I'm working with a lovely 45-year-old female model for stock, and this is my first time working with an older model.  I'd like to get some thoughts on whether you'd label her middle-aged, mature, or something else.

I would label 45 as "middle age" -
"mature" is more like "senior" with gray hair. But a lot would be in how old she looks as that is what people will judge a photo by rather than the actual age.

Indeed, I've shoot a couple of business series with a 20 year old woman, that looks really 30 in that outfit and role. So I tagged her as 30s and skipped the keyword young.

45....Old? I have ties older than that. LOL My best sellers are in there 80's and 90's. My advice is shoot what others don't. Works for me and happy new Year.

have you read the topic? its about keywording not what to shoot..

Both.

At 47, I'm not ready to be called "mature" yet, so I'd go with "middle age" for a 45 year old and then start labeling models "mature" at 50.

I'm in that age bracket too.  I prefer 'age of perfection' and 'sexy-pants', but hey-ho, each to their own.  

Both great names,. Myself I like "in denial"

At 47, I'm not ready to be called "mature" yet, so I'd go with "middle age" for a 45 year old and then start labeling models "mature" at 50.

I can assure you, you won't feel like that at 50!

Quote from: ShadySue on December 31, 2011, 13:14

Quote from: Karimala on December 31, 2011, 12:20

At 47, I'm not ready to be called "mature" yet, so I'd go with "middle age" for a 45 year old and then start labeling models "mature" at 50.

I can assure you, you won't feel like that at 50!

Yeh...I'll always feel like I should still be in my 20s and wildly young!    

I didn't count myself as middle aged until I was 45, and very reluctantly at that. I doubt if I'll ever be 'mature'.

I'm with this lady:

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/warning/

I hope to go straight from 'not mature' to there. 

I am so there. 

45 is considered middle age in the US.
Unless the model appears to be over 60, I would shy way from using the word 'mature' as this is really a euphemism for old.

I was in India a few years ago and one of my co-workers was referred to as "That Elderly Gentleman".
He was under 50 at the time and being half Japanese looked even younger.
He had a mock fit about being called elderly and explained that in the US one needs to be over 70 to get that label.
The young Indian woman (I would guess to have been about 21), was embarrassed and apologized but added that this was the term they used there.

So, it is highly dependent on the market you expect to be doing business in.
This also explains the huge difference in what the inspectors will accept, considering they are splattered across the globe.

the point really is not what we, or the model, would use as a label, but in which categories the image might be appropriate - so mature,senior, middle aged, etc might all be search terms buyers might use

i do this all the time tagging images as fort, fortress, castle , chateau, even though a purist would use only 1 of these terms for a particular instance

we need to think how buyers might search for the image, not  the most literal specific tag

True, but we're talking about women.  We tend to be a little sensitive about such things.   

Thanks, everyone, for your input.  As a side note - I'm 52, and I get a lot of perks & benefits as an old fat guy that I didn't get before.   

I'm sure you can get away with "mature" as long as you include "beautiful, gorgeous, lovely..." If she balks at the "mature" you can always mollify her with the others. To me, mature is definitely not synonymous with old, its the opposite of immature and is certainly appropriate for people in their 40s.

Bravo!!!