I would love to talk about gels a little bit, but I have to say that I am not very good at explaining things though. I will just list some tips in point form. But if anyone has any specific questions about them, please do not hesitate to ask. I am more than willing to help anyone in any way that I can.

- first off, I believe that gels are by far the most economical way to change the backround color. I would suggest buying one grey muslim, one roll of black seamless paper, one roll of arctic white seamless paper, and a bunch of gels. With this combination you have many options.

- make sure you have a fairly powerful backround strobe because the gels cause you to lose quite a bit of light.

- If I am using a posing table or something like that, I will place the backround strobe behind and below the subject. I the subject is on the floor, I will place the strobe to the side.

- You can control the spread and gradation of the light with honeycomb grids. These grids fit on the front of the strobe.

- When I am shooting in the studio, I like to shoot using remote capture. This allows me to view the photos on my laptop right after shooting. I find that the backround light looks much brighter than it really is on the camera lcd.

- The best advice I can give is to just experiment with the backround light. Try adjusting the distance of the strobe from the backround, change the power levels, use different colors and use different grids. You don't even need a subject to practice this. Just setup your equipment and shoot a teddy bear in front of your backround and shoot away.

Again if anyone has questions, ask away.

Happy Holidays
Brian