“Green, green, forty shades of green

I close my eyes and picture

the emerald of the sea

From the fishing boats of Dingle

to the shores of Donaghadee” – Johnny Cash

Green is the color of life signifying growth, healing, and renewal.

This past June I went on a wonderful tour of the UK and Ireland. Ireland really is as green and rainy as everyone says. But, it is in fact, this rain that influences the dramatic Irish landscapes. The influence of the gulf stream and the moderate climate combine to make Ireland well-balanced – no hot hots or cold colds. However, I did find myself with quite the unexpected sunburn after a day riding bikes on Aran Island.

Anyway, I decided to make a little project out of the proverbial wonderful Johnny Cash song, “Forty Shades of Green.” Below is my interpretation of Ireland’s many shades.

Anyway, if your model is uncomfortable he/she won’t look natural and the shots will appear forced. Let’s take a look at Lisa:

I basically just ask her to look off into the distance and she gives these incredibly innocent and pure expressions. Talking with her afterward, she said she doesn’t even think she’s doing anything- must be a natural! I think that comes back to the comfort thing. She isn’t trying too hard, and therefore looks great in every shot.

Here are some more:

I really wish it was colder outside so the scarves looked a bit more authentic in the weather. In fact, the weather was ironic that day for a scarf photo shoot -  for anyone who has been to Potsdam, it reaches -30°F in the winter. The 60° days we’ve been having must been some gift or repayment for enduring February.

Great smile huh?

Thanks to the Pioneer Woman for her excellent actions and tutorial on making eyes pop. I’ve boosted the color on several of these shots, and made Lisa’s eyes pop in the shot above.

So, here are some of my tips to make your model more comfortable:

1. Be friends with him/her! That’s pretty obvious, but Lisa and I have been good friends for a while, and she will usually do any goofy thing I ask her, like wrapping a scarf around her entire face or tying one to her head. Friendship also inherently means you are comfortable with the other person. I know, obvious again, but if you aren’t friends with the model in your shots, make as much of an effort as you can to BECOME friends or at least be friendly. You get more flies with honey than vinegar.
2. Minimize the number of unnecessary people at the shoot. The more people that are there that don’t need to be, the more backseat drivers. Too many cooks spoil the broth! Also, it makes it harder to concentrate and your model could be distracted/uncomfortable.
3. Show appreciation and encouragement. After every pose or image give encouragement to bolster your model’s confidence- especially if he/she is less experienced.
4. Have fun! If you are having fun, more often than not, your model will too. Don’t take yourself too seriously. This is fairly common advice for lots of things in life, and in my experience, is extremely applicable in photography.

I took some other shots of these scarves in my new lightbox. I set three lights up, one on each side and one farther away shining in on the back of the top. I love this lightbox- it does wonders for all kinds of things. I used it on my other shoots too. (Check out Julia’s Art Glass photos here) Here are some more of Cait’s scarves taken in the lightbox:

Alright- That’s all for now!

Remember…have fun and don’t take yourself too seriously.

~More later.