Lighting shortcuts?

[jwbryson1]

Does anybody have a "trick" up their sleeve for getting gelled lighting results sans gels?

For instance, does covering the end of the speedlight with X-mas paper (not wrapping paper, but the thin colored paper that used to stuff gift "bags") create the same result?

I'm curious how to get similar results without having to order a gel kit.

Thanks.

 

[Big Mike]

That might work, but it may eat up more light than gels.

Look around, you may be able to find 'free flash gels'. The companies that make them, sell them in large (letter sized etc.) sheets for use in stage/production lights etc. They often have small sample kits that have little 1x3 strips in the various colors. These samples are perfect for the head of a flash.

I got a free kit from Rosco, but there are others.

 

[480sparky]

Change your camera's white balance.

 

[jwbryson1]

Change your camera's white balance.

I was thinking of putting a colored gel (blue or red) on my SB-700 and shooting my black muslin backdrop with it in a portrait to see how it looks.

I don't think the WB will achieve the same result.

 

[480sparky]

I was thinking of putting a colored gel (blue or red) on my SB-700 and shooting my black muslin backdrop with it in a portrait to see how it looks.

I don't think the WB will achieve the same result.

Sorry... didn't know you were using multiple sources on a moving subject.

I would be concerned with the flammibility issue, wrapping paper & lights.........

 

[jwbryson1]

I would be concerned with the flammibility issue, wrapping paper & lights.........

That thought had crossed my mind....

 

[Big Mike]

Yes, one of the benefits to gels, is that they are made to handle high heat situations like stage lights etc. But unless you are blasting your flash at high power, fast and furious...it shouldn't be a problem.

Although, I do recall seeing a post somewhere, where someone had held a 580 to their jeans and repeatedly fired it off at full power. It actually burnt the shape of the flash head into the fabric.

 

[Village Idiot]

Does anybody have a "trick" up their sleeve for getting gelled lighting results sans gels?

For instance, does covering the end of the speedlight with X-mas paper (not wrapping paper, but the thin colored paper that used to stuff gift "bags") create the same result?

I'm curious how to get similar results without having to order a gel kit.

Thanks.

Anything that's transparent can work, but as was mentioned, watch out for negative effects from heat. I was having lunch with a friend who was bartending and it was a slow day so I made her break out several different colored bottles and shot a flash through them to get the color effect I wanted. It worked fairly well, but the diffraction from the bottle and what liquor was still inside caused uneven lighting.

MPEX, B&H, and probably Adorama sell lumiquest gel holders that attach to speedlight heads via velcro and Strobist gel packs that have an ass load of different gels cut to the right size to the holder and work amazingly well with speedlights.

Yes, one of the benefits to gels, is that they are made to handle high heat situations like stage lights etc. But unless you are blasting your flash at high power, fast and furious...it shouldn't be a problem.

Although, I do recall seeing a post somewhere, where someone had held a 580 to their jeans and repeatedly fired it off at full power. It actually burnt the shape of the flash head into the fabric.

False? I've melted holes in gels before from shooting too fast. Not all gels are created equal. Hold a 580EX II to a cupped palm and fire it off at full power. It gets hot. Imagine firing that off every time it recharged?

 

[Derrel]

Somewhere on YouTube I saw a video clip of a guy who put a piece of paper towel over the end of a speedlight...after four or five quick pops, the paper ignited. As in burst unto flames. What is that? Farenheit 451?

Anyway, yeah, blue gels and red gels on black look pretty good. Oddly, gels that look purple to the human eye can render as beautiful blue when light is shot through them and a d-slr is used to capture the color.

If you're really Jonesin' for a DIY project, get yourself some plastic material, like from the lid of a sour cream container, dig out the X-Acto knife, cut it up and make a "gel-cap", then use some boiling water to make creases for the "flaps" that will allow some distance from the flash, and which will be rubber-banded or taped onto the head of the flash. Then, after the flaps have been bent with the boiling water, and it's dried, then evenly color the front with blue marking pen and try it.

 

[gsgary]

Quality Street wrapper (that is you have those chocholates over there )