A Very Gelly Christmas

12/26/09 – Rebecca Getsfrid – Commercial and Family Portrait Photographer in Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon

After doing the Beach shoot for my family yesterday, I made a very quick and treacherous drive back over the mountains to do christmas photos for some friends who slacked on it. Slacked on it to the point where I delivered for them JPEGs moments after the shoot finished, which they promptly took to a walmart to print, finishing just in time to get to their parents.

The overgelled look can be obnoxious at times, but, especially in a festive season such as this, it can do a lot to turn a fairly cruddy location into something different, that your clients will like.

2 AB800s, one in a softbox high and a few feet from the subjects faces, one gelled. 1 AB400 gelled, 1 LP120 gelled. The gelled lights are bouncing all over the place in the room, bringing the colored light to the subject’s faces. Shooting at a relatively low aperture (2.8 if I recall correctly), makes the christmas tree into an environmental context clue, rather than a distraction.