The Moody Blue Formula: For this very stylized image I changed the camera’s white balance from daylight (5500°K) to Incandescent (3030°K) so the overall scene becomes a cool blue color. With the orange colored CTO Warming Gel placed over each SB-900, the color of light now illuminates my subject back to a slightly warmed daylight, with an almost “golden hour” color.
For those of you who have never used a CTO get, it is simply a filter designed to change the color temperature (Kelvin) that is placed over the daylight-balaced Speedlight. In the case of Orange CTO filters, it is for a warming effect or to match to Tungsten and/or Incandescent lighting.
Keep in mind that when you place the CTO Warming Gels on a Speedlight the amount of illumination hitting the subject is reduced. To compensate, I increased the power output of each Speedlight to effectively reveal (illuminate) my subject from the underexposed scene.