PDX Boudoir Portraits

This was not only my first time being photographed by Nina but my first time doing anything like this. Honestly I was a little unsure about what to expect. Her website gave great ideas and suggestions as to what to bring. When I got there she was well prepared and quick to make me feel at ease. By the end we were chatting like old friends. She did a great job making sure I got just what I wanted. She didn’t make me feel pressured or rushed. I would recommend her and will surely be back. You don’t have to have a model’s body to get amazing shots.

I have worked with Nina on several occasions, and she is one of best boudoir photographers around. She makes you feel comfortable, gives great instruction and really lets you have fun with your photoshoot, which is what it’s all about! Her editing work is lovely, not overdone like so many others. You look flawless and sexy! I recommend her all the time, and I have no idea why other people complain about her studio. Maybe they’ve never done any kind of shoot before? Being a model, I know what kind of places can be, and her studio is big, airy and CLEAN. She is meticulous about it. I’ll say it again and again, I love her work!

I am going to write this review backwards, starting with the bottom line: I got three good photos, edited as I requested that I am happy with. Bottom line– I paid for photos and I got photos.
Now the experience leading up to this…
I had never done a bordeaux photo shoot. I saw this on Groupon and decided that it would be a fun thing to do so I bought the Groupon and made my appointment. I read the instructions on the website about what to bring and what to expect, and it said that it should be fun and relaxing, go ahead and bring wine, etc. I was looking forward to a classy, warm, sexy experience. I bought several outfits and accessories to use in the photo shoot. The website showed some beautiful pictures with lovely props. What I didn’t know is that Nina Sage’s main photography niche is DOGS (More on this later).
I got to her studio in a «other side of the tracks» type industrial corner of SE and it was more of a garage than a studio. It had concrete floors. The bathroom had an overhead light and mops/​other storage stuff in it; bad lighting for touching up make up, etc. The bathroom was the only place that had a mirror. I asked her about this, and she cited some idiot that she rents her space to, saying that he broke it and now she doesn’t have a mirror for the photography area. Okay… so knowing how to pose was difficult, and knowing when I needed to touch up hair and make up was difficult.
Nina told me that she didn’t know what she was thinking making my appointment at 7pm in the evening the day before she had a dog-​show photoshoot in the morning. She said that she needed to get out of here sooner than later. She said that she usually sits down and goes over what her subject likes and does not like, what I would want, etc, but she wasn’t going to take the time for that tonight. I needed to tell her what I wanted without any coaching. Having never done this before, I told her that she is the artist and I will accept her instruction. She asked what music I wanted, and I chose to go with her favorite (she was already in a hurried mood, I figured it might help) so we listened to the beach boys as we did this…
Her studio was roasting (it was a warm day) and she kept the fan pointed at herself as she sat to take the photographs. Now I don’t know much about photography, but I do know that angle is important… she is a very large lady and was obviously most comfortable taking the photographs seated… okay…
So we hurried through this stuff, she did not help me pose much– seemed like a burden to give me any advice… she made it obvious that she would rather be home preparing for her trip the next day.
I was posing for her, and she was taking the photos when a gush of water fell from the ceiling between us. She said that it does that. GROSS! Also, the couches that she was using to pose bordeaux models are the same ones she used for the DOG photographs. On top of being put off by that fact, she wouldn’t let me put my heels down (someone else had ripped her antique couch that way once) so posing on the couches were awkward.
The proofs came back and between the angles and lighting, every wrinkle and blemish in my skin was exaggerated. I have nice skin. I take Iphone self-​portraits that make my skin look beautiful. I did choose the three poses that came with the Groupon and had her edit them to make them look better though. After going back and forth on the e-​mail over several weeks, I approved the proofs. Nearly a month later, the proofs showed up in the mail without a word, thank you, f– you or anything.
This fun, sexy idea of getting bordeux photos was not fun at all. It was not sexy at all. It was dirty, it was hurried, and it was disappointing. I was dupted by her website because she keeps the bordeaux and dog photography websites separate, under different names (ofcourse).
Next time, I’ll choose either a woman who is very stylish and sexy, or a man who has a flirty nature and an eye for angles and beauty.