Elderly Portraiture Advice

Grandparents, granduncles and grandaunts and other "grand" figures in our lives are valuable parts of our society. Their wisdom and stories comes from years of life experiences and should always be among welcomed topics at any family discussion. Their hugs are the best, and their encouragement and belief in our dreams is often the determining factor in our own self belief. They have bits of advice for everything in life, mostly derived from their own personal experiences. Since these elderly relatives and other loved ones are so precious in our lives, it only makes sense to help preserve our memories of them with quality photographs. This article outlines some key principles for elderly portraiture.

Unlike portraiture of younger couples, elderly portraiture is best done in warmer lighting, such as that which is available later in the afternoon outdoors or from lamp lighting indoors. We tend to associate most of our feelings about our elderly loved ones in "warmer" tones, and this lighting will help to correspond with those feelings. While younger couples are often portrayed in springtime or summer photographs that blossom thoughts of new beginnings, elderly portraiture is not normally shot during such seasons. Use plenty of lamp light indoors to keep your loved ones looking friendly (and not sketchy in shadows); just avoid shooting with too much bright light in your photographs.

Additionally, try to keep the setting classy. Outdoors, this may include buildings with older architectural designs (but not necessarily run down) or a background of fall foliage. Indoors, a simple "fireplace scene" may work best; in other words, create a homey looking background for your photo shoot, including a fine looking armchair (of an older, more classic looking model) and table (preferably with dark wood). When shooting pictures of elderly people, the background should always "match" their generation; keeping the accessory items in the portrait generationally appropriate can be one of the little details that really "makes or breaks" a photograph.

Finally, encourage your subjects to wear warmer or darker colors, as opposed to brightly colored fabrics. Deep reds are always a good plan, as they speak of elegance and refinement. Black sweaters or brown shirts also look fine in photographs and do not take attention away from the subject's faces. Basically, you want to have your subjects wearing something that speaks of the refinement of their generation and does not look gaudy or awkward. Having a bit of a white accent is never a bad plan for these photographs, and that can be achieved by having your subjects wearing a white collar under their sweater.