Advice on using color gels on background lights?

[Life in Motion]

I just ordered some new seamless paper.....thunder grey and coral....i'm so excited to mix in the contemporary styles of the seamless paper with what i already offer. I also ordered some gels to go over my background flash unit. I am excited about them too however i have no idea how to put them to their best use.

So, therefore my question is if anyone has any advice on using the gels to keep from getting the color spilling on to the subject. I'm hoping that i can use the gels on my white studio wall and just acheive all different color schemes that look more seemless than fabric backgrounds i've used in the past. I searched the forum for threads on people using the gels for background colors and didn't find anything. I am hoping to find some articles to research this topic so i can learn all the ways to use them. ANY ADVICE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

[zona5101]

Gels are great, you can take just about any color background and make it a different color. You are simply going to tape the gel over the flash (or use a gel holder). If you are not having trouble with white light spill from your BG light, you won't have any issues with the same light gelled. Gels will reduce your light output and obviously the darker the gel the more the light is cut down. Unless you are trying to use the gels for color balancing different light sources, coloring the light for mood and impact is really as simple as taping them on and taking a test shot or meter reading.
And for clarity I am speaking of gels on a strobe - using gels on continuous lights usually requires a bit more work to keep the gels from melting ...

[Life in Motion]

Originally Posted by zona5101

Gels are great, you can take just about any color background and make it a different color. You are simply going to tape the gel over the flash (or use a gel holder). If you are not having trouble with white light spill from your BG light, you won't have any issues with the same light gelled. Gels will reduce your light output and obviously the darker the gel the more the light is cut down. Unless you are trying to use the gels for color balancing different light sources, coloring the light for mood and impact is really as simple as taping them on and taking a test shot or meter reading.
And for clarity I am speaking of gels on a strobe - using gels on continuous lights usually requires a bit more work to keep the gels from melting ...

Thanks bruce! I had it in my head being a lot harder controlling the color spill light from the gels than the regular flash spill light! can't wait to experiment now.....thanks for you explanation and comment i'm off to search some inspiration for color schemes

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[Life in Motion]

Sid Vasandani Photography: Lighting Techniques

In searching for gel background coloring ideas i found this site that has some great lighting diagrams tutorials. thought some others might benefit from this type of information so thought i'd share it!