Gels Plus Filters Equals Cool

I like this image. It was pretty simple to get really. I had one strobe on a light stand with a blue gel off to the right. You can see the blue light. And another strobe with a full CTO from the same basic angle (maybe a little to the left) from where I was shooting. I had both on TTL. I used a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 to get in tight. It is a great shot full of emotion and heart. But one cool thing I like to do when using this setup with different color gels is to apply some filters in post processing.

I use Capture NX2 along with Nik's Filter Efex Pro 3.0. I really like to convert images to black and white. I use the tonal compensation method. I simply slide the filter over to blue, adjust the brightness and contrast and you get something like this.

As you see it simply brings out the area where only the light coming through the blue gel hit. This is an easy way to get a nice back light or side light thing going. Give it a try sometime, sometime it's about what you don't light as well.