'Hang your balls on the Christmas tree
Make it look so bright
Hang your balls on the Christmas tree
Oh! Happy Christmas night'
One of the most love Christmas visual, is the red Christmas ball. Most of us grew up with shiny glass balls hanging under the branches of our trees. When I was young, the balls were much more fragile, shattering into hundreds of tiny pieces if dropped. It took both a broom and a vacuum cleaner to ensure you got each and every tiny glittering sliver cleaned up.
Many of us had parents who went through that horrific brief period of having those ugly thread balls. No, they didn't break or shatter, but they were truly the testicles of balls. As soon as they were handled, the threads began unraveling, leaving them useless to hang and enjoy.
Today's glass ornaments are mostly made from plastic, and bound rather than shatter when hitting the floor. They're also not nearly as shiny and bright and don't reflect the Christmas tree lights nearly as beautiful as those balls we had when we were younger. They do the trick though, just not as well.
This is the fifth year I've had the pleasure of featuring Roger's, (RMark Photography) series of men and their balls. In addition to some FH favorites, there are some new holiday hunks making their FH debut. Although many photographers shoot Christmas themed imagery, models posing with the large Christmas balls, has become Roger's festive visual signature. I asked Roger why he chose the Christmas ball, and why he continues to enjoy shooting holiday themed imagery.
'I choose the Holiday ornament theme as a way of presenting a positive, upbeat antidote to the increasing difficult world we live in. Positive Energy and Beauty have never been more important.'
When Roger was thinking up ideas for Christmas imagery, he tried several different themes before settling on the large colored balls. He knew he wanted something different, beyond just a Santa hat. Given we decorate for Christmas, and how important and sentimental ornaments have become, he thought a large prop would be great to incorporate into his work. This way, he could use the same prop with many different models.
He initially tried a series of large stars, and then snowflakes, but the feedback from the models Roger was shooting was that they were limiting when posing. The large round balls were not only visually stunning, they were easy for the models to hold onto and led to more creative posing. Roger usually encouraged the models to experiment and find a pose that worked for them. Some chose classic poses while holding the balls, others went for the fun and humor associated with the task at hand.
When it came to colors, Roger purchased balls in a rainbow of colors, and has shot blue, yellow, violet and orange, and of course red and green, the colors of Christmas. This year, I liked the monochromatic look and just chose my favorite shots featuring the red ball. With all those balls, and all those models, it shouldn't come as a surprise that some models had trouble holding onto their balls. Thanks to UPS however, unlike real balls, these large orbs were easily replaced.
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