Using Rosco Gels

[racingpinarello]

Hello new board...

I wanted to start using the new forum since this question is important, but not time sensitive. Somebody locally is selling sheets of Rosco Gels.

These are similar to filters on your camera but these go on our strobes. How do you attach a sheet of gel to your strobes?

With the age of digital, how do you make sure your camera doesn't automatically color correct the gel?

Loren

I am looking forward to the new forum format, and thank you Steve for a great welcome message.

[Sebastian]

Lorenzo,

There are little plastic clips you can buy that adhere to the sides of the reflectors that hold the gels in place. Tape or rubber bands would work in a pich as well.

As for the white balance issue, don't leave it on auto white balance and the camera won't compensate.

-Seb

[Asylum Steve]

Loren,

Rosco Gels are like a lot of other grip gear. If you want, you can spend a small fortune on custom gel holders, attaching brackets and clips, even seprerate studio stands with extended arms to hold gel packs.

Being monetarily challenged myself, I always figured a way to jerry-rig them to my lights to cut down on needless equipment. The price of a filter holder buys a lot of photo tape...

Unlike camera lens filters, light gels can take a substantial amount of abuse. Scratches, bends, tape marks, even small amounts of gunk on the filters will not have an adverse effect on your shot. Sure, you should take care of them, but you don't have to handle them with kid gloves, if you know what I mean.

Probably the biggest thing you have to worry about with these gels (assuming they're the thin flexible ones) is the heat from your modeling lights. They can stand small amounts of heat for short periods of time. The times I worked with these gels in the past I simply turned off the modeling lights. With digital this will be even easier.

The WB I have no experience with as far as gels are concerned. Seb's advice makes sense, or you could simply preview your results and play with manual WB settings.

BTW, welcome to both you guys!

-Steve

Hello new board...

I wanted to start using the new forum since this question is important, but not time sensitive. Somebody locally is selling sheets of Rosco Gels.

These are similar to filters on your camera but these go on our strobes. How do you attach a sheet of gel to your strobes?

With the age of digital, how do you make sure your camera doesn't automatically color correct the gel?

Loren

I am looking forward to the new forum format, and thank you Steve for a great welcome message.

[dsl712]

Loren,

Second what Steve said about the heat. I've seen a couple of gels start to smoke; don't think they were Rosco though.

Whenever I need to hold something in place, I use gaffer tape. Holds tight easy to take off and keeps its stickiness for ages.

Dennis

[racingpinarello]

Hello new board...

I wanted to start using the new forum since this question is important, but not time sensitive. Somebody locally is selling sheets of Rosco Gels.

These are similar to filters on your camera but these go on our strobes. How do you attach a sheet of gel to your strobes?

With the age of digital, how do you make sure your camera doesn't automatically color correct the gel?

Loren

I am looking forward to the new forum format, and thank you Steve for a great welcome message.

I'm down with the tape. I needed a shot through reflector the other day, so I just cut a hole in a $2.89 foam core sheet. So every little penny helps. Thanks, that was easy and I can play around with the gels (the guy is selling them for cheap) and not spend a ton just to experiment.

Thank you,
Loren