Photo tutorial: Turn your old wrapping cellophane into gels
The holidays may be over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still get some use out of all your holiday trimmings. If you received any presents wrapped in colored cellophane this year (or if you happen to have a little extra cellophane kicking around the house) then you can create some neat and inexpensive gels for lighting.
To do this hack you’ll need a camera with an additional attached flash. While you could theoretically do the same thing with a small consumer camera, or even the built-in flash on your SLR, the attached additional flash works much better.
This will also work differently depending on how dark your particular piece of cellophane is, and how bright of a flash you are using. If you have the ability to change your flash’s intensity try it out with different setting. You may also want to try out different cellophane’s if you have them available.
Cut Out The Cellophane
You want to cut a piece of cellophane that will cover the front of your flash as well as wrap slightly over the back. You don’t want it to be too large, but you need it to be big enough that you can easily attach it to the lens.
Attach It With A Rubber Band
Once you have a piece of cellophane large enough attach it to your flash with a rubber band. While you could tie it on with a piece of holiday ribbon, the rubber band will give you the flexibility to remove the gel when you want and reattach it at your leisure rather than have to take all your gel shots at once.
For Consumer Cameras
If you have a small consumer camera you can still give this a try. Start out with a much smaller piece of cellophane and try taping it to the front of your camera rather than attaching it with a rubber band. Depending on your camera model, you may be more successful than others.
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