DSC_6464 lo res

I originally thought it best to flatter this dear old lady by softening out

the lines in her face. But after some time I now think "hang on, she's

90+ and proud of it, why not let her face tell her story?" But what do

you think? Too much detail? The other version is in this same album

for your comparison.

I think this is a beautiful portrait. I like it this way.

Sidsel

Wonderful portrait, and she's a photographer too.  Keep this just as it is.

I guess I'll be in the minority and say I prefer the other version to this one. It's been softened some but still shows the wrinkles. As for the wrinkles I don't know that an old woman would like them. We are projecting our feelings and perceptions on to her. Is she proud of her wrinkles or just accepts them as a mark of old age, something she can't do anything about unless you go to a plastic surgeon. If you gave her a choice of the two I think she'd pick the more flattering one. I think few of us would choose a photo of ourselves that was less flattering, we would choose the one where we think we look our best.This one is quite contrasty and seems like it's been processed to emphasize the wrinkles. You see this on a lot of character shots of old men but not so much on old women. Anyway I'd vote for the other one or one that was closer to that end of the spectrum. Just my 2 cents.

Regards
Greg

Hi Graham,

She's a lovely subject especially when put together with her camera.

I wish you'd avoided the blown out highlight above her head, but that's not always possible.

My 2p worth on your two versions of this shot is that perhaps you've gone a little too extreme on both for me.  The soft focus is, perhaps, just taste on my part.  I don't really like soft focus portraits in general.  So, feel free to ignore me! ;)

I am assuming that you've used Silverefex pro on both.  I think here you've pushed the structure a bit too much.  The wrinkles around her mouth draw attention rather than the eyes which is not really what you want from the overwhelming majority of portraits.

So, my suggestion go somewhere between the two. 

I do hope that's useful!

All the best,

Rob