The Magazine Portrait Experience
Feel Like a Model…
Without Having to Be One
Not a Session, but an Experience
Professional makeup. A private studio. Beautiful light. And all the direction you need to create magazine-style portraits that feel confident, polished, and completely like you.
You’ve taken the wedding photos. The family photos. The pictures where you’re making sure everyone else looks good.
But when was the last time you stepped in front of the camera simply to celebrate yourself?
The Magazine Portrait Experience is a fully guided glam photoshoot for women who want beautiful photographs of themselves—not because they need a headshot, are getting married, or have someone else in the frame.
Maybe you’re celebrating a milestone birthday. Maybe you’ve come through a season that changed you. Maybe you’re ready to see yourself differently.
Or maybe you don’t need a reason at all.
This is your chance to get dressed up, have your makeup done, spend time in the studio, and feel like the woman in the magazine for a day.
Why you need this
THIS IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
This isn’t a headshot session.
It isn’t a family session, and it isn’t boudoir.
It’s a modern, magazine-inspired portrait experience centered entirely around you.
For a few hours, you don’t have to take care of anyone else, make anything happen, or stand behind the camera. You get to be the person being photographed, pampered, and celebrated.
And yes, you’ll leave with beautiful portraits.
But you may also leave standing a little taller.
Meet Your Maryland
Portrait Studio Photographer
Hi, I’m Ginny.
For more than a decade, I’ve been helping people feel comfortable in front of the camera—even the ones who begin by insisting they aren’t photogenic.
I created the Magazine Portrait Experience because women deserve beautiful photographs that aren’t always connected to a wedding, a business, or the other people in their lives.
You deserve to be photographed simply as yourself.
My approach is relaxed, encouraging, and fully guided. I’ll help with every pose, expression, and tiny adjustment, but I’ll never expect you to perform or become someone you’re not. We’ll talk, laugh, experiment, and create portraits that feel polished and magazine-worthy while still looking unmistakably like you.
You don’t need to arrive feeling confident.
You can borrow some of mine until you see what I see.
The
Experience
Almost every woman begins by telling me some version of the same thing:
“I’m awkward in photos.”
“I don’t know what to do with my hands.”
“I’m not a model.”
Perfect. You don’t need to be.
It isn’t your job to know how to pose, find your best angle, or create the right expression. That’s my job.
I’ll guide you through everything; from where to look and how to stand to the smallest adjustments that help you feel comfortable and look natural. We’ll keep moving, talking, and laughing so you never feel like you’re being left alone in front of the camera.
The woman in these photographs may look effortlessly confident.
That doesn’t mean she arrived feeling that way.
This is more than arriving at a studio, smiling for the camera, and going home.
The experience is intentionally spacious so that nothing feels rushed. You’ll have time to settle in, enjoy the process, and become more comfortable as we create different looks together.
Plan Your Portraits
Before your session, we’ll talk about how you want to be photographed.
We’ll discuss wardrobe, colors, styling, and the overall feeling you want your portraits to have. You might want something soft and natural, polished and powerful, playful and glamorous, or a little of everything.
You don’t have to arrive with a perfectly formed vision. I’ll help you create one.
Professional makeup is included with your session with Valerie Hammer Makeup Artistry.
The goal isn’t to transform you into someone unrecognizable. It’s to help you feel polished, cared for, and camera-ready while still looking like yourself.
You’ll have time to relax in the makeup chair before we begin photographing. It’s part of the experience; not something squeezed in beforehand.
Hair + Makeup That’S YOU
The INSTANT REVEAL
You’ll see your portraits while the experience is still fresh.
There’s something powerful about seeing yourself on a larger screen before you’ve had time to retreat into your usual self-criticism. You’ll be able to experience the photographs as we created them: with excitement, curiosity, and perhaps a little disbelief.
Portrait Studio Sessions
Our session takes place in my private studio in Silver Spring, Maryland, convenient to clients throughout Montgomery County, Washington DC, and Northern Virginia.
There are no strangers walking by, no audience, and no pressure to perform.
It’s simply a comfortable, welcoming space where you can relax, experiment, and let yourself be photographed without worrying about who might be watching.
People relax differently when they feel safe.
And when you relax, everything changes.
INVESTMENT $985
Your Magazine Portrait Experience includes:
Pre-session planning and wardrobe guidance
Professional makeup
A fully guided studio photoshoot
Multiple looks
Same-day portrait reveal
Five fully edited digital images
Additional digital images, albums, folio boxes, and wall artwork are available separately, allowing you to choose the portraits and products that matter most to you.
All-inclusive collections are also available.
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. The Magazine Portrait Experience is a glam and beauty portrait session rather than a boudoir session. Your portraits can be feminine, glamorous, powerful, soft, or playful, but lingerie and intimate posing are not the focus. Think modern magazine editorial rather than bedroom photography.
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Absolutely not. I’ll guide you through the entire session, including your posture, hands, angles, movement, and expressions. You will never be expected to stand in front of the camera and figure it out on your own.
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Yes. Most of the women I photograph don’t consider themselves naturally comfortable in front of a camera. Being “photogenic” isn’t something you either have or don’t have. Comfortable direction, flattering light, thoughtful styling, and a photographer who knows how to see you make an enormous difference.
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Yes. Professional makeup is included with every Magazine Portrait Experience. The goal is a polished, camera-ready look that enhances your features while still feeling like you.
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We’ll plan your wardrobe together before the session. Most clients bring multiple options so we can create different looks. You might choose a simple neutral outfit, a favorite dress, a tailored suit, something soft and feminine, or one wonderfully bold “why not?” look.
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Absolutely. These sessions are especially meaningful for milestone birthdays, including 30th, 40th, 50th, and 60th birthdays. You can also book simply because you want to celebrate yourself right now.
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The primary focus of the session is you, but we can discuss including a friend, sister, mother, or partner in a small portion of the experience. Additional makeup services and session fees may apply.
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Plan for approximately four hours. This includes professional makeup, your fully guided photoshoot, and the same-day portrait reveal. The experience is intentionally unhurried so you have time to relax and enjoy it.