Senior Portrait Photography: Capture Personality with Ease

In this article, we are going to look at not only how to do that but also how to work with seniors so that they feel comfortable in front of the camera and can help you take a timeless portrait, plus much more. So, let’s get started.

Getting to Know Your Subject

It all starts with building a strong rapport with your subject so that the story comes out naturally from their expression and eyes. This involves getting to know your subjects so they start to feel more at ease in front of the camera and appear more natural. Let’s take a look at how you can do this:

1. Pre-Shoot Consultation: Get to know the subject beforehand by striking up a friendly conversation during the pre-shoot consultation. While discussing the ins and outs of the shoot, you can enquire a little into their interests or ask about their history. Knowing certain aspects of their personality may even help you bring a particular theme into your shoot, creating a familiar environment for your subject and helping them ease into the shoot.

2. Personal Expression: While getting to know them and learning about their interests and history, invite them to bring in any of their own props that they can use during the shoot to help represent their personality or to help drive a narrative in the image. We have some great ideas for prop-led shoots later on!

3. Discuss Experience: Your subject may be comfortable in front of the lens, or they may be appearing for the very first time. This should be discussed beforehand, as it may mean you need to direct your subject a lot more if this is their first time. They may also need additional time and a few test shots before they start to ease up and appear more natural in front of the lens.

How to Work With Senior Portrait Subjects

Let’s run through a few quick tips on how to work with your senior subject during the shoot. This ensures you have a smooth and relaxed experience, leaving a favourable impression and resulting in fantastic work:

• Encouragement: Keep the spirits light and fun with lots of encouragement for your subject. This is especially important for those who are new in front of the camera and need that extra boost to help them loosen up and have a good time.

• Demonstrate: You may also need to demonstrate poses that your subject can replicate if they are having a hard time bringing your directions to life.

• Keep it Simple: While demonstrating is key to achieving the poses you wish to shoot, be sure to keep any instructions simple. Seniors may have difficulty following complicated directions and may be unfamiliar with modern-day poses, if that’s what you wish to capture.

• Patience: Some of your subjects may be hard of hearing, so your directions may not be heard clearly and might need to be repeated several times. Be patient and speak slightly louder and clearer than usual while also physically demonstrating your directions.

Planning the Shoot

Now comes the main part of the article. It is within this section that we will discuss exactly how to capture your senior subject’s personality. To do so, careful planning is required, along with the previously mentioned pre-consultation, where you get to know your subject a little better. We’ve broken the plan down into key areas as a guide for you to prepare a memorable shoot.

Choosing the Right Location

We’ll start with where you plan to shoot, as this can dictate how the rest of the session goes.

Studio: Indoor shooting means you have complete control over lighting and the set for the shoot. If you want to capture specific themes that you can incorporate into the shoot yourself, then the studio may be the correct choice. The studio also has a great advantage over an outdoor location in that you can make the subject much more comfortable overall, something very important for senior subjects.

Outdoor: Certain themes can only be captured outdoors. If you are bringing a narrative into your image based on location, be sure to scout out the area first. Another key factor is the time of day. Is golden hour more suitable for your shot, giving a timeless look, or are you hoping for cloudy conditions so the colours in the environment appear more saturated?

So, while the time of day doesn’t matter so much for studio shooting, it may be integral for an outdoor shoot. If this is the case, ensure the subject is happy with the location and time well ahead of schedule to allow them to prepare accordingly.

Outfit & Styling Choice

What your subject wears goes a long way in telling the narrative you are trying to capture. Let’s look at how an outfit can help complete your shoot.

Outfits that reflect their story: Perhaps your subject was once in the service, or they still have their old work uniform. Encourage your subject to bring this outfit to the shoot and help give a glimpse into their history.

Suited and Booted: There’s something very endearing about a senior in a smart suit or a beautiful dress. It reminds us that we can still look incredible at an older age, and that’s something you can showcase in your shot.

Layers: With an outfit choice, you can create a lot of interest with layers of clothing. Shirts, waistcoats, jackets, scarves, and hats can all be layered to add complexity to the shoot and invite viewers to spend more time with your image.

Textures: We discuss textures further on, but senior citizens are known for textured clothing items like woollen jackets or knitted scarves. Be sure to bring texture into the outfit and bring it to life with your camera.

The outfit should reflect your subject’s personality or even give you a glimpse into their history, helping shape your narrative. While vintage styling is often more suitable for seniors, you might have some fun bringing a modern twist to your subject’s wardrobe, provided they’re comfortable with it.

Props

Props are important in your styling choices. They should be meaningful and represent the personality of the subject or even offer a glimpse into their history.

• Career Props: Rope for an old sailor, books for a former school teacher—something reflecting their career and possibly their identity. Discuss with your subject if they have anything meaningful they can bring from their former career.

• Hobbies: Perhaps your senior subject plays an instrument or is passionate about a sport. Invite them to bring something that gives insight into what they love doing during retirement.

• Pets: Your subject may want to bring their beloved pet along, making for a lovely, cherished portrait. Dogs, cats, birds, you name it, pets can be included. Just ensure your indoor location can accommodate pets.

Posing

Poses should be intentional, driving the narrative you want. Plan poses carefully before the shoot to minimise experimentation, this is especially important for seniors who tire quickly and can’t hold poses for long periods.

• Candid: Works especially well for subjects uncomfortable in front of the camera, capturing natural emotions as they talk about props or tell stories.

• Posed: Dignified poses work well for seniors, showing pride and wisdom. Shoot slightly below eye-level, looking upwards to convey confidence. Avoid shy body language such as hands held nervously in front.

• Prop Focus: Capture close-ups of hands holding meaningful props. Seniors’ hands carry unique textures and narratives.

• Show Examples: Create a mood board or Pinterest board showing desired poses. Visual aids simplify posing and minimise subject fatigue.

Textures

We've discussed textures in clothing, but it's equally important to highlight the textures of your subject's skin. Lines and wrinkles tell a powerful story, so rather than smoothing them out completely, lean into them. Pay close attention to wrinkles around the eyes and mouth, particularly when capturing smiling poses, as these details can convey a timeless quality.

Editing & Final Touches

Speaking of skin smoothing, it’s now time to wrap up your shoot with some final edits. You might want to gently smooth the skin while preserving the original textures, which is exactly where Aperty comes in.

Editing Senior Portraits with Aperty

The great thing about Aperty is how it handles skin smoothing while preserving natural textures, all achievable with just a simple click. If editing feels overwhelming or time-consuming, Aperty can quickly deliver professional-looking results. Here’s what you can do specifically for senior portraits:

• Skin Smoothing & Blemish Removal: Quickly smooth skin while maintaining natural textures, removing blemishes effortlessly with a simple click.

• Brighten Key Features: Enhance eyes and teeth to draw attention, with these features automatically detected and adjusted by Aperty’s powerful AI tools.

• Apply Make-up: Didn't have a make-up artist at the shoot? No worries. You can naturally apply or retouch makeup directly within Aperty to achieve a subtle yet professional look.

• Body Reshaping: If you’d like to make minor tweaks to your subject’s proportions, Aperty’s AI technology allows subtle adjustments without the unnatural appearance common in traditional editing.

The Bottom Line

So there you have it; that’s how you can capture the soul and wisdom of your senior subjects in your next shoot. Embrace the textures of their skin, thoughtfully choose their outfits, and include meaningful props to strengthen the narrative of your portraits. Consider adding a timeless feel by converting your images to black and white to enhance textures even further. Make sure your shoot is planned thoroughly to keep sessions short, avoiding fatigue for your subjects. Most importantly, enjoy the shoot and the stories shared by your subjects, creating beautiful, lasting memories. Have fun!