In-a-pinch DIY Flash Gel

[matteroniandcheese]

Hey guys!

I've been reading the DPS forums for quite some time now, but rarely make my presence known. I've now come up on a situation that I'd love all your input on.

This week I'm going to a dance event, and was planning to use my 430EX to freeze some of the action, however last time I did that the color balance was way off, because I forgot to use a gel. Easy enough right? Just find a gel that fits the color of the lights (which is fluorescent)! Unfortunately, because of my stupidity, I forgot to order one in time, and I live in the middle of Oklahoma where there are 0 photo stores.

My question to you: Is there any material that can be used as a fluorescent flash gel, such as cellophane? Has any ever tried this, or am I pretty much just stuck? I figure cellophane will over-correct the problem, but I'm really not sure.

Just figured I'd see if you guys had any advice! (sorry if people have asked this before...I couldn't find it).

[Benji]

Why screw around with attempting to alter the color temperature of the flash by using a gel, especially when the light source is flourescent. Flourescent light bulbs are manufactured in at least eight different color temperatures, so unless you have a color temperature meter, or you can find out what bulbs are in use before the shoot you have absolutely no idea of which gel to use. The simplest answer is to shoot in Raw, take an accurate meter reading and shoot a grey card at the beginning of the shoot. By doing these simple things all of your white balance problems are taken care.

Benji

[matteroniandcheese]

Ok, thanks for taking the time to reply! I'm pretty new to external flash workings. I'll just use a greycard.

Thanks!

[CaptainNH]

Originally Posted by Benji

By doing these simple things all of your white balance problems are taken care.

How does that fix the colour imbalance between the subjects lit by the flash and that lit by the fluro tubes?

Strobist: Lighting 101: Using Gels to Correct Light

[Benji]

Originally Posted by CaptainNH

How does that fix the colour imbalance between the subjects lit by the flash and that lit by the fluro tubes?

Strobist: Lighting 101: Using Gels to Correct Light

I want proper skin tones, and using a grey card and shooting in Raw and using flash will give me proper skin tones. I don't know exactly what a "dance event" is but since this is April I assume it is a prom where the background will be paper or balloons or something like that, but even if it is other people dancing in the background their skin tones will be a moot point because a fast shutter speed and a reasonably small aperture will close them out allowing the main subjects to be the main subjects in the image.

Benji

[CaptainNH]

I totally agree that it's critical to achieve proper skin tones, and that you can achieve this though the grey card / RAW route, but if other elements in your shot are colour critical (like a bride's white wedding dress), then you're more likely to be able to achieve proper tones in both if you gel your strobes.