Real People: Aunt Margaret

This is the first post in what I hope will be a running theme for some posts down the road. You can click the images for a larger view.

This is my Great Aunt Margaret. She’s turning 87 this year; she’s fond of telling people “That’s old!”  Even though Aunt Margaret is getting up there in years, she continues to have more energy than a good portion of young people that I know.  A while back I thought I would have a good visit with Aunt Margaret and make some portraits of her.

Hit the jump to keep reading about Aunt Margaret, and see some more portraits.

Up  until a few years ago Aunt Margaret could do more situps than I could – and in half the time! I remember when she used to watch whatever exercise show was on TV, but do everything double time as they went too slow for her.

Aunt Margaret’s husband passed away a few years ago. To keep busy she cooks and bakes as she has done for so many years. She still hand makes pasta – either individually twisting spirals or hand cutting angel hair pasta – which is really the best pasta for chicken noodle soup. Period.

While I was visiting she mentioned that she was out shoveling her driveway a couple days prior, even though her daughter tells her not to. A younger neighbour told Aunt Margaret’s daughter – Aunt Margaret’s response? She told her neighbour's husband that she was mad at his wife, as her daughter had scolded her for shoveling. "Why would she have told her that!?", Aunt Margaret says.

Another thing about Aunt Margaret – she loves group hugs. Any hugs really. I won’t generalize and say everyone, but I think that a lot of people have someone like Aunt Margaret in their lives, that they sometimes forget about for whatever reasons. If this is the case, you should definitely pay her a visit. Why not have a tea party while you’re at it.

I figured I would also start including a quick summary on any lighting, if I used any besides that available. So… lighting wise, all of these shots were lit simply with speedlight and a 43” umbrella – all images had it up and camera right. The shots on the couch also benefited from a soft wall of light coming from a large window camera right, but still augmented by the umbrella, “scattering photons everywhere”, as Joe McNally might say.