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DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> Photographing Older Women
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 09/27/2008 08:17:43 AM · #1
Can those with experience share some tips on photographing older women? I live in a community where the median age is near 60. I have photographed some of these women for my wife and find that I am unable to make years of accumulated meals and wrinkles look appealing. Most of the attractive images I have seen of older women are of the extraordinary woman with good hair, a tight face and a trim body.....not the US norm. These women also don't want the weathered look.
 09/27/2008 08:22:52 AM · #2
Keep you lighting soft. We hate having our wrinkles "exposed", lol. :)
 09/27/2008 08:27:05 AM · #3
Can't help much with composition.

But HERE is a link to a pretty useful tutorial on smooth skin. It does a pretty good job of giving you a "how to."

Also, the most recent issue of AFTERCAPTURE magazine has a great in-depth article on portraiture enhancement. You can find this article on their website Here.

Good luck
 09/27/2008 09:20:11 AM · #4
Originally posted by bergiekat:
Keep you lighting soft. We hate having our wrinkles "exposed", lol. :)


At 90 years of age it starts to get pretty difficult to hide them. lol

I like wrinkles. They are caused by acquiring wisdom throughout your life.

As for the op. Use softboxes almost straight on. Don't use angled light. Try to keep their faces evenly lit. In other words keep the shadows off their faces.
 09/27/2008 09:39:25 AM · #5
It depends what you're trying to do.

If you're going for technical excellence, then I'd be inclined to make the women look like they really are, try to pick out as much detail as possible, get the lighting perfect.

However, if you're trying to make them look young, then of course you're going to be creative with the lighting and post processing ;)
 09/27/2008 10:00:57 AM · #6
I'm still pretty much a duff photog, but here's some things I've garnered over the last little while.

Make sure they are relaxed, and happy with their hair/makeup prior to the shoot!! Recently I did my best to shoot a woman only a few years older than me, but she absolutely HATED the way her hair looked, and it showed esp in her eyes. Very hard to get shots of anyone with an unhappy or tense expression.

Also, most people associate having their picture taken with assuming a rigid pose - 90% of the shots of my mum bear this out! I would take a page from Tyra Banks (and America's Next Top Model) here - get your model in position, and once they are there, encourage them to move and change position slightly as you shoot. Watch out for areas where tension would show like in lips, neck, eye areas.

Good luck!
 09/27/2008 10:21:41 AM · #7
(not so kindly granny look, but it suits her very well indeed. she likes it)

i think snaffles has it right. i get them to sit in a comfortable pose, then just talk from behind the camera. if you think they won't get offended, slightly risque (how do you type an accent here????) jokes really bring out the smiles. or there's always the silly hat:

seriously, i use this on reluctant smilers. always works.

i just talk while i'm shooting, and eventually they forget about the huge black thing in front of my face, and relax.

for post work, i use portrait professional, but very, very mildly. they don't want to look young, just pretty. wrinkles can be softened slightly, skin tones evened out, bags subtly reduced. they still look like themselves, just, a little better.
 09/27/2008 10:53:03 AM · #8
Originally posted by xianart:
they don't want to look young, just pretty. wrinkles can be softened slightly, skin tones evened out, bags subtly reduced. they still look like themselves, just, a little better.


Bingo! We don't really want to look like a Botox commercial. But we don't necessarily want to be able to count each wrinkle or character line (or whatever other euphemism might come to mind). We know we've got 'em, and sagging skin and sometimes jowls, too. Law of gravity prevails, you know.

It's the emphasis on bright eyes, happy smiles and nice shadows in xianart's examples that makes us look and feel good.

09/27/2008 11:57:00 AM · #9
Try this out - Portrait Professional

As long as you don't over-do it you can get some great results.



09/27/2008 01:21:02 PM · #10


You mean, like this? This is pretty good, I think!
 09/27/2008 01:35:45 PM · #11
There are many ways to photograph people, which is part of the problem.
I prefer to show what I see, wrinkles, scars and all. Consequently, I'd be less interested in a subject's projected or desired self-image than in a take that reveals
an aspect of their presence that employs the truth.

I've found that the assumably unflattering details and defects of an outward appearance to be markers of individuality and character. I could not imagine to do without them.



Message edited by author 2008-09-27 14:09:38.
 09/27/2008 01:55:09 PM · #12
I believe I have heard that Dodging shadows in Photoshop can reduce the depth of wrinkles without removing detail from the face. I know it works for double chins. Soft lighting would have the same effect. Wrinkles aren't a darker skin tone, they are a recess which either captures or hides light. The secret to reducing them then is to remove their highlights and increase light to their shadows.
 09/27/2008 02:28:14 PM · #13
As an older woman who positively hates how she looks, I will offer this - make sure they still look like themselves. Don't photoshop them into something they're not.
09/27/2008 03:27:15 PM · #14
Originally posted by Melethia:
As an older woman who positively hates how she looks, I will offer this - make sure they still look like themselves. Don't photoshop them into something they're not.

To take that one step further......

What you MUST do is to convince your subject that the image is not about them so much as the perception of the inherent beauty that every woman posesses. It's sometimes difficult to do, especially if the woman fels as Deb does. Sometimes it works out really well if you can connect with your subject.

[thumb]725413[/thumb]

This woman has abysmal self-esteem, is fresh out of a horribly abusive relationship, and really does NOT like to have her picture taken.

I managed to convince her that what I saw was natural and very real beauty and that I would appreciate it if she would allow me to capture it.....she liked the result and was surprised as she did not see herself as I did. She is a genuinely nice person and her attitude once she relaxed was reflected in her countenance. I found her to be quite beautiful, and was pleased to show her this portrait.

She's 51.

This was a challenge entry, and these women responded to me as Joyce had above......their charisma, and mischievousness came through for the camera because of just how lovely these ladies are as people.....



It seems to me with women of any age, the secret to good portraiture is to be able to capture WHO they are as opposed to how they look.

I don't have any real words of wisdom further than that thought, but I seem to have so much better luck getting decent portrait shots by spending time with the subjects.

I do so love to photograph women.....

09/27/2008 03:29:41 PM · #15
Originally posted by Melethia:
As an older woman who positively hates how she looks, I will offer this - make sure they still look like themselves. Don't photoshop them into something they're not.


NOW you tell me! Geez.



All kidding aside, those weren't photos I took for them but for me so I didn't focus on trying to make them as pretty as possible rather my goal was to carve away the surface and reach something more truthful and away from what our outward exteriors like to lead us.
 09/27/2008 03:51:06 PM · #16
Originally posted by NikonJeb:
...the secret to good portraiture is to be able to capture WHO they are as opposed to how they look...
I do so love to photograph women.....


Well said.
 10/05/2008 07:53:17 PM · #17
This woman is a friend I met at the gym. She's quiet and soft-spoken, yet she's been doing this body-building thing for the last nine years. She's 44.....

[thumb]728631[/thumb]

She loves black & white images....
 10/08/2008 08:45:54 PM · #18
Another picture of Joanne....I did a little more work to the background to get a better shot of her. I had to clone out lightswitches, thermostats, gouges in the door, a weird light fixture, an exit sign, a HUGE smudge on the wall......you get the idea.

It looks quite good in the 10x6 version.....I'm pleased.

[thumb]729565[/thumb]

I may actually get some work photographing bodybuilders......it's kind of funny, because they're very conscious of positioning for light and shadows as it's part of how they compete. I'm already learning about portrait shooting from them.
 10/14/2008 08:30:46 AM · #19
And another beautiful friend of mine. I'm just starting to think that it's a combination of the inner person and life lived that makes these women beautiful at any age. Carole is just comfortable with who she is and another person whose beauty comes through from within.

[thumb]730889[/thumb]
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