Women's Portrait Photography
Cinematic Portraits for Women Who Are Ready to Be Seen Fully
Most photographs show you at your most polished. Your most camera-ready. Your most prepared.
These portraits show you at your most true.
I photograph a limited number of women's portrait sessions each year at my private studio in downtown Pleasanton. The work is cinematic, documentary and shot in black-and-white. The intention is not to make you look beautiful, though that happens. The intention is to capture who you actually are at this specific moment in your life — the version that took courage to become and deserves to be preserved.
Who These Sessions Are For
Women in the middle of something significant. A chapter closing. A new one beginning. A version of themselves they have grown into and not yet fully acknowledged.
Women who have spent years being photographed for professional purposes and want one set of images that has nothing to do with their title, their business or their brand.
Women who have never had a portrait taken of themselves as an adult and have quietly wished someone would.
Women who almost talked themselves out of it. These sessions are especially for you.
The Photography
Every women's portrait session is photographed in my signature cinematic black-and-white style. No filters. No heavy retouching. No manufactured perfection.
Natural light where it serves the image. Studio lighting where the moment calls for it. Direction throughout so you are never left wondering what to do with your hands, your face or yourself.
The result is a portrait that looks like you, specifically, honestly and beautifully you.
Her Words, Her Light
Women's portrait sessions at this studio are part of a broader project called Her Words, Her Light, a curated portrait and storytelling series documenting the lives of real women in their own words.
Participants in Her Words, Her Light receive a portrait session, a recorded conversation for Visible Impact, a podcast dedicated to the stories women are finally ready to tell, and a place in the Her Words, Her Light exhibition currently in development.
Not every women's portrait session becomes part of the series. Some women want the portrait without the storytelling. Both are available. The inquiry form below helps me understand what is right for you.
Session and Investment
Women's portrait sessions take place at my private studio at 4725 1st Street in downtown Pleasanton. Sessions run approximately ninety minutes to two hours. The pace is unhurried.
Women's Portrait Session - $950 One session. One outfit or multiple looks depending on your vision. Two professionally retouched cinematic images. Additional retouched images available at $300 each.
Her Words, Her Light Session - $1,500 Everything in the portrait session plus a recorded conversation for the Visible Impact podcast and a place in the Her Words, Her Light exhibition. Approximately two to three hours including the portrait session and interview.
A note on availability: I photograph a small number of women's portrait sessions each year alongside my executive headshot and corporate work. The inquiry form below helps me understand who you are and whether the timing is right before we connect.
What to Expect
The Inquiry Fill out the short form below. Tell me who you are and what is drawing you to this. I will follow up personally within two business days.
Before Your Session We connect briefly before your session to talk through your vision, your wardrobe and what you want to walk away with. You will receive a preparation guide. The session works best when you arrive having thought a little about what this moment means to you — but you do not need to arrive with answers. The conversation and the camera tend to find them.
During Your Session You will be directed throughout. Posture, expression, where to look and where not to. The direction is specific enough that you will not feel lost and natural enough that you will not feel posed. Most women say afterward that it felt like a conversation more than a photoshoot.
After Your Session Professionally retouched images delivered through a private online gallery within ten business days. High-resolution files for printing, framing and personal use. Rush delivery available at $100 when timing matters.
About This Work
I am Nina Pomeroy — a portrait photographer based in Pleasanton, California with 26 years of experience starting in New York and Connecticut before establishing this studio in the Tri-Valley.
My commercial work is executive headshots and personal branding photography. My personal work is this — documentary portraits of women at significant moments in their lives.
The two practices inform each other. Twenty-six years of directing people in front of a camera means I know how to make someone feel at ease quickly and produce something genuine. That skill matters more in this work than in any other.