Colored Gels for Flash (portraits)

Hi Everyone,

I want to add some color to my portraits. The only artificial lighting I use are 550EX and 420EX flashes. I know there are gels to buy that I could easily velcro to the flash guns but I'm not sure what will work well.

I found out the hard way that a colored marker on plastic doesn't work well :) I'd like to buy a whole series of colors cheaply so that I can cut them up and shape them however I need and not worry about wasting money.

Any Ideas or sources to purchase?

Is something like this appropriate? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...u=74132&is=REG

Thanks.

Ya know, this might be off the wall and might not work, but I wonder...


Do you have a theatre supply store anywhere near you? I'm wondering if you couldn't walk in and pick up a gel swatch book (I believe they're free). The swatches are about 1" x 4" (each brand varies in size), and might just be exactly the right size to fit over a flash, if you created some sort of housing to slip them into...

You'd get probably over a hundred colors in each swatch book, and they'd probably have 3 or 4 different brands of swatch books.

Here's a link to show what the books look like:
http://www.fullstageonline.com/store...hp3?cat=286922

I picked up a Rosco gel sampler pack (pretty sure that was the brand) some years ago with at least a hundred or so swatches. The size fit perfectly over my Vivitar 283 flash.

Needless to say, I got my money's worth out of them.

Also, Calumet and B&H sell the typical lighting gel packs. More money for much less of a selection, but larger sheets. These are cheap enough that they can be cut up into smaller sizes and used over your flash or hot lights...

I went to rosco and requested a swatch pack online for free. Thanks for the tip Steve. I'll find out soon enough whether they're large enough to cover the flash. If not, at least I'll have a better idea of colors I might like to order.

Steve, I've already got 3 different swatch books and have been pondering this for months. My question is, how do you attach them to your flash? (I have yet to purchase a flash)

You know kelly I forgot to thank you too. Thanks!

Obviously I've never attached the fitlers to my flash before but I planned on using sticky-sided velcro. I thought I'd be able to put some velcro on the flash and put some velcro on the filters. I hope it works out that way :)

Steve, I'd also like to see Kelly's question answered.

Trevor, the swatches will be just about the size of the face of your flash, with maybe a millimeter or two overlap, so I'm not sure how you'd velcro them directly to your flash. I'm thinking maybe a cotton sleeve or something that you could slip over the flash unit (I'm thinking something like a sock :D), with a rectangular opening cut in the top, perhaps a clear plastic sleeve sewn in that you could slip the gels into. I suppose you could then velcro the sock to the flash unit.

Just what I see in my imagination. I'm curious how Steve did it.


Oh, and Trevor, thanks for remembering me. My spirits are a bit low today so it means a lot. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kellybean

how do you attach them to your flash? (I have yet to purchase a flash)

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I just used gaffer's tape, covering up as little of the gel as possible...