Mom in Red Hat

I got my portfolio back from my consultant on Friday. At first glance I was scared. This is a big deal for me and something I’ve been putting off for way too long. The first image I noticed in her layout of the book was one that I wouldn’t have expected to see, so right off the bat, I was a little freaked out. After reading her reasons for choosing the images she did and what images should be next to each other in spreads, I started to get excited about the new me. I’m not going to reveal the new portfolio just yet as I need to do a few test shoots to fill out some weaknesses, among which is my lack of portraits of “real women.” Well, they’re all real, but they’re all models.
Anyway, in my attempt to get the ball rolling, I did this shot of my mom in her Red Hat Society garb yesterday. I don’t know if it will make it into my book, but it was an exercise for me anyway. I’ve never really done a “portrait” of my mom other than family portraits.
Most telling quote from my consultant: “…I get the feeling you’re afraid to show women who aren’t traditionally beautiful in some way, and I’d like to see you get past that.”

model: Mom
camera/film: Canon 1Ds Mk II, Canon 85mm 1.8 @ f1.8
lighting: Open shade.