FAQ
How do you pronounce “Privée” and “Boudoir”?
PRIVÉE :: Pree-vay. It’s the feminine form of “private” in French.
BOUDOIR :: Boo-dwah. The r stays silent… again, French.
If you've been saying boo-dwar or boo-dor in your head this whole time, you're in good company. Most people do, until someone tells them otherwise.
When should I do my boudoir session?
If you're working toward a specific date — a wedding, an anniversary, a birthday — plan to have your session at least six weeks beforehand. That allows time for the day itself, the editing, the reveal, and the finished pieces to be made and in your hands without anyone rushing the work.
If there's no deadline, the best time is whenever it stops feeling like the wrong time. That's usually the answer.
Will you help me pose during the session?
Posing is my job, not yours.
I direct every frame… where to put your hands, where to look, when to breathe, when to laugh. If something isn't working, I adjust it before you ever know it wasn't. The unfamiliar feels familiar within the first ten minutes; that's the work.
You'll see images on the back of the camera throughout the day, so you're never wondering how it's going. There's usually champagne. And by the second outfit, you'll have stopped thinking about the camera at all.
How much should I expect to spend?
Privée intimate portrait sessions begin at $1,800, with most clients investing $3,200 and up for a complete session and finished work. During your consultation the full guide - including collections, products, and gifts - will be delivered by email.
What is your payment schedule?
Where do I do my boudoir session?
Where is the studio located?
How long does a boudoir session last?
The studio is in the Sterling neighborhood, just outside downtown Greenville. It's a private space — designed for this work, with controlled light, dedicated dressing and styling areas, and the quiet that a session of this kind asks for.
Off-street parking is available on-site, so you can come and go privately, with no street-side coordination to worry about.
The exact address is shared the week of your session, after booking is complete. This is a deliberate part of how the studio handles privacy — yours and the studio's.
The shoot itself runs two to three hours. If your collection includes hair and makeup, plan for an additional 90 minutes of styling beforehand.
All in, expect to be at the studio for the better part of the afternoon.
Do you provide wardrobe?
A retainer of 50% reserves your session and is due at booking. The remaining balance is due on session day.
If a different arrangement would suit you better, just ask — these are handled privately, on a personal basis.
Most sessions happen in my Greenville studio. It's set up for exactly this - controlled light, multiple rooms to shoot in, full privacy.
If you'd rather host your session elsewhere, I'm always open. Once we book, we'll talk through what's available to you: your home, a friend's, or a space rented for the day or the night through Peerspace, Airbnb, or VRBO.
The overnight rental has its own quiet appeal. A booked space becomes a small getaway… and your hair and makeup, freshly done, doesn't have to come off the moment the camera is down. Whether your partner knows you're coming home that way is up to you.
Wardrobe is yours to select. The pieces you'll wear should fit you precisely… and what fits you precisely is something that needs to be planned in advance. Clothing that fits well photographs well; the rest is detail.
Before your session, I recommend a proper bra fitting at a local boutique. It's a small thing that makes a real difference in how the work comes out. The prep guide you'll receive after booking covers wardrobe in full - pieces to consider, what to skip, and where to shop in Greenville and other major cities.
How many outfits can I bring to my appointment?
Plan for three to five looks during the session, depending on the collection you've chosen. Bring a few extras — different moods, different silhouettes, anything you've been considering. We'll choose what to shoot together once we see them on you.
Are my boudoir photos safe?
Privacy is built into how the studio operates, not added on top.
Your gallery is password-protected and never published on the site or anywhere public. Access stays with you — and with anyone you choose to share the password with. Nothing more.
Do you offer boudoir sessions for men or couples?
Privée is built around women. Photographing men, or couples, is its own discipline — and not one I work in.
Will my photos end up on your website or social media?
Only if you choose to share them, and only after you've signed a release giving specific permission.
Every client whose images appear on Privée's site or social channels signed off on the exact frames being used. Most clients keep their work entirely private — that's the default, not the exception. After your gallery is delivered, I'll ask once whether you'd consider sharing anything. Whatever you say is the answer.
How much editing do you do?
The work is shot to need very little. Light, color, and tone are considered carefully on the day, so the images look like themselves out of the camera — not rebuilt afterward.
What I do refine is what you'd expect from this level of work: skin and texture, fine color corrections, the small adjustments that polish a frame without changing the woman in it. If something specific is on your mind, we'll talk about it during your reveal — quietly, on your terms.
The goal isn't a different version of you. It's the version you already are, shown well.
Do you have a prep guide for my boudoir session?
Yes — a detailed one, written specifically for Privée clients. It arrives by email after booking and covers the practical and the intuitive: how to prepare in the weeks beforehand, what to bring, what the studio is like, and the small things that make the day feel easy.
By the time your session arrives, nothing should be a question.
Can sessions be more daring than what’s shown on the site?
The portfolio shows the work clients have chosen to share publicly — which tends toward the more discreet end of what I photograph. The bolder work, including implied and nude sessions, exists. It just doesn't live on the open site, by design.
Where your session lands on that spectrum is something we shape together during the consultation. The studio is set up for the full range, and nothing about the conversation is awkward — it's a normal part of how the day is planned.
If you have something specific in mind, bring it. If you're not sure yet, that's the conversation.
It’s super important that you know…. I have a very strict line that I draw with the level of “spice” I will photograph. So, please be prepared to hear my thoughts and know I will only photograph certain poses and themes. I NEVER want to tilt too far or tiptoe on the line of pornography. Ever.
What should I wear for my boudoir session?
Lingerie is the most common starting point — and the most flexible, because it photographs well across nearly every body and every mood.
But the studio sees a wider range than that. An oversized sweatshirt and bare legs. A slip dress. A white button-down borrowed from someone you love. Bodysuits, slip skirts, thigh-highs, robes, jewelry as wardrobe. The pieces that work best are usually the ones you already feel something about.
The full guide on what to bring — and what to skip — arrives after booking. If something specific is on your mind in the meantime, the consultation is where we talk through it. Until then, read over my journal entry on this topic.
Are nudes allowed or required?
Never required. Always allowed, if you want them.
The day itself is built around your comfort. Some clients arrive certain they'll stay fully clothed and leave the studio having decided otherwise, mid-session, on their own terms. Others arrive ready to go further than they ever imagined and do exactly that. Many keep the work classic and never consider anything else. All three are normal — and none of them is the wrong answer.
Toward the end of the session, I'll check in once to ask whether there's anything else you want to try. There's no pressure attached to that question. Whatever you say is the answer.
Can I bring a friend to my session?
The session is shot one-on-one — just you and me in the studio.
The work depends on a particular kind of attention between us, and that attention is harder to build when there's an audience, even a kind one. Most clients tell me afterward that the privacy of the session was part of what made it possible.
However, if you and your friend BOTH want to do a session on the same day, then by all means - come together! While you’re shooting, she can get her hair and makeup done! (And, there are perks for you both if you choose to do this…)
Can I send you ideas and inspiration images I love?
Yes… please. Inspiration images tell me how you're seeing the work in your head, which is one of the more useful things you can share before a session.
A small note on how I use them: as direction, not destination. The photographer is different, the room is different, the light is different, the woman in the frame is different — which means the image you love can never be remade exactly, only translated. What we shoot will be informed by what you bring me, but it will look like your session, not someone else's.
Send anything that's caught your eye. Pinterest boards, screenshots, a single image you keep coming back to. All of it helps.
What happens after my Boudoir Session?
Two to three weeks after the shoot, you'll return to the studio for your reveal. The full gallery is presented on a large screen, fully edited, in the same space where the work was made. This is when you choose your prints, your album, and the pieces you want to live with.
From there, the finished work is ordered and crafted… albums hand-bound, prints made on archival paper, every piece checked personally before it leaves the studio. Most orders are ready within four to six weeks of your reveal. When the work is in, you'll come back one last time to collect it, or it can be shipped to you, packed properly.
The session is the beginning of the work. The reveal is where you see it. The finished pieces are what stays.
What happens to my photos after my boudoir gallery expires?
Galleries remain available for 30 days after your reveal. After that window closes, your files are removed from the studio's active systems — meaning future access isn't something to count on unless you've chosen one of the options below. Your work doesn't sit indefinitely on an open server, and no third party ever has access to it.
If you'd like the work to remain accessible beyond the standard window, two options are available:
Gallery Extension — your live gallery stays active for one full year. $300.
Archival Access — your live gallery stays active for one year, with secure archival for four additional years afterward. Useful for clients planning a wedding, an anniversary, or simply wanting the option to revisit the work down the road. $750.
Either can be added at any point before your gallery closes. Most clients order their full collection at the reveal, well before this becomes a question — the reveal and production phase are built so the work you want is in your hands long before any deadline.
If you'd like the work to remain accessible beyond the standard window, two options are available:
Gallery Extension and Archival Access are available — specifics shared during your reveal-day conversation.
Either can be added at any point before your gallery closes. Most clients order their full collection at the reveal, well before this becomes a question — the reveal and production phase are built so the work you want is in your hands long before any deadline.
What if I need to reschedule or cancel my appointment?
Plans shift. The studio is built to accommodate that, within reason.
If you need to move your session date, one reschedule is welcome at no additional cost — provided it's requested at least 14 days before your original session. Your retainer transfers to the new date, which can be set anytime within the following six months.
Reschedules made within 14 days of the session are treated as cancellations, and rebooking requires a new retainer. The original retainer is non-refundable in any cancellation scenario, as it reserves your date and the studio time prepared for it.
If something genuinely unexpected happens, reach out. These conversations are handled personally, not by policy alone.