The Fun and Versatility of Gels in Studio Photography

Half the fun of working with studio strobes is that you are not constrained to the available light and can experiment with all sorts of things, like the position of the lights, the relative powers, the modifiers, and even the colors. This fun video will show you how working with color gels can produce unique and interesting results.

Coming to you from Mango Street, this great video will show you the basics of working with color gels. Color gels are fun and versatile, because they're so cheap and can completely change the look of an image without much work. As the video shows, you can also experiment with adding a bit of fog to augment the atmosphere all the more. The nice thing about gels is that they can be used to add just a splash of color to an image, or they can be used to entirely change the mood and look of the photo. If you're planning on experimenting with them, now would be a good time to study up on basic color theory: things like complementary colors and the like will be tremendously helpful in guiding you in your process. Check out the video above for the full rundown and grab a set to try out yourself!