Take your photos through rose colored lenses! Read how to use Colored Light Filters!
Off-camera flash can be a great way to spread your creative wings when taking photos. However, photographers can take their game to the next level by using colored light filters. Follow these tips to turn your photographic scenes into your own coloring canvass.
What You’ll Need -
At least 2 Off-Camera Flash Guns
If you’re working with only one flash gun, you are severely limiting your creative freedom. Most colour changes to the scene can be made via White Balance, or even in post production on the computer. However, having more than one light source, each with a different color, is something that cannot be replicated in post production.
Many flash guns have a built in honeycomb filter that slides out and snaps down into position. These are perfect for holding a color gel filter in place. These particular filters have been cut to fit.
Triggers for each Flash Gun (Wireless works best)
Many flashguns can use a “slave mode,” that allow them to fire at the same moment other flashes go off, without the need for wireless or wired triggers. However, this is not recommended. Slave mode works perfectly in most situations, but when using color filters, “slave mode” can often fail to trigger the flash.
A Set of Color Gel Filters
Having a wide range of colors really helps! Check out your local retail photo shops. However, these can often be difficult to track down. A set of about 20 or 30 different colours can be found on eBay for usually around $20 USD. They most likely will need to be cut to shape to fit your flash guns!
Tripods or stands for the Flash Guns
Having a bit of experience with Off-Camera Flash Guns really helps. The sport of photography revolves around using light to create exposures. Without light, we cannot take photos. When we use off-camera flash, we have to be acutely aware of a few things!
Reducing or eliminating ambient light is key to controlling the tone and temperature of a scene or model.
First off, all scenes have Ambient Light. It is vital for a photographer to fully understand the nature of the Ambient Light in a scene. What temperature is the Ambient Light? Is it cold or warm? Is it soft or harsh? What direction is the light coming from?
For example, if a photographer is standing on a beach at noon on a sunny, cloudless day, then the Ambient Light is most likely to be warm and harsh. However, if the photographer is sitting in a dining room at mid day with a few windows open, the light might be soft and cold.
The ambient light here is soft, thanks to the diffusion from the clouds, and cold in temperature. There are no other point light sources. Continue reading
