![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/cfdbe75a-7981-4460-ae19-becf3266473c/71244208-0cec-4b66-b8bd-76b54834f048_rw_1920.jpg?h=4e5d79858bf7a2eb04a661f595458157)
I had a lot of fun creating this messy portrait. Very messy. There was flour everywhere afterwards – it is amazing how far white powder goes with a little hair flick! Thank you to the wonderfully willing and totally game Katie, without whom this picture would not have been possible.
I have seen these sort of pictures on line in the past, but whenever I have looked into how they have been taken, they have always been shot in a massive dance studio with (expensive) professional lighting.
Could it be done successfully on the cheap? I wanted to find out...
I managed to find a willing victim.... I mean model.... through a post on FB, bought lots of flour, and set about trying to work out how to take this.
This shot was so far outside my comfort zone it felt like a foreign country, but thankfully I had a lot of mentoring from my friend Ian (who nagged me relentlessly) regarding the flash gun.
I didn't have a room big enough to set up this shot, so I turned the patio into an outdoor studio and prayed for a dry, wind-less evening. My prayers were answered.
Along one side of the patio I set up my black backdrop. I used two of David's car inspection lamps (one directly behind Katie); two LED video lights and my flash gun (all covered in cling film to stop the fine powder getting in and damaging the electronics).
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/cfdbe75a-7981-4460-ae19-becf3266473c/1d0e3321-9ef7-4efc-ba76-8e3935d02e51_rw_3840.jpg?h=eb2f149b9c1e540342f7662711b5d055)
I wish I'd taken a photo of my set-up, but I was so excited about looking at the images after the shoot, and when I did think of it, David had already cleared it all up, bless him. So you will have to make do with this simple diagram.
I had David try it out first, before Katie came over, just so that I had some idea about what I would need to do. Obviously he was unable to flick his hair, so he just used his hand to throw some flour in the air.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/cfdbe75a-7981-4460-ae19-becf3266473c/92525afe-1a26-4959-b679-f037d618f993_rw_3840.jpg?h=4dff84b0acbcfa0fe18b80ba60eb0003)
The grey hair is natural
Using a long lens so that I could stand far enough away from the flying flour, I got my beautiful assistants (David and Katie's aunt Julie) to sieve flour over Katie's hair, for her then to flick it backwards.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/cfdbe75a-7981-4460-ae19-becf3266473c/4f5c0431-0885-4d39-b3bc-00276e6779f8_rw_1920.jpg?h=ecf514ab01db7d936c046517cc0b99fd)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/cfdbe75a-7981-4460-ae19-becf3266473c/a9444a80-0925-49d0-b41e-87a84a7e9e84_rw_1920.jpg?h=5e60280d32df22a15a397d4bc3107980)
Katie was an absolute natural, and I really was beyond pleased with how these pictures turned out, way better than my wildest imagination!
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/cfdbe75a-7981-4460-ae19-becf3266473c/9e58c6f1-c33b-496e-b2b6-eb416c1f58f2_rw_3840.jpg?h=4fc756c2b32c086aea846b0cdb3cb895)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/cfdbe75a-7981-4460-ae19-becf3266473c/bf5a3ed6-8523-4779-9288-4042982f23cc_rw_3840.jpg?h=389c78daae47caebaa9267c2efe6aabe)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/cfdbe75a-7981-4460-ae19-becf3266473c/02a4cc31-c713-4528-9fd6-576f501bf63c_rw_3840.jpg?h=8a5214c25552cb6370c4851dd524315d)
Technical Details:
Camera Canon EOS 5D IV
Camera Canon EOS 5D IV
Lens Canon 100-400mm Mk II
Focal length 100mm
Mode Manual
Shutter Speed 1/1000 second
Aperture f/6.3
ISO 800
WB Cloudy
Flash Triopo TR-982 II
Flash setting ETTL 1/1 HSS fired remotely via a Wansen trigger
Minimal post processing in Photoshop CS5, mainly just darkening the shadows and brightening the highlights plus generally tidying up the image.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/cfdbe75a-7981-4460-ae19-becf3266473c/35a2ec5c-22a4-492e-9907-f79034ec5915_rw_1920.jpg?h=a3f92bc12dac9d1aa56337a84742d4f2)
I also experimented with adding colour to the flour in Photoshop