{"id":34006,"date":"2016-02-18T13:10:09","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T17:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=34006"},"modified":"2020-06-12T22:44:02","modified_gmt":"2020-06-13T02:44:02","slug":"gelling-flash-for-incandescent-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/gelling-flash-for-incandescent-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Gelling flash for Incandescent light \/ Tungsten light"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Gelling flash for Incandescent light \/ Tungsten light<\/h1>\n

The color temperature of the light from a flash \/ speedlite is around 5400K. While the actual numerical value might have little meaning to many photographers, it does mean that light from a flashgun will look a lot cooler than the light from an environment would with tungsten\/incandescent light. That warm glow of tungsten light, which is around 2800K but varies a lot in actual value, makes the flash appear too cold, or too blue. However, if you simply adjust your white balance so that the flash appears neutral, your background will go a murky orange.<\/p>\n

Here is a sequence of photos using a model, Adrienne, that will illustrate the problem of using flash when your subject is partially lit by Incadescent \/ Tungsten lights. This is a problem you will encounter while photographig corporate events or red carpet events, or weddings – very uneven incandescent light on your subject.<\/p>\n

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Incandecent ambient light,
No flash.<\/p>\n

In this example,\u00a0we have unflattering ambient light with deep shadows that we need to sweeten with flash.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>

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Incandecent ambient light,
Flash gelled with full CTS gel<\/a>,
RAW file adjusted to 3050K in post.<\/p>\n

Here\u00a0we gelled our flash – bounced from camera left – with a full CTS gel to bring the flash much closer to the ambient light. The skin tones look quite good, without any weird color shift.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>

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Incandecent ambient light,
Flash without gel,
RAW file adjusted to 3500K in post.

With this and the next example, no gel was used on the flash, so there is that uneasy mix between the warm tones of the incandescent light, and the cold colors of the flash.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>

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Incandecent ambient light,
Flash without gel,
RAW file adjusted to 4650K in post.

Regardless of how you shift the WB in post, there will be that huge jump between the two colors, as shown in this and the previous image. These will serve as good examples of how the WB was shifted in post, but there is either a large patch of light which is too cold, or a large patch that is too warm.

The only way to get rid of that jump in WB, is to gel your flash!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\"On-Camera<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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On-Camera Flash Photography – revised edition<\/h2>\n

This book is explains a cohesive and thorough approach to getting the best from your on-camera speedlight.<\/p>\n

Particular care was taken to present it all with a logical flow that will help any photographer attain a better understanding of flash photography.<\/p>\n

You can either purchase a copy via\u00a0Amazon USA<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Amazon UK<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0or can be ordered through Barnes & Nobles and other bookstores. The book\u00a0is also available on the Apple iBook Store, as well as Amazon Kindle.\nAlso check out the Amazon Kindle store.<\/p>\n

Learn more about\u00a0how\u00a0the cover image<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0was shot.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>

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Summary<\/h2>\n

Gelling our flash is the easiest way of balancing out the disparate white balance that exists between flash and incandescent light. In this example, we used a full CTS gel –\u00a0Rosco Cinegel full\u00a0CTS #3441<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>).\u00a0<\/strong>My default however, when I photograph events, is usually the\u00a0Rosco Cinegel 1\/2 CTS #3442<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>),\u00a0since even the partial correction helps a huge amoung in giving more natural color to my entire scene (when my subject is lit by the gelled flash.)With this example, I wanted to clear much of the jump between warm \/ blue tones from the portrait of Adrienne. Hence, I used the full CTS gel.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tYou can buy gels through these affiliate links:<\/p>\n