Gel Filters

showing my ignorance here: how the heck are gel filters used with strobes?

i've been looking at them, and i can understand how they could be

useful/important, but i look at how they sell a 20X24 sheet and i'm wondering -

do you place it in front of the strobe? in front of the soft box? then i saw

hangers, so i'm wondering - do i place it between the strobe and the subject?

but wouldn't that cast a shadow of the frame? my best guess: do i just tape it

to the front of the soft box? if anyone has a link to a tutorial or something,

or if you want to post info, i'd appreciate it greatly.

I don't bother with the frames that fit to the front of lights, they're fiddly and unnecessary and involve cutting the gel, which I hate doing.

 

Drape them over the front of a light, using a piece of masking tape (painters tape) or a clothes peg (clothes pin) to secure them in place. Using this method, you can double or quadruple them if required.

 

Fit them to the front of softboxes with clothes pegs. Or, with some makes that allow good access (e.g. Chimera) you can fit them to the front of the lamp inside the softbox. With makes that shoot the 'wrong way' (e.g. some models in the Elinchrom range) this is especially easy.

 

The easiest way if you want to place them between subject and light is to suspend them from a small boom (microphone boom), again using clothes pegs to fix them in position and with a couple more clothes pins to weight them at the bottom.

I clip the sheet to the stays inside the softbox using binder clips from an office supply shop... t<div></div>