Cold

Here are a few pictures that show the process of shooting the "cold" shot, I did for +Chrysta Rae 's Photography Scanvenger Hunt "Round 17" (see the other pictures I created for that round).

I had ordered the fake snow (2 EUR per bag) quite early after the list had been announced but didn't start shooting this until a few days before the deadline January.

I started with trying to get the light and composition the way I liked (about 20 shots in as many minutes).

After that I prepared the sugar icing and applied it to my face, beard, ski goggles and hat. Looked quite real, I think, although it's barely visible in the final picture.

The hardest part then: triggering the shot with my remote and getting some flying snow flakes (expertly thrown by my assistant Anouschka) into the picture. I hadn't thought of the fake snow gathering on hat and jacket; now I think these are the primary element that make it look cold.
We took about a 60 shots until I couldn't keep the pose anymore; and it was getting hot under that hat and the icing was beginning to melt ;-)

Final editing didn't take that much: I only combined a few shots to get a few more snow flakes into the picture, painted in some more with a snow brush and added the mountain range reflection to the ski googles.

Time: shooting and "makeup": about two and half hours; editing anther two or so; most of it spending various options for that postcard ;-)

A few things I would have liked to change: Some more detail on the fridge, like starfish or seahorse magnets, and a little icing and snow on the bottle.

Thanks again for all the great feedback I received on this.
Enjoy.