My right nostril

It is always nice to put a face to the people that you are communicating with on the rather impersonal world wide web, so here's mine. I actually think it looks better than the real thing, but I prefer to be behind the lens rather than in front of it.

I have done a fair bit of molding with my pastime of fishing lure building and as anyone who has ever made a plaster cast will know, the question always floats through your head about casting bodily parts. So first let me warn you, plaster of Paris gets hot. In fact hot enough to put you in hospital with peel your skin off burns.

No, I did not dunk my face into a bowl of wet plaster for twenty minutes, with written instructions to call a stone mason, should I get stuck, placed by my side. I used alginate. This is a seaweed based molding medium, that sets very fast, in seconds, it has a rubbery texture and is harmless as does not heat up while curing. The mold is only good for a few hours, as it will dry and shrink. The process is completed by pouring wet plaster into the negative mold, to produce a positive casting.

I never considered myself as claustrophobic and I can hold my breath for two minutes, so I had no concerns about attempting this procedure on my own. But once your face is immersed into the gooey mix, your mind takes over your rationality and panic starts to seep out from your subconscious and takes over your body. I lasted twenty seconds, less than half of the planned forty five, but the mold was good.

My nose is not actually flat, but the bowl was obviously not deep enough and in the panic, I did not realize that my proboscis was wedged against the bottom of the container. I had enough alginate for another go, but to be honest, I don't think my system could stand another adrenaline rush.

The photograph was trickier than I thought it would be. Smallest aperture, to get depth of field. I switched off the room lighting, to extend the exposure time and 'painted' the lighting with a torch. You can never find a candle when you want one. It took about fifty shots before I got what I wanted, back and forth to the computer. It was fun and I learned a lot. I hope you like it.

Dave