White Balance THEN light filter or vice-versa?

[Norm Sanders]

In which order should I do the following:
White balance the subject THEN apply my gels/filters over the lights (gold, purple, or whatever)

OR

Get my light filters in place & THEN white balance my subject?

 

[imgentertainment@mac]

I would get my filters and gels in first and then White balance doing it the other way might give you some funky color once you change stuff. But then again it is all in the look you want. Sometimes I use the gel holder with my matte box and shoot throgh a color gel. So when I go to wite balance it give my shot a set to warmer or cooler or even just more elements of the color i used. So basicly just try it and see what one is the look you are going for.

 

[HorseFilms]

Ask yourself this question:

Do I want the light to look (insert gel color here)? If the answer is "yes", white balance before you put the gel on the light. If the answer is "no" (like when you're using correction gels to convert tungsten lights to daylight, etc.) then white balance with the gels already in place.