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Archive 2017 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?

  
 
rek101
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


I think I have a decent sense of what activities I'd like to feature (dinner, bingo, board games, stuff like that) but I don't know anything about lighting or poses that tend to work best with senior citizens. Tools I have to work with are:
1. One flash
2. Window light (it will be during the day)
3. One small softbox and an umbrella
4. a 24 to 70 2.8, a 135 f/2, and an 85 1.8
5. Manual triggers
6. Very little talent, but I'm willing to read, practice, and learn.

Any simple tips or ideas would be appreciated. I'm not a pro...I take the photos for the newsletter at a nursing home where I volunteer. Obviously a lot of what happens at a nursing home is depressing, but a lot isn't so I'd like to just give things a friendly, wholesome feel.





Jul 03, 2017 at 05:41 PM
Dragonfire
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


Personally, I would avoid the flash and shoot everything natural light in a unseen photo journalistic style so the residents don't even know you are there.

If they want a group shot they will tell you.

I would use a 35L but you could push your iso and use the 24-70.

Have a good time.



Jul 03, 2017 at 05:59 PM
rek101
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


Dragonfire wrote:
Personally, I would avoid the flash and shoot everything natural light in a unseen photo journalistic style so the residents don't even know you are there.

If they want a group shot they will tell you.

I would use a 35L but you could push your iso and use the 24-70.

Have a good time.


Sounds good to me....I try to avoid flash when possible. I have a 35 f/2 IS, but every wrinkle with that lens seems to look extra wrinkly. Maybe that's the way to go....thank you!



Jul 03, 2017 at 07:09 PM
egd5
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


I'm not a pro either, but I have been a second shooter for many weddings, so I have an idea of what I'd do. I'd use the 24-70 for the versatility of framing. I'd have the flash mounted on my camera just in case. If you have plenty of natural light you may not need it. But if you use it turn it backward and up and bounce light off walls and ceilings just enough to throw some broad light around to aid in exposure.
Unless you want to emphasize them, I would try to avoid a lot of side lighting so as to not show wrinkles as much.
If they want a group photo I'd use the umbrella right behind and above me.



Jul 04, 2017 at 10:04 AM
Dragonfire
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


rek101 wrote:
. I have a 35 f/2 IS, but every wrinkle with that lens seems to look extra wrinkly. Maybe that's the way to go....thank you!



In LR you can lower the sharpening and I believe PS has a Blur tool.



Jul 04, 2017 at 10:43 AM
rek101
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


egd5 wrote:
I'm not a pro either, but I have been a second shooter for many weddings, so I have an idea of what I'd do. I'd use the 24-70 for the versatility of framing. I'd have the flash mounted on my camera just in case. If you have plenty of natural light you may not need it. But if you use it turn it backward and up and bounce light off walls and ceilings just enough to throw some broad light around to aid in exposure.
Unless you want to emphasize them, I would try to avoid a lot of side lighting
...Show more

Thanks....so side lighting emphasizes wrinkles? Wow, what a good thing to know. Keep the wrinkle reducing ideas coming if you have any more.



Jul 04, 2017 at 01:36 PM
rek101
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


Dragonfire wrote:
In LR you can lower the sharpening and I believe PS has a Blur tool.


Thanks...I'll mess with it. I've taken a few photos of pretty wrinkled people, myself included and I think getting more familiar with the blurring capabilities of Photoshop would be a wise investment of time. I still wonder why that f/2 IS makes everyone look so much more wrinkly than the 35L or the 24-70 vII. Maybe some engineer at canon knows how to make people look less wrinkly and that's why the lenses cost so much. I'm going to avoid side lighting and probably bounce a flash off the ceiling and keep it simple.



Jul 04, 2017 at 01:44 PM
DougVaughn
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


I've been doing quite a bit of senior portraiture in assisted living communities lately as a volunteer, so I understand your concerns. I'm not a pro either and have been figuring it out as I go. I hope to do some of the casual/lifestyle stuff you're talking about as well but haven't arranged it yet. Looks like I'll get to do a seniors fashion show in a couple months, which will be fun.

A few thoughts:
- As noted, keep the lighting pretty flat to minimize wrinkles. You can get away with more dramatic for some men, but they're usually about 10% of the population.
- Natural light is best when available, but I've found large windows and good light hard to come by. The crappy mixed overhead lighting can really mess with your white balance and skin tones.
- For portraits, I've used a 3' softbox with success, feathering it so just the edge lights them (softer). I put a large white reflector very close-in on the opposite side for fill, which really helps with the wrinkles.
- I've used both the 24-70 2.8L II and 85 1.8 with success. Don't have a 35L but agree it's probably a great choice for lifestyle and environmental images.
- The fact you're already a volunteer means you probably know this. Take the time to engage them in conversation and find out what interests them if you can. More personality will come out if you're shooting and talking at the same time.
- 80 year old skin (or even my 53 year old skin) is full of blemishes. At first, I spent too much time trying to smooth it with mixed results (not a pro retoucher either). I finally realized less is more and started retouching only the really bad spots they are likely to hate. Most of the older folks have accepted who they are, wrinkles and all.

Have fun and share some images. Make sure you ask because some folks don't want their photos posted. I even had one family get upset, even after the subject had agreed to the post in writing.



Jul 05, 2017 at 01:08 PM
rek101
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


DougVaughn wrote:
I've been doing quite a bit of senior portraiture in assisted living communities lately as a volunteer, so I understand your concerns. I'm not a pro either and have been figuring it out as I go. I hope to do some of the casual/lifestyle stuff you're talking about as well but haven't arranged it yet. Looks like I'll get to do a seniors fashion show in a couple months, which will be fun.

A few thoughts:
- As noted, keep the lighting pretty flat to minimize wrinkles. You can get away with more dramatic for some men, but they're usually about 10%
...Show more

Wow....what great advice. I've done it only once before and everything you said are pretty much exactly the challenges I had. The fashion show sounds fun. I once saw a news lifestyle segment of a pet show with a runway at a nursing home in Miami. They set it exciting dance music and showed a lot of slow motion, ultra dramatic footage. Somehow it worked. I can just see it with a smoke machine. But seriously, thank you for the tips.





Jul 05, 2017 at 10:32 PM
monkey007
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


My advice would be not posting the title of this topic to any gun&ammo forums.


Jul 06, 2017 at 11:12 PM
Kell
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


beat me to it..check your local Mercy Killing euthanasia laws before going


Jul 07, 2017 at 05:07 PM
GoodEgg
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


Wow, Kell. You really went there??!! And YOU beat ME to it. I had to restrain myself, still have the rope marks.

In all seriousness, rek101, this is a wonderful opportunity. The experience will stretch your photography skills and tear up your insides. You'll cry tears (fixed typo) of joy and empathy. I think the techniques any photographer shooting -- term taking -- a portrait will work, but you may have to work faster and expect little response from some of your patients. Engage the person; converse with them as you frame the photo; show them a test frame to get their attention. When I was visiting my dying in-laws, I would often wonder how an offer to do portraits would be received by the residents and their families. Many residents never received visitors, so I didn't know who would appreciate the photos.

If I was a paying guest at fm, I could break your heart with grab-shots of my mother-in-law. But they are keepers and will be cherished.

Edited on Jul 09, 2017 at 03:23 PM · View previous versions



Jul 07, 2017 at 06:19 PM
rek101
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


GoodEgg wrote:
Wow, Kell. You really went there??!! And YOU beat ME to it. I had to restrain myself, still have the rope marks.

In all seriousness, rek101, this is a wonderful opportunity. The experience will stretch your photography skills and tear up your insides. You'll cry teats of joy and empathy. I think the techniques any photographer shooting -- term taking -- a portrait will work, but you may have to work faster and expect little response from some of your patients. Engage the person; converse with them as you frame the photo; show them a test frame to get their attention.
...Show more

That is pretty funny about the post heading I used...I didn't even notice when I first wrote it. I'm glad you got to capture some great shots of your mother in-law.

This nursing home has a monthly newsletter that just shows family members what's going on.These photos go in in the newsletter that goes out to the families. I am just helping out the woman who writes the newsletter.




Jul 08, 2017 at 10:55 PM
rek101
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


Thanks for everyone's advice. Some shots turned out very well...I liked the portraits and closeups taken with window back-lighting the best. My regret is using ISO 3200 to keep shutter speeds high...at higher ISOs, the backlit shots looked a lot noisier than what I'm used to.

If anyone does this, I think the trickiest part is being careful about what you include in the image. Shots with too many people tend to include someone sleeping or other distracting elements. I think small groups of 2 or 3 people work best.

Overall, I think it's a nice way to improve as a photographer. These facilities usually send out updates to families and nice photos encourage people to visit their relatives. Overall, it's a positive experience.

I wish I could share photos, but I don't have family approval. Thanks again






Jul 27, 2017 at 03:20 PM
marklankton
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Shooting elderly folks at a nursing home? Any tips?


This is an interesting topic and I hope you are getting photos that you and others are enjoying. I will contribute one technical comment and one more general thought:
First, when mixed lighting (color temperature, for instance) is a problem, converting to B&W is really helpful. And B&W is great for portrait-style shots under any circumstances.
Second, ignore the fact that your subjects are old. They are just people; if you treat them as if they were young and beautiful they will somehow change to meet your expectations. It sounds weird but it works.
Have fun,
Mark



Jul 27, 2017 at 10:33 PM





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