Time-resolved photography was employed to study plasma dynamics and particle ejection of laser-irradiated iron oxide materials. Nano-particle powder, pressed powder pellets and sintered ceramics were ablated in air and Ar gas background by means of short laser pulses (Nd:YAG laser wavelength lambda = 1064 nm and pulse duration lambda(L) approximate to 6 ns; KrF laser lambda = 248 nm and tau(L) approximate to 20 ns). Plasma plume dynamics significantly depended on sample morphology. The ejection of non-luminous particles up to several hundreds of microseconds after the laser pulse was observed for powder and pressed powder target materials. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was employed for element analysis of iron oxide powders, pressed pellets and sintered ceramics. LIBS spectra of the different targets were comparable to each other and qualitatively independent of target morphology. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.