...So how do I actually gel strobes?

Lee & Rosco gels both originate within the movie industry where 10,000watt lamps were not uncommon so it's to be expected with that pedigree that they would withstand our puny little studio flash units. Lighting mega-maestro Dean Collins (for those of us in the industry long enough to remember him - at least Wilt, David Ward and myself, possibly one or two others) used to wrap gels directly round the glass domes of his 3200w/s Bron flashes without problem.

However, these were proper lighting gels and not just anything coloured and transparent such as some of the ultra-cheap gels around now. I'd be extremely sceptical about wrapping unbranded gels directly round anything warmer than ambient, just in case!! I'll bet they take longer to s-c-r-a-p-e off than to melt on. Who is to say whether the cheap ones are flammable or not - could be interesting

Gelling studio lights can be accomplished by using Bowens or Manfrotto multi-clips fastened to the rim of the metal dish (as per image in post #3, this thread and {brightened} below - which is actually a Bowens Travelite 750 unit with Maxilite bowl reflector and multi-clip holding the gel). Should you need to use both gel and honeycomb, then the preferred method is gel nearest the lamp to minimise dispersion post-grid.
I curved the jaws of a couple of my multi-clips so they followed the rim contour a little better for reduced scratching of bowl interior; it's not vital but I was waiting for a model to deign to turn up and filling the time!

Softboxes are marginally more awkward. Clipping to inner diffusers works fairly well, better is covering the whole of the outer surface but that requires full sheets if not rolls of gel. Then how do you gel an Octa? Snip, snip, snip - Clip, clip, clip - Fun, fun, fun .

Don't forget, though, that any modifier acts like a vortex gun to some degree and blasts a lot of instantaneous energy forwards through the gel. You can prove this yourself by tacking a gel to just the top of a bowl reflector, firing the flash and watching the gel bob up over the pressure wave. If I ever needed any more gels, I'd make sure I bought Lee as they are a known reliable heat-resistant type. The same probably goes for Rosco in the USA, they're just not as common this side of the pond as the home-brewed Lee variety.

best option is like this from Chimera:

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …een_Color_Corre​ction.html

Don't velcro or stick stuff inside the modifier, use pins on the outside. Heat will mess with things like glue and i would not want to risk damaging the inside of a rotalux.

I get lil clothe still pins for like .10c, using the sheet as best placed inside as possible covering as much of the light, (similar to how an interior baffle works) you can gel a modifier. If there is an interior baffle, using small pins to stick the gel ontop of it (hopefully extruding past the edges to cover the entire modifier) is quite helpful.

It is a daunting task for round modifiers or strip boxes, where you may need to actually cut a sheet of gel, everywhere else moving it closer to the tube is easier, do not bring it too close to the tube as again, heat may become an issue.

Whortleberry wrote in post #15421096
Lee & Rosco gels both originate within the movie industry where 10,000watt lamps were not uncommon so it's to be expected with that pedigree that they would withstand our puny little studio flash units. Lighting mega-maestro Dean Collins (for those of us in the industry long enough to remember him - at least Wilt, David Ward and myself, possibly one or two others) used to wrap gels directly round the glass domes of his 3200w/s Bron flashes without problem.

Ah well that's good to know, as I bought Lee gels. Each 20x24 sheet was $7 or so, which is plenty cheap to me. (I doubt I'll have to replace them soon considering how little I plan on using them) Unfortunately my D-Lites don't have glass domes covering the tubes but the modelling lamps protrude enough that I doubt they'll come in contact.

Dear Vascilli,

I yield to experienced veterans like JCOLMAN, DMWARD, WHORTLEBERRY (& of course WILT too),
but other possible options for your Elinchrom D-Lite’s (after your slide-in-reflector disc for your 39” Rotalite/Rotalux square or 39” Octa, but before you put the outer diffuser on) may include…

IMPACT SMALL DOUBLE ADUSTABLE CLIPS [B&H Mfr# CC-100]:
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …uble_Adjustable​_Clip.html
-these are a bit wide though at 4.25"
or
LASTOLITE GEL CLIPS [Mfr #3271]:
(UK based- I haven’t seen these at North America retailers; not even Toronto based www.vistek.ca which sometimes has European stuff that B&H, Adorama, Samy’s, or MidWest don’t stock)
http://www.lastolitesc​hoolofphotography.com/​tag/gel-clips (28 second product video)
http://www.lastolite.c​om …__utmv=-&__utmk=137515824
http://www.1stcameras.​com …-Barn-Door-Gel-Clips-3271
or
MANFROTTO [Mfr #375] (like WHORTLEBERRY indicated):
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …to_375_375_Mult​iclip.html
- these are also a bit wide at 4.25"
or
LOWEL GEL JAWZ-CLIPS [Mfr# CL-15] (I think these maybe like BOBBYZ already indicated):
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …1947-REG/Lowel_CL_15.html

Good luck.


Mary
P.S. I have a proprietary solution which unfortunately won’t work for your specific setup.
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …id_and_Filter_H​older.html
Enjoy your upcoming stretch of sunny but cold weather and keep that snow east of the Rockies please.
(other than 1-2 days of wet snow, all we have had in Vancouver this winter is rain).

If you use dark colored filters (deep red, deep blue, whatever) on something like a Broncolor head (650W modelling light), I can guarantee you that the filter will burn…
Lighter filters (such as a CTO) don't have that problem, but you certainly don't want to tape them close to the flashtube. Just cover the front of the standard reflector or gel an entire softbox.

Gaffers tape will melt, harden and stick over time.
Use wooden clothespins, or tape on a part of the light that doesn't get (as) hot.

One of the reasons I use velcro is because I can keep a gel attached to my light at all times. When I want to gel my flash, I don't have to go looking thru my light bag or camera bag for one. The middle strip of velcro is used to attach a pocket wizard if I want to use the flash on-camera for some fill light.

Whortleberry wrote in post #15421096
Lee & Rosco gels both originate within the movie industry where 10,000watt lamps were not uncommon so it's to be expected with that pedigree that they would withstand our puny little studio flash units. Lighting mega-maestro Dean Collins (for those of us in the industry long enough to remember him - at least Wilt, David Ward and myself, possibly one or two others) used to wrap gels directly round the glass domes of his 3200w/s Bron flashes without problem.

However, these were proper lighting gels and not just anything coloured and transparent such as some of the ultra-cheap gels around now. I'd be extremely sceptical about wrapping unbranded gels directly round anything warmer than ambient, just in case!! I'll bet they take longer to s-c-r-a-p-e off than to melt on. Who is to say whether the cheap ones are flammable or not - could be interesting

There are 'gels' (real gelatin originally) and so-called gels which are dyed polyester. As anyone with a super hot iron and polyester clothes knows, high heat melts polyester. So now there are high temperature gels which are made of heat resistant polymers, like polycarbonate. Rosco Supergels have temp spec of Melting Point 220°C and Softening Point 160°C

Rosco advises to never use a plastic filter directly in front of an open faced lamp. They state that this will nearly always cause premature failure because the heat is trapped and it has nowhere to go except to the plastic filter. They advise to always allow a suitable air gap.

Same temperatures for Lee and the same safety concerns noted in their Compliance data sheets. No surprises there of course. There are loads of unbranded "gels" around, especially on ebay although I've also seen them in High St retailers - very pretty, very unknown quantities. May be safe, may not and for the cost of the proper, tested ones it's hardly worth finding out on your own gear

Interesting notes from everyone. My Maxilite and softboxes have never been more than mildly warm to the touch so I'm fairly sure gaffers tape won't be so bad. (I'll probably tape to the rods of the softboxes so as to not mess around with the softbox innards) The modelling lights of my D-Lites are some 100W or so, which shouldn't be hot enough to burn or melt any gels. In any case I'll probably turn them off when shooting with gels. (If I'm balancing for tungsten chances are it's so powerful the modelling lights will be overpowered by ambient anyways)

I use a couple of these for my 8" reflectors on einsteins.
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_5_Gel_Filter_H​older.html
Or gaffers tape at times