I came across some interesting articles on the use of speedlight flashes. Both the following links are a by the same photographer, and while he uses a Nikon, there is little difference between that and using Canon equipment.
The use of speelight flashes for some off-camera light is fantastic, the only thing I am stuck on is where to get a warming gel to give the flash a wamer colour. I can’t seem to find any - does anyone know where I can get some in the UK? (or should I just use orange cellophane, or will that melt on to the front of the flash?)
I got a large book of gel samples free from Rosco - each is pretty much perfect size for a Speedlite, and you get about 100 different colours.
Details are here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=1872597&postcount=1
And Rosco’s request page is here: http://www.rosco.com/uk/filters/swatchBookRequest.asp?type=supergel
Took about three weeks for mine to turn up. However, for heavy use of common colours (CTO, CTB, etc.) you’ll soon wear through the single one you get in the sample pack. FlashGels sell some suitably-sized packs of gel filters in common colours for a reasonable price:
http://flashgels.co.uk/shop/
I’d still get the Rosco set though - it’ll help you decide which you want to buy a few of, and it’s also useful for when you want to mess about with really wacky colours
Thanks, found another post suggesting that too - have order some sample gels.
How did you attach them to the flash? Is the heat of the flash a concern? I have heard a speedlight can get rather warm
Sadly I don’t have a Speedlite yet, so I just hold them up in front of my onboard flash
Most people use velcro on the sides of the flash and on the gels, so that they can just swap them on and off. FlashGels sell a pack of filters and velcro which is probably a good starting point.
No need to worry about heat - a decent flash will get pretty hot, but these gels are designed for use on studio, theatre and live event lighting, where it’s not uncommon to measure power consumption of a single light in kilowatts.