Using Gels To Change The Background Color

[jfeenin]

OK the beginning of the thread is useful and informative as always. The rest is just plain hilarious!

[KellyL]

Originally Posted by Mark McCall

One set of gels and one grey or black background will give you hundreds of different looks.
The darker grey or black the background is, the more saturated your colors become.

Mark...this boys nose is pointing at the camera. Explanation please?

[Mark McCall]

Kelly,
I think your referring to another thread.....the one where you had posted the shots of band kids.
But I'll answer here.

There's two reason's not to point a nose into the camera lens during a portrait.
#1. You can't use broad or short lighting to your advantage if the nose is pointed directly into the lens.
Pointing the nose toward the main light will give you short lighting...thins the face and is best for most subjects.
Pointing the nose away from the main light gives you broad lighting...this broadens the face and is best for only very thin subjects.

#2. Avoid any horizontal or verticle plane in a photograph.
Keeping objects on different levels adds appeal, as does putting the nose slightly off center.
Keep heads off the same level, both vertically and horizontally, and avoid pointing the nose directly into the lens.

[KellyL]

Mark,

Thanks for the information. I will take it to heart and use it. I have two girls home today, so I am hoping I can get a picture made and test my lighting and my light meter.

I was actually reading through this thread, saw your post and your diagram, and that boy in his letter coat sitting there with a football...with his nose pointed at the camera! And being in a giddy mood last night, probably because the wedding video was done, I was ribbing you about that picture of that boy in this thread.

But out of that good natured exchange, I got some excellent advice! I really do appreciate you being here, commenting, and sharing.

[Mark McCall]

Kelly,
I'm with you now.
I was confused for awhile.

The background lighting diagram was shot for my book to display the concept of using a grey background and gels, and was not an image delivered to the client or to display broad or short lighting.

But you got me.
If you talk the talk, you should walk the walk. I owe you one.

Mark

[arcmaster]

Benji,
The picture is a total failure. There are no power lines in sight !

[Thunderhawk]

Funnything, when I saw the word gels, I was thinking filter gels for the lens. And woudered how you could change the back ground with out altering the look of everything elce.

Thanks for the info.

[Benji]

JG,

"Let's say I wanted a photo with a background that has a heavy blue tint to it. No problem I would just throw a blue filter on my lens. Now if I add a model and wanted her to NOT be blue, could I put an orange filter on the flash so that she comes out "normal"?

Theoretically yes. But getting the flash unit to illuminate only the subject could be a problem. I remember seeing a technique years ago "invented" by Larry Peters where he put three flash units several inches apart beside the subject, one red one green one blue. Each cast a shadow of its color only so where they all overlapped each canceled the colors of the other two out and that part was correctly lit!

Benji

[jazzology]

Interesting you mention the red green blue technique... Soon enough, RGB LEDS will replace constant color temp flash tubes. They are already being used theatrically as constant source... and we are seeing LED lightpanels in the film world on a fairly regular basis.

LED Wall Washer