It's not that easy bein' green
It seems you blend in, with so many other ordinary things
And people tend to pass you over, 'cause you're not standing out
Like flashy sparkles in the water, or stars in the sky
As both Ray Charles and Kermit the Frog san, it's not that easy being green. In nature, with so many things being green, it's sometimes difficult for greenish things to stand out. On St. Paddy's Day however, at the tail end of winter, green is one of the most beautiful sights to behold. The first leaves on the tree's, the first crocus buds in the garden, like St. Paddy's Day itself, the greens in March are the most beautiful signs of spring.
It's not that easy finding green during the winter, especially if the desired green is on St. Patrick's Day decorations. The date for this holiday shoot was early January. Model Michael Moody was in Michigan on business for a few days, and photographer Tom Nakielski (Lights On Studio) didn't want to miss his window of opportunity to shoot.
Michael had a particular theme in mind, but Tom suggested they save some time to salute the Emerald Isle. Finding St. Paddy's Day decorations in January however, proved to be a difficult task. Most of the dollar and decoration stores were pushing their Valentine products, not to mention the half price sales of the Christmas and New Year decorations they were still trying to get rid of.
'I knew I wanted to shoot for St. Patrick's Day, but wasn't sure what theme to do for the session. Part City is where I often get some props for my sessions but it was too early in the season and they did not have any St Patrick's items on display yet. Since they specialize in balloons, it was a natural progression to go with the balloon idea. Kind of like the old time vaudeville strippers.'
The timing for the shoot also corresponded with a surge in the omicron variant, so both Michael and Tom were Covid conscious during the shoot. Both kept their masks on, with Michael only removing his when Tom's camera was clicking. As you can see the green really popped, and Michael is such a great performer, he really went with the theme and seemed to have a lot of fun with the balloons and props that Tom did manage to pull together.
I love Tom's work with Michael and the energy Michael brings when in front of the camera. I've been fortunate to have featured several of their collaborations over the last few years. (HERE:) I'm hoping to feature the non-holiday portion of this shoot, a cowboy theme, in the future. In the meantime however, those green balloons had bit of dual purpose. In addition to helping to set the mood, after the first part of the shoot, it was time for them to be popped. Check out Michael's old time vaudeville balloon strip on the NEXT PAGE HERE:
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