Portraits of Senior Citizens

By looking at your portfolio I think you are a better photographer than this photo would indicate. Burned out lighting on the hands and arm, uneven lighting on the face, hugging a post that takes up more of the photo than the subject does, too much background, and a pesky white spot near her head... none of these is a good thing. Pose her on the shadow side of the pole with her back to the pole and zoom in on her face and shoulders (she has a nice scarf on!), and expose for her face using a little bit of fill flash or a big reflector card.