Creative ways to celebrate Pride Month

Are you looking for some creative ways to celebrate Pride Month? I recently did a fabulous photoshoot involving LOTS of colored paint … truly was a wonderfully messy and creative day.

The setup

I bought loads of those cheap white paper and plastic-backed painters drop sheets. These are usually readily available from hardware stores. I liked the white, as it would hold the pain and the plastic so my studio was protected. We hung these along the back wall and the ground, frankly covered as much as we could! We planned on getting messy.

I also tried to put plastic over my lights to protect them, but they were mostly out of the way. I was worried about them getting hot, so ended up removing them. I only mention it as it is a possible idea with the right lights and right coverings. Initially, I did have a plastic bag over my speedlight on the floor near and behind my model, where there was more paint. But I ended up removing that too.

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This was done on a really hot day, so my model could hose off most of the paint before she entered my house for a studio for a proper cleanup too. Have a hose, soap and lots of old towels on hand — this is a messy shoot!

The theme

This shoot was for a collection of headpieces for Gay Mardi Gras and Mid Summa festivals we have in Australia. Wanting to be Pride allies, we went for a totally inclusive Rainbow theme.

We also wanted kitsch, fun and totally tongue in cheek. We arranged Rainbow knee-high socks, suspenders, a white tank top and shorts and a white wig for the model. Our designer, Bea from Verdessa Fairy, created the most amazing headpieces. Obviously, we had to be careful not to damage those, but we had a plan.

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The photoshoot

Using safe acrylic paint in bottles and tubes, we placed our model in front of the white paper backdrop and then threw paint over her and the backdrop. Then carefully placed each headpiece on our model and grabbed our shots.

Toward the end, once the headpieces were all safely tucked away, we threw on more paint and even gave our model-free reign to make a mess. We grabbed even more messy rainbow fun. Do you know what happens when you mix all the colors of the rainbow? You get brown. We knew the shoot was at an end when we were basically left with a big brown mess!

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Clean up

The studio clean up was easy, pull down all the backdrops, fold them up and put them in the bin. Our model — well, that took a bit longer. Like I said, a hose and soap. Then into the shower. The clothes and wig? Well, I soaked them, but they NEVER came truly clean. More like bad tie-dye. We didn’t mind as they were cheap and for a totally worthy cause.

Oh, and the headpieces totally sold out, but there are so many amazing pieces still available on Bea’s Verdessa Fairy Etsy page to have a look at and she ships everywhere! So don’t be afraid to get out and try some creative ways to celebrate Pride Month.

Headpieces: Bea from Verdessa Fairy; Model: Miss Fairy Floss (Jess Partner)