Doing a photoshoot with slime was my Nickelodeon-inspired childhood dream come true. We used 20 gallons of blue slime in this shoot, and it created some wild photos.
This year, one of my goals is to explore as many new materials as possible. While my creative partner, David, and I typically rely on wood and paint for our sets, our recent experiments into using new materials have led our creativity down exciting new paths.
Introducing new materials always elicits a mix of excitement and uncertainty because their impact on the shoot is so unpredictable. Sometimes, the use of new materials elevates the shoot, and other times, it falls flat. David stumbled upon a DIY slime kit on Amazon that offered three different color options: green, pink, and blue. Green slime feels a little overdone, so we opted for the blue slime instead. The goal was to come up with a photoshoot that we could seamlessly integrate slime into. I really wasn’t sure how it was going to go or if we’d be able to create anything worthwhile using slime, but we decided to give it a shot.
We conceptualized a shoot-through set design, aiming to create the illusion of peering through a window or porthole. To achieve this effect, we incorporated bead-board to introduce texture and carved out an octagon-like shape to serve as the "window" that we would shoot the camera through. The plan was for the slime to represent the toxic sludge that other people can sometimes put on us that can weigh us down.
Using slime in a photoshoot was pretty much my 90s kid Nickelodeon-obsessed childhood dream come true. The DIY slime kit we purchased made so much slime! We made 20 gallons of slime, but still had a bunch leftover.The idea of utilizing slime wasn’t only nostalgic, but it also presented an opportunity to explore the interplay between texture, color, and movement within our shoot.
The process of making slime was surprisingly straightforward.
How to Make Slime
What You'll Need
- Large Plastic Buckets (we opted for 5-gallon buckets due to the substantial amount of slime we were making)
- Water
- Large Mixing Spoon or a drill with the mixer attachment (we chose the latter for efficiency)
- DIY Slime Kit
Step-by-Step Guide
Step One: Purchase the DIY Slime Kit.
Step Two: Fill your bucket with water according to the desired slime quantity. We aimed for five gallons of slime per bucket.
Pro tip: When planning to pour slime on someone, opt for warm water over cold water. We learned this lesson the hard way—check out the video to witness our model's reaction.
Step Three: Add the DIY slime powder. One ounce of slime powder yields one gallon of slime. Adjust the quantity for thicker slime.
Step Four: Mix the slime. Employing a drill with a paint mixer expedites the process, particularly when producing larger quantities. For our photoshoot, David and I made 20 gallons of slime.
Step Five: Have an epic slime photoshoot.
Check out the video for a look at how we made the slime and to see how the shoot turned out.
During the shoot, we positioned the camera above the set so we could shoot straight down through the window at our model. We poured gallon after gallon of slime on our model, Hannah. Hannah was such a rock star as we dumped buckets of slime on her. It really did feel like she was getting slimed on Nickelodeon. It seemed like Hannah was having a pretty good time until we doused her with a bucket of ice-cold slime.
Despite any concerns, using slime in a photoshoot proved to be a really fun and exciting experience. Surprisingly, it wasn't as messy as I'd expected it to be. We photographed this shoot in a studio that we rented on Peerspace. We were able to clean everything up pretty quickly and easily. The slime is water-based, so it isn’t sticky at all, you can easily wipe it up, and it doesn't leave behind any unwanted residue.
If you end up doing a photoshoot with slime, comment below and let me know how it goes!
