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First off I would like to thank you for this article and I am just amazed at the photographs and how little equipment used to do it.

The gear I have is very limited. The flash I have is a Canon 580EX II and have a Sto-Fen Gold Colored Omni-Bounce and a white one. I also have a 42" 5-in-1 Collapsible Disc Reflector, Translucent, White, Black, Silver & Soft Gold.

Do you know if the Sto-Fen Gold bounce would work in place of the orange filter?

Would you still be able to get results like the ones in your article with the equipment I have?

I am used to shooting in sunny weather and never really shot in cloudy weather. The shots I have done in cloudy weather have been desaturated and would like to figure out how to get more color.

My background is landscape and wildlife photography and have been trying to get into portraits and weddings.

Are there any books or websites that you would recommend someone in my situation to read?

Any help you could give would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks,

Shaun

Hi Shaun

My comments notification was apparently down, sorry for the delay.

I'm not sure if Sto-Fen gold has same color temperature as CTO (orange). But you still can use it by shooting a white paper and use your camera custom balance. This will makes any object lit by the gelled flash looks correct and the rest will be shifted to blue.

And yes with the equipment you have you still can get the same results. One single flash and a CTO gel is usually enough. You can use the reflector instead of an umbrella to make the light source bigger.

Cloudy weather have a dull light. That's why you need flash to boost the colors on the subject and CTO trick to make the background nicer. Using multiple flashes you can, in some situation, use them to light the background as well.

For weddings I suggest you have a look at http://www.flashflavor.com/, http://www.lovegroveweddings.com/ and http://www.planetneil.com/