Lighting can make you look older or younger
When we’re younger, we want to look older, and when we’re older we want to look younger. What is it about age anyway? But I digress…
Photographers have a number of tools, besides retouching, to help people look younger or older. One the most effective (and natural) tools is light – and lighting the face to help people look older or younger involves the use of shadows and hard/soft light to accentuate or de-emphasize features. Multi-directional soft light fills in shadows, reducing “experience lines” (aka, wrinkles) and helps make skin look smoother. Conversely, directional light can increase shadows that accentuate features such as jawlines, cheekbones and creases/crevasses – these shadows can be hard, where the transition from light to shadows is short, or soft, where the transition is more gradual. Photographers who are experienced in lighting the face understand how to control the hard/softness of the light/shadows to achieve the desired look.
Another way to help people look older in photographs is the use of B&W – B&W images, combined with the effective/intentional use of shadows can add years to a person’s looks. The shadows are more evident/pronounced to the eye – and dramatic. I’ve always been a big fan of B&W, as there is a richness and drama that I feel when looking at a B&W image that is done well – indeed many iconic images have been done in B&W.
Karina, who is an aspiring actress, wanted some new headshots for her portfolio. She likes to play a variety of roles, has a young face and wanted to have some shots where she looks a bit older.
We started with a soft lighting setup (3 lights) that is gorgeous and highlights her energy, and look. This is more of the youthful look. We then moved to a single light setup that produces more shadows, and at a slight angle to her face, which would give her a bit more shadow on one side. The image was then processed to B&W using a custom recipe, with some additional retouching to give the B&W version some additional punch. Note how the B&W version has a bit more dimensionality, providing more of a feel for the features of her face, arms, etc..- even the tatoo on her arm stands out a bit more.
To be fair, there is a slight difference in her expressions and pose between the two images, which contribute to the overall feel of each inage. Which image do you think makes her look older? And if you had to assign an age difference, what would you say?
