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Intuitive Guide to Gels and Creative Color Effects

By MagMod

June 7^th, 2023

As photographers, we have the ability to transform the look of locations in-camera, without having to add effects in post.

One clever way to change up a scene is to use off-camera flash and a few colorful gels for creative color effects.

In this video, we’ll show you how gels can spice up the color and mood within your photographs. We’ll also share an intuitive way to know exactly how a gel will modify the color within your scene.

Let’s get started.

Video Tutorial

Gear Checklist

To try this technique, you’ll need the following:

At least one off-camera flash (Profoto B10+**)
MagBox Pro 24
MagBox Pro Speedring for Profoto
MagGrip 2
MagGels (Correction Gels – We used 1/2 CTO, 1/2 CTB – Blue, and 1/2 Plusgreen)
MagGrid (optional)

**To demonstrate the technique, we’ve used a Profoto B10+ because it’s small and packs a punch. Please note, however, that you can use any flash you’d like. That said, we’d recommend a flash with at least 250-watt seconds of power whenever you’re using a softbox.

The Concept: Use Color Gels for Creative Color Effects

We’re going to use color gels to change the overall color and mood of our photos. We’ll start with a Color Temperature Orange (CTO) gel because it’s probably the most common color you’ll see used outdoors to shift colors. As you’ll see, using a CTO will allow us to shift the color of the entire scene to blue.

The C.A.M.P. Framework still applies when using this concept of creative color effects. You can learn more about it here.

Step 1. Capture a Standard Shot

Settings: 28mm, 1/200, f/14, ISO 400

Here’s the natural light image we get before adjusting our exposure and adding flash or gels.

Settings: 28mm, 1/200, f/14, ISO 50

Here’s the scene again, underexposed before adding flash.

Settings: 28mm, 1/200, f/14, ISO 50 | Flash Power = 1/2 (250 watt seconds)

And finally, here’s a behind-the-scenes shot featuring an added flash. With these settings in place, we also took a plate shot in which the lighting assistant stepped out of the frame. We’ll use this to edit the final image (and repeat this creative color effects technique for each gel color we feature).

Step 2. Add a CTO Gel to the Flash

Settings: 28mm, 1/200, f/14, ISO 50 | Flash Power = 1/1 (500 watt seconds)

Now that we have our ambient exposure and flash power dialed in, we can add a gel. With the CTO gel added, you’ll notice that the light on our subject is too warm. The in-camera white balance is 6,000K, which worked for the natural light image, but now we’re adding more “warmth” to the image with the gel.

We can compensate for this color shift by adjusting our white balance in-camera.

Step 3. Adjust White Balance In-Camera

Settings: 28mm, 1/200, f/14, ISO 50 | Flash Power = 1/1 (500 watt seconds)

Here’s the corrected shot. When we placed an orange gel onto our light, it made our subjects turn orange.

To correct for the warmth of the light, we cooled down the image from 6,000K to 4,300K and adjusted the tint (+11 magenta), which then made everything more blue and balanced out the hue of our subject’s skin tone.

Framework = How to Correct for Creative Color Effects

Here’s how to work through this color shift intuitively. Ask yourself, “What color would I need to add to my subject to correct for the gel?”

Orange Subject

If the light on your subject is orange, we have to cool it down or ADD BLUE to compensate. Blue resides on the opposite side of the color wheel from orange, making them complementary colors. That means everything in the scene will turn more BLUE when we compensate for the orange gel.

Green Subject

What if the light on your subject is green? How would you compensate to get your subjects skin tone back to normal? Add magenta. If your subject is too green, you have to add magenta to shift it back to neutral. This means everything in your scene will shift to extra magenta, adding pink and purple hues to the scene.

Blue Subject

What if the light on your subject is blue? Then you’ll have to add warmth or orange which will make everything in the scene go more orange.

Step 4. Adjust in Post

Make any final adjustments in post and create a composite using the plate shot to arrive at the “corrected” final image.

Now test this creative color effects concept with other gel colors. You can find our final images below, which also use blue and green gels.

Final Images for Creative Color Effects Using Color Gels

No Gel, Temp = 6,000K, Magenta Tint +14

1/2 CTO Gel, Temp = 4,300K, Magenta Tint +11

1/2 CTB Gel, Temp = 8,500K, Magenta Tint +19

1/2 Plus Green Gel, Temp = 6,000K, Magenta Tint +33

© 2026 MagMod

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