer. If I made it warmer then my background is even more orange.


Of course now that I have LR4, I can just use WB adjustment brush... but kinda lazy.

 

[cgipson1]

Really? That's almost exactly the look I would go for.

Yep... me too! But Robin has been a PRO much longer then we have.. what do we know! <yea.. poking fun... deal with it!>

 

[Robin_Usagani]

It is pretty simple.. you are at the beach around sunset, what does the light look like touching your skin? It is warm. Now you want to introduce a new light source, it would be nice to match that light if you want it natural looking. That's why people like to use a big ass reflector. It will just reflect the light at somewhat the same temperature.

 

[tirediron]

Really? That's almost exactly the look I would go for.

Yep... me too! But Robin has been a PRO much longer then we have.. what do we know! <yea.. poking fun... deal with it!>

Ouch!

 

[Robin_Usagani]

I really don't care whether you are a pro or not (and how long). All I see are good photos and bad photos.

 

[lennon33x]

It helps to pay attention to the actual color of the sky and the sunset, as I found out tonight. As I was looking, I figured out that the majority of the sunset was blueish. Therefore, I chose to diffuse the monolight without a gel or a black/gold reflective umbrella and just adjusted the WB to shady. It really warmed up the flash. However, I used a speedlite to create a rim light and it was too blue, so I used a 1/4 CTO on it.


This was one of the test shots


also, constructive criticism is much appreciated

 

[cynicaster]

It helps to pay attention to the actual color of the sky and the sunset, as I found out tonight. As I was looking, I figured out that the majority of the sunset was blueish. Therefore, I chose to diffuse the monolight without a gel or a black/gold reflective umbrella and just adjusted the WB to shady. It really warmed up the flash. However, I used a speedlite to create a rim light and it was too blue, so I used a 1/4 CTO on it.


This was one of the test shots


also, constructive criticism is much appreciated

I rather like the color balance in this photo, but you seem to have darker skin tones, so I&#8217;m wondering how the same treatment would render a powder-faced mug like mine.

I&#8217;m no pro, but put me down for a +1 under the &#8220;whitish light on subject against warm sunset background looks like complete ass&#8221; column. When I glance at a photo and the fill flash leaps off the screen, it&#8217;s kind of a drag. I don&#8217;t know how anybody could prefer that over a warm light that more closely matches what you&#8217;d actually see in real life, but to each their own I suppose.