The Eyes of Wisdom

The last of my portrait work that I'll be showing for awhile. This lady came to me wanting a portrait on the event of her 80th birthday. She, of course wanted a flattering rendering where the skin is smoothed out... and in color. I did that for her, of course. However I saw something much more compelling, and often in portrait sessions I photograph for what the people want - I am after all a commercial enterprise, and the object is revenue to support my addiction - and then do a few for me. Sometimes they like the ones I do for myself, and often they prefer the ones that are more flattering. This is one of those cases. I had known this lady for years, since I do live in a smaller community where everyone knows everyone, and she allowed me to more than just what she was wanting. Most often running a portrait studio, as I did, means that we seldom ever get the Hollywood (Hollyweird, as I often say) starlet with the flawless face and figure. Most often they are just regular folks. In those cases we owe them the dignity of showing the true beauty of who they are. I used a Hasselblad 500ELm and a 150mm Sonnar lens.