Colored Gel Photography: Studio Portraiture

Watch the tutorial and learn about four fantastic gel looks that the professional, Jake Hicks, has created for you.

Know how Jake Hicks was introduced to photography, his education, practice, and development as a professional.

Follow Jake Hicks’s step-by-step tutorial guide of 84 videos, including posing, color theory, and retouching, and much more.

Learn the various aspects of the fashion photography from the master of colored gel portraits and add some beauty to your photography.

Watch Jake’s guide to create Colored Gel Portraits, that shows gelled flair, gelled beauty,gelled edge & mixes it with color wash process.

Learn how exposure affects a gel color’s tint, use different gels and follow best practices to prevent unwanted colour contamination.

Observe Jake Hicks, describing white lighting techniques to establish a firm lighting foundation, building towards colored gels.

Watch the video to discover the perks of a beauty dish, a right angle bracket, and the importance of subjective and objective lighting.

Use the best camera settings, such as the shutter and ISO, to modify the exposure, inspect the field, and refining focus.

After establishing the primary light, add fill light to complete the arrangement. Use the floor stand & softbox to set up the ideal fill.

Learn how to balance your lighting setup and use hair lighting to add dimension, specularity, and separation from the background.

Think about color in relationship to the background, styling, wardrobe, model, and lighting gels to form a distinctive and colorful imagery.

Explore the different types of lens options, with photographer, Jake Hicks, for creating specific on set results.

Explore more information about portrait retouching approach, with more complex editorial examples as the training series progress.

Use primary distractions eliminated with the Patch Tool, apply another process to refine the subject’s skin, and follow the next process.

With blurring, separation, linear light blending and masking, learn to apply skin smoothing for a natural blend.

Learn the process of utilizing the curves, adjustment layering, masks, and the paint brush to form extra depth and dimension to the image.

Learn the layered and intentional methodology to retouching the Gelled Flare image from photographer, Jake Hicks.

Learn how to evaluate the highlights in the image and reducing the oily effect they can have on the skin tone.

Utilize a variety of ideas and techniques to add the finishing touches that define the image during the colour toning.

Get back to the studio and learn as photographer, Jake Hicks, explains about the elements of what goes into creating the gelled beauty look.

Change from a black to white background. Begin setup with the key light, focusing on position, angle and distance from the model.

Make beautiful highlights and contrast by adding the silver umbrella. Understand position of lighting in relationship to the model.

Use black and white v-flats to give the lighting setup more control once the exposure from the Key and Fill light is established.

Learn how with practical lighting methods you can avoid unwanted color banding to create the perfect image for a gelled beauty shoot.

Click a series of poses and learn how to create stunning gelled beauty images.Watch the video to know more about gelled beauty posing.

For retouching phase of gelled beauty, Jake describes his approach in choosing the kind of images for rigorous editing process in photoshop.

Hear Jake Hicks’ method to using highlights, tone curves, and clarity when processing RAW images in Lightroom.

Watch the complete video to learn and understand the process of retouching for gelled beauty using the Photoshop.

This step will explain the multilayered approach for skin retouching in creating a commercial look by eliminating splotches and patchiness.

Learn a methodical and balanced approach from Jake Hicks for skin smoothing to create soft and natural skin texture.

Watch the video to learn the use of different tools to shape light and switch to creating depth and dimension using dodge and burn.

Move into the final stages of the retouching process which is about focusing on sharpening and darkening the exposure.

Learn to feather the highlights for a subtle roll off and reduce the oily skin tone, without losing the dimension.

Learn from Jake Hicks how to expedite your workflow by re-using work from the first image across subsequent images.

Watch Jake breaking down the keys to create this style. Focus on complementary colors, showing shape & form with contrast using color.

Begin with the placement of edge lighting before the key light & listen Jake describing his philosophy behind using a black backdrop.

Setup the third and final light for this setup & move through a series of shots, to examine the reasoning behind light placement.

Learn how posing the model’s body, makeup, & wardrobes can accentuate the power of edge lighting. Watch the video for more details.

Watch photographer Jake Hicks sharing about his approach in selecting the best images from the gelled edge style.

In this video you will learn to manipulate colors in Photoshop with freedom from the expert photographer Jake Hicks.

Retouching of the subject’s entire body and wardrobe is important to get perfect pictures. Learn more about the retouching process.

Learn how you can work in black and white to create even skin toning across all of the model’s body using Photoshop.

Use gaussian blur, the linear light mix mode, and other tools to create smooth, supple skin by concentrating on balancing skin texture.

After skin retouching  is done, work on adding depth to the gelled edge hero shot. Learn how to evaluate highlights and shadows.

In the final touches, you can learn to sharpen the gelled edge hero shot and separate tone sharpening from detailed sharpening.

Learn about using Photoshop’s curves layers for building subtlety and nuance through the shadows, mid-tones, and highlights of the image.

In the gelled key and fill tutorial,  Jake Hicks explains how to achieve the look & approach the backdrop, key & fill with 3 gels.

Watch and observe Jake Hicks sharing about the sequenced methodology to elimintae color contamination in gelled environemnt.

Add the model & key light to build the gelled key & fill setup. Jake shows exposures and adjusting the lighting intensity.

Creating step by step, add the third & final light to the gelled key and fill look to establish a lighting foundation to get triadic image.

Develop your story and pose while using colour gel key and fill lighting, and learn how to eliminate unwelcome halos around the subject.

Know the basic rules to apply all of the principles and practice gained through the method of colored gel photography.

Move into culling & retouching phase for gelled key & fill lighting. Use lightroom to cull through captures to find images for retouching.

Know more about some presets that artist, Jake Hicks, has developed through years of experience in colored gel photography.

In this video you will learn the best pratices for using the patch tool of Photoshop when using for skin retouching.

Begin another broader pass at the skin with black and white toning using soft layers and light to create even skin tone.

Create a powerful aesthetic and vibrance learn to apply skin smoothing to the gelled key, fill the image, and do other tricks.

Watch the complete video to understand a different approach to dodge and burn skin. Learn how to create shape, contour, and dimensions.

Using layering, high pass blending, and opacity adjustments you can create global contrast and sharpening to the image.

Explore the power of intentional color design coming full circle when you enhance, push, and project color into a beautiful, exotic grade.

Continue editing the second gelled key & fill hero image in this tutorial. Learn to retouch blemishes & create a natural skin texture.

Learn more about photography with Jake Hicks as he uses a variety of tools and experience to apply the colored gel lighting techniques.

Watch Jake improvising in the moment by using pose, perspective, and gelled lighting for creating an improvised, cameo composition.

Create a light setup that enhances the scene’s existing lights and clear color separation for the environmental character and mood.

Transition from the shoots to gelled photography.Watch photographer, Jake Hicks, chooses the first on-location snapshot.

Use the power of Lightroom’s development module to balance and optimize color to prepare the image for retouching in Photoshop.

View the on-location colored gel image. Work quickly, using tips and techniques from the studio retouching modules.

Jake Hicks selects a few improvised portraits. By taking pictures of the door’s distinctive texture, he conveys his intention.

See the power of processing RAW in Lightroom. Watch the photographer, Jake Hicks, and how he brings the portrait to life.

With color balance in Lightroom, open the cameo portrait to retouch the second on-location image to create a nice skin tone and texture.

For the third and final image of this location series, develop an entirely different mood and tone for on-location shoot.

Learn how to choose a hero shot and adjust the colour balance, exposure, and contrast to get the image ready for Photoshop retouching.

Complete a full retouch of the third and final image from this location for stairwell series using a nightclub look.

Observe how Jake iterates through his captures, as he creates it with the focus shifting from core principles to direct application.

As the lighting and camera settings are made, start taking pictures of the model while adjusting the light, the shadows, and the wide angle.

Using the second setup in the dark look series, you may create a strong and seductive cameo image with tricks and tips.

Learn to focus on building really clean separation with the help of gels, while creating a subtle contouring around the model’s body.

Jake Hicks considers the difficulties of shooting in a setting with no natural light. Take inspiration from him to produce stunning photos.

Learn how to work through shadows and highlights, enhancing your ability to see color and its relationship to every detail within the image.

Use the power of Photoshop & your skills to work on colour banding control, skin smoothing, black & white tone, skin retouching & blending.

Discover the lighting choices made by Jake Hicks and how they affected the final image, lighting placement, and camera perspective.

Use Lightroom’s RAW image processing to select the colour, white balance, and exposure for Photoshop on a hero image.

Examine the difficulties in setting up the lighting for a shot, the limitations of the environment, and different correction techniques.

Find the hero image by using Lightroom’s library features, sorting through Jake’s exposures, and paying attention to his assessment.

Apply knowledge to the chosen image by using the develop module in Lightroom. See colour all the way through to RAW image capture outcome.

We believe that this knowledge will make you enter the approach of colored gel photography to be successful & echo the sentiment of Jake.