A stool, some gels & a pretty lady

anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
edited October 2, 2012 in People
I finally broke down and splurged (a whole $30) on a set of gels for my strobes. We got home with them after running some other errands and my wife was really curious to see how they worked. My lights and stuff were still setup from yesterday's shoot with Presley so I had her sit on a stool while I goofed around with the gels. I'd never used them in the past and it took me a bit to realize that you really have to stop down your lights in order to get good color saturation out of them. I also took the opportunity to practice some more posing.

Setup was two AB400 on the BG which is a white vinyl backdrop. I had one to right and left. Each with a different color gel. Then a large softbox to camera left and a large reflector to right. Here are some of my favorites. As always, C&C is welcome.

First batch is yellow & orange gels

1
DSC3133-Edit-X2.jpg

2 :lust
DSC3135-Edit-X2.jpg

3
DSC3127-Edit-X2.jpg

This batch is blue and purple gels

4
DSC3171-Edit-Edit-X2.jpg

5
DSC3199-Edit-X2.jpg

6
DSC3212-Edit-X2.jpg

7
DSC3220-Edit-X2.jpg
"I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

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Comments

  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited October 1, 2012
    BTW, my wife LOVES the gels.
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

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  • BilsenBilsen Registered Users Posts: 2,143 Major grins
    edited October 1, 2012
    More really nice work Cuban.thumb.gif

    Not sure about the crop in # 1 and # 5 is pretty close to the ankle but then again, with your wife playing the part of Cindy so well (muse, top model, experimentalist and GORGEOUS), I don't think I care. Laughing.gifrolleyes1.gif
    Bilsen (the artist formerly known as John Galt NY)
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  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited October 1, 2012
    Thanks Bilsen (gonna have to get used to calling you that).

    As for the crops, they don't bother me that much. I kind of like the asymmetrical crop of #1 and I'm living on the edge... cropping of feet.

    I am digging the gels though. Gonna have to work with them more. I also have red, green I didn't try and also stacking them to get different colors. The other thing I want to try is playing with different power setting on each light and using grids to concentrate the light more.

    It's cool because for a cheap $30, the impact is pretty nice.
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

    Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums

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  • MitchellMitchell Registered Users Posts: 3,503 Major grins
    edited October 1, 2012
    These are great. What gel set did you buy? Do you have a gel holder for your bees?
  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited October 1, 2012
    Smith-Victor 12 x 12 In. RAINBOW PACK Color Effects Gels. I bought two packs.

    34027-2T.jpg

    My state of the art gel holders:

    51rUVvR-ZaL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

    Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums

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  • jhofkerjhofker Registered Users Posts: 136 Major grins
    edited October 1, 2012
    Any pullbacks for this? Maybe in your thread on Presley? Just wondering how many lights you have hitting the background.

    You'll get a bit better saturation out of the gels if you use a gray background instead of white. (Although, it looks like you're doing just fine. :-) ) Something to try if you have one handy.
  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited October 1, 2012
    Pullback in the pullback thread here: http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=186875&page=24

    I had two lights on the BG... one on each side. Makes sense about the gray. Don't have a gray BG right now so white will have to do.
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

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  • TinstaflTinstafl Registered Users Posts: 355 Major grins
    edited October 1, 2012
    I love gels too.
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited October 1, 2012
    BTW, my wife LOVES the gels.

    Way too much information. :D

    Sam
  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited October 1, 2012
    @ Sam... clap.gifrolleyes1.gif
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

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  • Quincy TQuincy T Registered Users Posts: 1,090 Major grins
    edited October 1, 2012
    As always, cuban, excellent work. Your consistency here is a testament to your professionalism.
  • jeffreaux2jeffreaux2 Registered Users Posts: 4,762 Major grins
    edited October 2, 2012
    Nice work!!!thumb.gif

    Id toss #2. The out of focus hand in the foreground kills it for me. The rest are excellent.
  • jmphotocraftjmphotocraft Registered Users Posts: 2,987 Major grins
    edited October 2, 2012
    awesome... beautiful woman and beautiful shots... but does she appreciate the upskirt shot in 5?
    -Jack

    An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
  • anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited October 2, 2012
    awesome... beautiful woman and beautiful shots... but does she appreciate the upskirt shot in 5?

    It's provocative for sure but to quote her, "as long as my junk isn't showing"... she's fine with it.

    Do find it trashy or in poor taste?
    jeffreaux2 wrote: »
    Nice work!!!thumb.gif

    Id toss #2. The out of focus hand in the foreground kills it for me. The rest are excellent.

    Thanks Jeff. BTW, #2 is my favorite and now you ruined it for me. I now keep staring at her OOF hand. rolleyes1.gif
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

    Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums

    My Smug Site
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