Using CTO Gels

Life just keeps getting better and better when you go mirrorless. Well, sorta.

I’m still griping about the lack of a decent speedlight for those all to frequent “run and gun” situations where you need the help of TTL automation when shooting quickly under a variety of conditions. Certainly, flashes like the Yongnuo 560 and more recently the Adorama Li-On powered units can be perfectly suitable when there’s enough time to make a “ranging shot” to adjust flash output. On other hand, an older Nikon speedlight with non-TTL exposure automation might do in a pinch, particularly in flash fill situations where exposure isn’t critical, as in putting a spot of light into the shadows on a sunlit day.

True TTL was a major advancement, allowing accurate exposures to be calculated from within the camera and through the shooting lens. iTTL is far more sensitive, providing accurate exposures even when the amount of light on your subject relatively low, as it would be when bouncing off of high ceilings or over longer distances. But under these circumstances, the Fuji EF-42 just doesn’t have the horsepower or the fast recycle time. I considered buying a used one and adapting it to a Quantum battery pack, something that would be easy to do, in theory. Maybe next year…

In the mean time, I’ve decided to try using some older Nikon SB-80 speedlights. First off, I already have several of them, and they have the same control layout as my beloved SB-800s. And while they aren’t adaptable to Nikon iTTL cameras, they do have the non-TTL exposure mode. When fast recycling time is needed, I have SD-8a battery packs. Not as fast as the Adorama units, which are bulkier and lack the non TTL automation.

Photo #1

Gels: One of the great convenience points for the Nikon speedlights is the inclusion of color correcting (CC) gels or filter with the midrange and top end speedlights. When the SB-800 was introduced, it came with two gel filters: one for balancing incandescent, and one for balancing common fluorescent lights. These OEM gels use the wide angle filter plate to hold them in place, which makes it impossible to narrow the beam angle when using it in the bounce mode. I solved the problem by using a “stitch” (small piece) of gaffer tape to help hold the gel in place, a time-consuming operation when you do it in the field.

As with just about everything associated with my going mirrorless, I’ve adapted how I use my gelled speedlights, since flash is mostly a manual proposition. For my last assignment, I decided to go “paleo” and attach my gels with gaffer tape, even though my SB-800 gels fit the SB-80. I could now cut my own rectangular gels from Rosco sheets, saving a mountain of money in the process (Photo #1).

Photo #2

Gel Size: The gel’s height is cut to the exact height of the clear face plate so that there are no gaps in the coverage. The width is cut narrower than the clear faceplate. This provides a gap for so the tape can adhere to the face plate, which insures a light-proof seal on the sides, which are often irregular in shape. You may lose an infinitesimal amount of light, but I dare anybody to quantify it. Be sure to trim the tape to the same height as the gel. In this photo, you can see a gel with the gaffer tape “sticky side up” (Photo #2). While not readily apparent, the gel is narrower than the clear face plate.

The easiest way to attach the gel is to place each strip of tape sticky side up and lay the gel on top. When both side have their tape, you can trim the tape with a pair of sharp scissors. If you check Photo #1 again, you'll see that the arrangement is "light tight", and will produce the proper color throughout.

Photo #3

When not in use, just tape the gel to the side of the flash head (Photo #3). Be sure it mounted low enough so that it doesn’t get in the way of when you mount a diffusion dome. The strange reflection is a reminder of how easily they can be creased, something that doesn’t affect the gel’s performance.

In The Field: When I carried my Nikon bag, I always had three speedlights. With the Fuji bag, there are still three speedlights: one Fuji EF-42, and two Nikon SB-80s, one with the gel already mounted.This allows me to instantly retrieve a gelled, or un-gelled flash on a moment's notice. If for some reason I need all of the speedlights un-gelled, I found it faster to remove the gel than to try to tape in on properly when I needed it. And as it turns out, installing the gel from the side of the flash is much faster than fishing through my camera bag, removing the gel from its protective sleeve, and positioning it under the flash panel.

Rosco Gel Sheets: The easiest way to obtain a supply of gels is to purchase the Rosco Strobist Assortment. However, since color correcting for incandescent light sources is pretty much my "go to" gel, I found it easier to purchase the by the sheet and cut them to size.

Everybody talks about the "CTO", or Full Orange gel, but when I checked the Rosco catalog, there are two suitable choices:

#3407, or Full CTO, which converts 5500 Kelvin to 2900 Kelvin, closer to the color of a household light bulb.

#3401, or RoscoSun 85, which converts 5500 Kelvin to 3200 Kelvin, closer to the color of a Type B photoflood.

Either works, but the 3407 is a bit warmer, although I doubt anybody could see the difference 300 degrees Kelvin would make unless they were compared side by side.

Fuji X100 S with WCL Wide Angle Conversion Lens: 1/64 of a second, ISO 800, F 4.0

This shot was made during a lecture on England during the time of Downton Abbey. Lecture guests were invited to come wearing period costumes, so finding interesting subjects wasn't difficult. I used an SB-80 with a Full CTO Gel bounced off of the wall behind me. White balance was set to the Incandescent preset, as you would expect. The blue tint on the background comes from overcast daylight from the windows at camera right.

The Park Service Commemorative Coin

The Mint: This was a neat assignment. I was going to the San Francisco Mint to watch the first strike of a new, 100th Anniversary Commemorative coin honoring the National Parks Service. Since I live relatively close to the mint, I thought the assignment would be pretty easy.

Media people entering the facility were required to have their identifications verified in advance. Once inside the Mint, we were escorted through the standard metal detection protocol, identical to what you'd encounter in an airport. One surprise was the stipulation that no loose change could be brought  into the mint. All of this security was a bit bothersome, since all I was doing was coming to make some "snaps".

The Press Release stated that there would be plenty of Photo Ops, and a large projected image of some redwood trees formed the backdrop for the speakers taking the podium. Here is the newly appointed Chief of Staff of the United States Mint Elisa Basnight, Esq., welcoming the guests to the event.

The honor of striking the first coin went to 94-year old Betty Reid Soskin,  the oldest National Park Ranger in the United States, who is currently assigned to the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, California. At the conclusion of her speech, she turned to the giant press, and prepared to strike the first coin.

There wasn't much to see from my current vantage point in the isle beside the seated audience, so I moved closer to see if a better photo could be made. There wasn't much to see, and I concluded there weren't enough visual clues to help the viewer understand what was going on. It's just as well, since the photo is horribly out of focus.

The media was certainly present. An ABC video crew was to my left, and San Francisco Chronicle photographer Paul Chin was to my right. Mr. Chin did manage to get a shot, but he had the advantage of an entire article to support the photo, whereas I had only a few lines of text to work with.

After a faint "chug", the shiny new coin rolled out of the machine and was caught in special chute. Ms. Soskin picked up the coin with gloved hands, and showed it off the the crowd. By this time everybody who had a camera rushed forward, and started making photos at close range. I managed to get two, which can be seen below.

As you can see, I had some real difficulty photographing the coin. Subtle changes in the coin's orientation altered it appearance, and coupled with the variables of gaze and facial expression, the odds were not in my favor. Also, my position was a too far to camera right, increasing the perceived distance between coin and face.

Second Chance: Things were not going well. Then Ms. Basnight stepped up beside Ms. Soskin, showing off the second newly-minted coin. I re-positioned myself to the left so that the coin was more closely aligned with the face, giving me a much tighter composition.

As you can see, the orientation of the coin was critical. Only the second frame gives a hint of  the coins detail, and the image was in reasonably sharp focus. I leveled and cropped the image to get the following final version.

Almost There: Just about everything now fell into place. The coin was sharp, and Ms. Soskin was just a touch out of focus. You can see that my new position decreased the apparent distance between the hand and and the face, tightening up the composition. Still, I was bothered by the lack of detail in the coin. I knew I could live with this image, but tried to find a way to give the view a closer look at the coin.

I noticed that there was a display table beside the podium with two pre-production samples in holders on a black velvet background, so I quickly made a close-up of the "reverse" (tail) side of the coin to match the one held by Ranger Soskin. I left the Mint, thinking that my editor might choose to run both images, side by side, which I felt would be mutually supportive.

When I returned to my office, I looked over my final choice, and seeing the press in the background, felt it didn't contribute that much to the context of the photo. After a small bit of cropping, I superimposed the image of the coin over the upper left hand corner of the base image, resulting in the final image: A smiling Park Service representative, holding a coin, with a inset of the coin in the upper left hand corner.

I've seen photos like this before in publications other than the Journal, and while it was not a true "exactly as I saw it" photo, it's pretty obvious that the only bit of digital manipulation was the superimposition of the coin over the press. I added the black border to remind the viewer that there were indeed two photos, and no attempt was being made to hide that fact. My editor didn't object to the overlay, and the image ran on Page 2 the following day.

If you're curious, the San Francisco Chronicle ran their own story on Thursday too. You can read it by clicking here.