Flash Photography - Using Color Filters

Flash Filters

Coloured flash filters are one of the most inexpensive and versatile accessories you can buy for your flash. Placing a coloured filter over your flash will change the colour of the light. Using filters you can alter the colour of the entire photograph or change only the foreground or background.

Using multiple flash heads with different coloured filters on them can add atmosphere to an otherwise uninteresting photograph. One of the most common uses of filters is to change a plain white background to a coloured background when shooting portraits or fashion. This saves money and space because you do not have to purchase and store a variety of backgrounds.

The technique is fairly simple. Choose the colour of filter that you want the background to be and place it on the flash heads that will be lighting the background. Light your main subject separately using unfiltered flash heads. If the foreground is to be included in the shot and also coloured, light it using separate flash heads filtered to the colour you desire.

If using this method for portraiture or fashion photography, I highly recommend doing several test shots to ensure that when your model arrives, you are ready to start shooting.

The technique is simple in itself, but the direction of the light becomes fairly critical because you do not want the various coloured lights interfering with each other.

Using similar methods on still life subjects follows the same basic pattern, but you can generally experiment more freely. I have found that effective results can be had using multiple flash heads with various coloured gels in tabletop photography.

A simple white background can become a sunset or a blue sky with judicious use of coloured filters. With practice this technique becomes very efficient and the results can be very pleasing. It not only saves on set and location costs while adding variety to your photographic portfolio, but with a little experimentation can also inspire your creativity.

Filters and coloured gels are very useful, especially when working in controlled conditions or using studio flash.

I hope you have found this article helpful.