Small Flash: Using Off Camera Flash to Create a Sunset

Step 2

Now that you’ve warmed up the image as a whole, you’ll have to account for the change in temperature. To do this, bring in the heat by creating your own sun. Here’s where a trusty flash comes into play. It’s not exactly on par with the sun hiding somewhere behind the clouds, but for these purposes, it will do nicely. 

To make the flash a more convincing ball of fire, you’ll need to warm up the light it’s emitting. I added a full Color Temperature Orange (CTO) gel to the front of the flash. There are a number of places to get these gels, ranging from your favorite online retailer to your local camera or cinema store. Much like the white balance settingon your camera, this can be warmed to taste, but a full CTO gel worked great for me.