Deep in the North Ayrshire countryside stands a castle on a 600 acre estate. This is probably one of my most favoured locations for shoots. This enchanting place offers up a world of photographic opportunities. For this particular Dust Dancer shoot it was on old out-building on a bitterly cold February evening with the temperature hovering around -5.

Dust Dancer:

This has been on my to do list for as long as I can remember and when I found out that this young lady was a trained dancer…just one of her many talents, it became something of a priority and we set about planning the shoot. The results are plain to see….Fantastic! may be an adjective I would use to describe it.

My aim for this portrait shoot (with a difference) was to capture several aspects all encompassed in a single frame. The female dancer, the lines she creates while in flight and to freeze the movement in a dynamic eye catching image.

The Image:

To create the Dust Dancer image there are a few thing to take into consideration. Firstly there is the mess, and it was very messy! Unless you are prepared for a hefty cleaning bill for a studio you have to find a suitable alternative. The set up itself is fairly straight forward, a black backdrop and a few strategically positioned lights fired on triggers. Oh and all importantly, a model prepared to give 110% to achieve the best out of this Dust Dancer shoot. I call this passion.

One gets a tremendous sense of satisfaction when the initial concept turns out to be everything you hoped it would be. With the temp dropping to -5 in the barn out on the Fenwick Moors the shoot was somewhat curtailed. I managed to capture a good few images before frostbite got the better of us both.