Coloring shadows can make your photo, this is how you do it with gels
Jul 14, 2017
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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Do you use gels to add color to your photos? Jay P. Morgan shows you four different ways to use them, but with a twist – he focuses on adding color only to the shadows. By using gels, he achieves the desired effect in camera. Some of these four methods can work for you too, and they’re great ways to minimize the time you spend editing the photos.
1. Gel on white foam core
You probably already use white foam core to add some fill to the shadows. Now, just attach the gel onto the foam core. It will fill the shadows on the subject’s face, but with a dash of color.
2. Gel on a mirror
Instead of the foam core, you can also use a mirror. Attach the gel on the mirror and place it opposite the key light to add fill. Since it’s a harsher light source than the foam core, the mirror will add harder color to the shadows on the subject’s face.
3. Gel on a strobe
This is the way most people probably thought of at first – add the gel to the strobe. You can use it as a rim light or hair light, and it will add pretty obvious color to the shadows.
4. Gel in a softbox
The last way of adding color to the shadows is putting the gel inside of the softbox. Then, you can place this light either above or below the camera to be your fill light. Just make sure to dial the light back. Otherwise, the color might overpower the subject’s face instead of just filling in the shadows.
How do you add color to the shadows? Do you rely on some of these techniques to do it in camera, or you rather do it in post?
[Adding Color to Shadows Using Gels via The Slanted Lens]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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5 responses to “Coloring shadows can make your photo, this is how you do it with gels”
Nice article, but i prefer to shoot something like this un-gelled, because i have far far more control over toning the shadows with whatever color i want through Photoshop.
You’re mistaken if u think that color grading achieves the same look as gelling with lights.
Also, photographers who do it right in camera (w/ lights, coloring, etc) are vision driven… post-photo tweakers are going by whatever looks cool.
I agree with you on the first part. But you’re just trying to start a flame war with the second paragraph. There are pros and cons to both methods, and nothing wrong with either.
But the important thing is that you get to feel superior to anybody with different opinions, right?
I need to correct you, as you seem confused trying to understanding my response. I never said color grading is the same as light gelling. What you are doing is essentially light contaminating, but used in a positive, rather than negative connotation. With normal lighting, you can easilytone the shadows (the article is about coloring shadows, mind you) to whatever you want, but if shot gelled, you are stuck with the color you used, and more importantly, the color or look may not be what you expected or easily editable since you will have color spill. (Btw, nobody gets everything completely perfect in camera- if you use a photo editor to edit even a touch of something you’ve shot, then you obviously didn’t do it right when you first shot it… correct? ;) )
By using curves, sat/desat, channel mixers, etc. in photoshop, you can very precisely correct/enhance what you’ve done in a completely non destructive manner. It’s far easier to add color in then to remove color. It has nothing with whatever looks “cool”, it has everything with maintaining the highest level of quality and control over your photos. Annie Leibovitz is one of the most well known photographers out there for being vision driven- if you think she doesn’t do post with any of her photos, then you’re in the wrong field, my friend. :)
I understand what you’re saying: keep lighting colors neutral (unveiled) and use post to color in. Technically ure right about being stuck with gelled lights and precision in where it hits the subject is key.
Obviously every photog uses post to enhance but my pt is still that getting gelled look in camera offers a far superior look then doing it all in post.
EX: look at nadav kander’s work…he uses gelled lights and has a distinct look — unlike photos that are 100% graded after.