
Celebrating Women Over 40, Because Confidence Has No Age Limit
Are you a woman in your 40s, 50s or beyond?
This is your time to be seen, celebrated, and remembered.
I’M PHOTOGRAPHING 40 WOMEN OVER THE AGE OF 40.
I’D LOVE FOR YOU TO BE ONE OF THEM.
For many of us, turning 40 marks more than just a number, it’s a powerful milestone.
It’s a time when many of us pause, reflect, and reconnect with who we really are.
Our values shift. Our confidence grows.
And sometimes, we realise it’s been far too long since we’ve done something just for us.
That’s why I created these Empowering Women Portrait Sessions, a project dedicated to celebrating the beauty, strength, and stories of women over 40, 50, and beyond.
I believe that every stage of womanhood holds its own power.
Whether you’re stepping into your 40s with excitement or navigating them with introspection, your story matters and it is beautiful.
You deserve to be seen, celebrated, and reminded of just how far you’ve come.
That’s exactly what this portrait experience for women over 40 is all about.
Step into my calm, welcoming London studio for an empowering portrait session designed just for you.
This isn’t just about taking photos, it’s about reconnecting with yourself.
Together, we’ll capture the essence of who you are, both inside and out, through timeless, elegant portraits.
You’ll be gently guided throughout, with wardrobe support and expert styling to help you feel confident, radiant, and truly seen.
"Working with Valentina was one of the most empowering and uplifting experiences l've had in years!
Valentina has this incredible gift of bringing out your true essence.
And not just through the camera, but in how she gently guides, supports, and encourages you.
I honestly didn't expect to feel this amazing, but I did! "
Justine
What’s Included in Your Empowering Women Portrait Session
A pre-shoot consultation.
Before your session, we'll have a personalised consultation where we'll discuss the theme of your shoot and explore wardrobe, hair, and makeup options. I'll also take the opportunity to ask you a few interview questions, getting to know you better and ensuring that your session reflects your unique personality and style.
Full makeover.
On the day of your shoot, you'll be treated to a full makeover by a professional hair stylist and makeup artist. Their expertise will ensure that you look and feel absolutely stunning, setting the perfect tone for your photo session.
The photo session.
Your photo session will last 2-3 hours, during which I'll guide you through each pose and expression, capturing the essence of who you are. Together, we'll bring your story and unique features to life in beautiful, authentic photos.
Photo reveal.
Once all your images are ready, we'll have an online reveal session where you'll have the opportunity to view and select your favourite images. This ensures that you have a say in the final selection and guarantees that you receive images that truly resonate with you.
One Matted Print Included
You’ll receive one fine art matted print of your favourite portrait, ready to be proudly displayed in your home as a daily reminder of your strength, beauty, and worth.
Your story featured
As a special touch, your story will be featured on my blog and potentially in a magazine. This platform allows us to showcase how fabulous you are and inspire other women to embrace their unique journeys.
The session fee is £390
(Additional products and images are purchased separately.)
1. Celebrate the Best Version of Yourself
Your 40s (and beyond!) can be some of the most meaningful years of your life.
After decades of giving so much to others, in your family, career, or community, this is your chance to turn the spotlight back on you.
These portraits for women over 40 are about acknowledging everything you’ve become and honouring the woman you are today, inside and out.
2. Reconnect with Yourself
This empowering photography experience isn’t about anyone else. It’s just for you.
A chance to slow down, reflect, and see yourself through kinder eyes, without pressure, filters, or judgment.
Through the session, many women rediscover their softness, their power, and their story.
It’s an invitation to reconnect with your essence and feel truly seen.
3. Boost Your Confidence
If ageing has ever made you feel invisible or uncertain, you’re not alone, but this session can be a turning point.
When you’re supported by someone who sees your beauty and knows how to bring it out, something shifts.
These portraits go beyond the surface. You’ll leave with a new lens, literally and emotionally, and a deep sense of self-worth.
An Empowering Portrait Session is more than just a photoshoot.
It’s a celebration of your strength, your story, and your self-worth.

Want to Explore More First?
If you’re not quite ready to step in front of the camera just yet, that’s okay.
Here are a few ways to get inspired:
📖 Read the Empowerment Manifesto, a love letter to every woman who's ever lost touch with herself and is ready to reclaim her story.
📝 Blog: Rediscovering Yourself Through Empowering Photography
Discover how portrait photography can help you reconnect with who you are, especially when life has shifted and you’re searching for something more.
✨ Curious what past clients felt after their session? Read Embracing Confidence Through Photography: A Journey of Self-Discovery
✨ More Stories: Transformative Photoshoot for Women Over 40
Real stories, real women, real confidence rediscovered.


Start Your Empowering Journey
Follow Me
There is something special that happens when you hold a printed album for the first time.
Its weight.
The texture under your fingers.
The sound of the pages turning.
The way the images look back at you, solid and real, in a way a screen never quite manages.
A digital file exists somewhere.
A printed album IS somewhere. You can feel the difference.
This is a maternity album. Leatherette cover, gold embossed text, lay flat pages that let every image breathe.
It is the final chapter of a session, the moment everything we created together becomes something you can live, enjoy and pass down.
This is why, after a shoot, a printed product is never an afterthought for me. It is the whole point.
And it is also why I am not the right photographer for everyone. If you are looking for a gallery of just digitals and nothing more, I would gently point you elsewhere.
But if you want something you can hold, something that feels like it truly exists, something your child will one day open and say this was us, then we should talk.
Maternity photography in Richmond and Twickenham.
After 15 years, so much of what I do is on autopilot.
I look for the gorgeous light and read the baby. I know when to wait and when to act. And I do it without thinking.
But the moment someone is beside me, watching, learning, everything slows down. I have to find words for things I stopped noticing years ago. And in doing that, I remember how it felt at the beginning. The insecurities. The fear of getting it wrong. The weight of feeling like you should already know. The comparison with others.
Teaching reminds me how much courage it takes to learn something new and how gently we should treat ourselves while we do.
If you are starting out, in any field, well done. Truly. I know how hard and lonely those first steps can be. But you don’t have to take them alone.
And if you are a photographer thinking about a one to one newborn training day in my Twickenham studio,I would love to be part of your journey.
Link in bio.
Six weeks ago I shared a glimpse behind the scenes of this session. Today, you get to see what we made.
She arrived with her props already chosen.
Nude stockings. The kind her mother wore. The ones women mended rather than replaced.
She knew exactly what she wanted to say.
My job was simply to hold the space and let her say it.
This is what a portrait session can be.
Not a makeover or a way to fit an idea of beauty. But a conversation between a woman and her own story, made visible.
Dyana is an artist, activist and doula. She explores identity, the body, and everything that lives between and beyond definition.
I am grateful I had the chance to photograph her.
Tomorrow I have a newborn session and a 1:1 training day with a photographer travelling from Switzerland to spend the day with me.
But before any of that, the work had already started.
It starts with a conversation. Learning about your birth, your family, how things have been since you came home. Then comes the studio prep, making sure the space is warm, clean and ready for someone very new to the world, with attention to every small thing that makes a family feel safe and held.
After 15 years, this is still how I do it. Every time.
That same care is what I pass on when I teach.
If you are a parent looking for a photographer who takes this seriously, or a photographer thinking about training, this is what I stand for.
📩 Links in bio for both.
She almost didn’t come.
She told me she wasn’t feeling confident.
That she didn’t know how to pose.
That maybe I should photograph someone else.
I hear this more than you’d think. From women who are more reserved and introvert but also the ones who are funny and so alive in person. Women who have simply spent too long seeing themselves in a fixed way.
We spent a morning together. Just her, the light, and a space where nothing needed to be fixed or hidden.
The woman in these photos? She was there all along.
If you’ve been telling yourself a similar story, I’d gently ask you this: what if you’re wrong too?
Model Call: Newborn Session
I’m looking for a newborn baby (born after 24th April) to take part in a special session during a 1:1 mentoring day with another photographer.
These early days pass so quickly, and this is a chance to have them gently and beautifully documented, while also allowing me to share my approach and experience with someone learning this craft.
You will receive a complimentary newborn session (valued at £290), along with 5 images of your choice as a thank you.
Both parents will need to be available next week, on 7th May, as I love to include you in a few loving, meaningful moments together.
The session will take place in my Twickenham studio, designed to offer a calm and relaxed experience for you and your baby.
A model release will be required, as the images may be shared across my platforms and the photographer’s.
If this feels like something you’d love to be part of, or you know someone who might, please send me a message or email vale@photographybyvalentina.com
If you know a new mum who would love this, please feel free to share or tag them.
Based in Richmond, I work with families across London to capture life’s most meaningful milestones through portrait photography.