How to Mix Colours for Portraits and Backgrounds, With Jake Hicks
If anyone knows how to make colour work in a portrait, it is editorial photographer Jake Hicks (@JakeHicksPhotography). In this session for Godox, Jake builds three creative flash setups around the Godox AD800Pro, showing how to mix colours, shape light, and create distinctive portrait looks that go well beyond a single gelled background.
From mirror reflections and colourful light patterns to a three-colour combination and a modern twist on classic portrait lighting, Jake breaks down how different light sources and colour gels work together to build depth and atmosphere. If you want fresh portrait ideas, or you have been meaning to experiment with colour, these setups are a great place to start.
View the Godox AD800ProWatch: Jake Hicks on Mixing Colour
Photographer: Jake Hicks, @JakeHicksPhotography · Model: @lucianeedham
TL;DR
Jake Hicks shows three ways to bring colour into portraits with Godox flash: a blue and orange setup using mirror reflections, a three-colour mix of orange, pink, and blue, and a modern take on the classic orange and blue look. The kit includes the AD800Pro and AD600Pro II for power, the BFP Projection Attachment for shaped light patterns, and a UL-Box 150 octabox for soft key light. The big lessons: pair colours that contrast, control where each colour lands, and balance the power of every light so the colours build depth instead of turning to mud.
Setup 1: Blue and Orange With Mirror Reflections
Jake opens with one of the most reliable colour pairings in photography, blue and orange, then adds a twist: mirrors. Reflections let a single coloured light appear more than once in the frame, throwing extra shapes, streaks, and patches of colour across the subject or background. It is a simple way to make a set feel layered and unexpected without adding more lights.
Setup 1: blue and orange, with mirrors multiplying the colour
Blue and orange work so well because they sit opposite each other on the colour wheel. Placed together, each makes the other look stronger, which gives you instant contrast and a sense of warm against cool. That is why the pairing shows up everywhere from film posters to fashion editorials, and why it is the perfect first colour setup to try.
Why opposite colours create strong contrast, per Complementary colors, Wikipedia.
How coloured gels change the colour of a light, per Color gel, Wikipedia.
Setup 2: Mixing Orange, Pink, and Blue
The second setup steps up to three colours at once: orange, pink, and blue. Three colours is where things get more interesting, and more demanding. Each light needs its own job and its own place in the frame, otherwise the colours overlap and wash each other out. Done well, it builds a rich, graphic image with real depth.
Setup 2: orange, pink, and blue working together
Here, shaping tools matter as much as the gels. A projection attachment like the Godox BFP can throw hard-edged, defined patterns of colour, while softer sources fill other areas, so each colour stays readable. It is a great example of how mixing hard and soft light gives colour structure rather than leaving it as a flat wash.
How coloured light mixes when sources overlap, per Additive color, Wikipedia.
Setup 3: A Modern Take on Classic Orange and Blue
Jake closes by returning to orange and blue, this time as a modern twist on classic portrait lighting. The idea is to take a familiar, flattering portrait structure and use colour to give it a contemporary edge, so the result still feels like a well-lit portrait first, with colour adding mood rather than taking over.
Setup 3: a modern twist on the classic orange and blue portrait
A large soft source like the UL-Box 150 octabox keeps the key light flattering on skin, while coloured accent and background lights add atmosphere around it. This is the most practical of the three looks for everyday work, and a smart way to bring colour into client portraits without making them feel like an experiment.
It is also the easiest of the three to recreate with a small kit. Start with your usual soft key light, add a single gelled light on the background in a warm or cool tone, then bring in a second accent of the opposite colour from behind or to the side. Adjust the power of each coloured light in small steps until the colours support the face rather than compete with it.
Our Tips for Mixing Colour in Your Own Shoots
Once you have watched Jake's setups, a few principles will help you get similar results. Start with two colours that contrast, like blue and orange or teal and pink, before you add a third. Keep coloured light off your subject's skin where you want natural tones, and use your coloured lights for the background, rim, and accents instead.
Control spill aggressively with grids, snoots, and projection attachments, because coloured light that bleeds where you do not want it is the fastest way to a muddy image. Balance power carefully too: gels absorb light, so a gelled flash often needs more output than you expect, which is exactly where powerful lights like the AD800Pro and AD600Pro II earn their place. Finally, set your white balance deliberately and keep it fixed, so the colours you build on set are the colours you see in the edit.
Why Battery Strobes Suit Colour Work
Colour setups like these often need three or more lights, each placed precisely and each fighting the light loss of a gel. Battery strobes such as the AD800Pro and AD600Pro II make that far easier: there are no power cables to trip over or route around mirrors and props, you can place a light exactly where the colour needs to land, and you have enough output to keep apertures sensible even through dense gels. Because they all run on the Godox X system, you can adjust every coloured light from the trigger on your camera instead of walking between stands, which keeps a shoot moving and lets you fine-tune the balance between colours shot by shot.
The Gear Jake Uses
The Godox kit behind all three setups, available from CameraStuff.
Godox AD800Pro
The star of the session. An 800Ws battery-powered TTL strobe with the output to push through gels and modifiers, on location or in the studio.
View AD800Pro
Godox AD600Pro II
A 600Ws battery-powered TTL flash on the Godox X wireless system, ideal as a second or third coloured light.
View AD600Pro II
Godox BFP Projection Attachment
A Bowens-mount optical snoot with an 85mm lens that throws hard, defined shapes and patterns of light.
View BFP
Godox UL-Box Octa150
A large, quick-release 150cm octabox for soft, flattering key light on skin.
View UL-Box Octa150
About Godox
Godox builds lighting used by creators worldwide, from speedlights and battery strobes to LEDs and a deep range of modifiers, all tied together by the Godox X wireless system. That ecosystem is what makes multi-light colour work like Jake's practical: every light in the kit can be controlled from one trigger on your camera. CameraStuff has been an authorised Godox distributor in South Africa since 2018, backed by an official Letter of Authorization from Godox Global.
View our Godox authorisationColour Mixing FAQs
Which colours work best together in portraits?
Colours that sit opposite each other on the colour wheel, like blue and orange or teal and pink, give the strongest contrast and are the easiest place to start. Once you are comfortable with two, try adding a third, as Jake does with orange, pink, and blue.
Do I need coloured gels to do this?
With flash, yes. Gels are coloured filters placed over the light to change its colour. Keep in mind that gels absorb some light, so you often need more power from a gelled flash than you expect.
What does a projection attachment do?
A projection attachment like the Godox BFP focuses light into a hard, defined beam, so you can throw shapes, patterns, and sharp-edged patches of colour onto a background or subject. It adds structure to colour work that soft modifiers cannot.
Can I mix colours with just one or two lights?
Yes. Two lights, one gelled for the background and one for the subject, is enough for a strong two-colour look. Mirrors and reflectors can also multiply a single coloured light, as Jake shows in his first setup.
Where can I buy this Godox gear in South Africa?
You can buy the Godox AD800Pro and the rest of Jake's kit from CameraStuff, an authorised Godox distributor in South Africa since 2018. We offer 60-day returns, free delivery on orders over R1000, nationwide delivery, and a team ready to help you build a colour lighting kit.
Conrad Knuist
Head of Marketing and Photography Specialist
Conrad Knuist is Head of Marketing and Photography Specialist at CameraStuff, South Africa's specialist camera and lighting retailer. With over 18 years of hands-on experience across portrait, event, and commercial photography, Conrad has personally handled hundreds of products, from speedlights to professional studio systems. He is an authorised Godox specialist and works directly with South African photographers to match the right tools to their work.
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