BIRTHDAY PHOTOSHOOTS IN MILWAUKEE
CELEBRATE THIS VERSION OF YOU.
A birthday is a natural reason to stop and take stock of where you are now.
Maybe you’re turning 30 and stepping into a new chapter. Maybe 40 feels completely different than you expected. Maybe you’re celebrating 50, 60, 70, or a year that simply feels significant enough to remember.
A birthday photoshoot can be glamorous, playful, fashion-forward, sexy, understated, completely over the top, or a little bit of everything. We’ll build the session around your personality, your style, and how you want to see yourself at this point in your life.
You bring the birthday. We’ll decide what it looks like.
A BIRTHDAY PHOTOSHOOT CAN LOOK LIKE ANYTHING.
There is no required birthday-session formula here.
Bring the cake. Wear the crown. Throw the confetti. Fill the studio with balloons.
Or don’t use a single birthday prop.
Some clients want an unapologetic celebration with all the visual cues. Others use their birthday as the reason they’ve finally decided to have the portrait experience they’ve wanted for years.
We can create glamorous portraits in a gown, something sleek and editorial, a favorite pair of jeans, lingerie, a fabulous suit, or something you would never have thought to wear until you saw it waiting for you in the studio.
The goal is to create photographs that feel specific to you, with plenty of room to play.
Milwaukee birthday photography for 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th birthdays and beyond.
YOUR BIRTHDAY. YOUR SESSION.
GO FULL BIRTHDAY
Cakes, candles, balloons, crowns, confetti, champagne energy. If you want your photographs to announce exactly what we’re celebrating, we can absolutely make the birthday part of the creative direction.
MAKE IT GLAMOROUS
This is your opportunity to wear the dress, turn up the hair and makeup, and create the kind of portraits that feel like they belong in a magazine. Your version of glamour can be classic, modern, dramatic, sexy, soft, or somewhere in between.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Your birthday doesn’t have to appear anywhere in the photographs. Sometimes the milestone is simply the reason to finally book the session. We’ll create portraits that document who you are now and will still feel meaningful long after this birthday has passed.
DO A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING
You don’t have to choose one version of yourself. Most sessions include multiple looks, which gives us room to move from celebratory to sophisticated, playful to dramatic, dressed up to stripped down.
THE PORTRAIT EXPERIENCE
1. YOUR STYLE SURVEY
Before we meet, you’ll complete a detailed style survey that tells me about you, why this birthday matters, what you’re drawn to, what you’d love to wear, and how you’d like to be photographed. This is where I begin designing your session.
2. CONSULTATION + WARDROBE FITTING
When you arrive for your consultation, I’ll already have a rack of garments curated specifically for you from my studio wardrobe of more than 1,000 pieces. We’ll try things on, talk through your ideas, add pieces from your own closet when they make sense, and build the final looks together.
If you’re bringing birthday elements like a cake, balloons, a crown, or something personal to the milestone, we’ll plan those here too.
3. HAIR + MAKEUP
Your session begins with professional hair and makeup by Katrina, an industry-leading artist and educator with expertise across skin tones and hair textures. Whether your version of birthday beauty is barely-there, polished and natural, or full Kardashian-level glam, she’ll tailor the look to you and the photographs we’re creating.
4. YOUR PHOTOSHOOT
Once you’re in front of my camera, you don’t have to figure out what to do with your hands, where to look, or whether you’re “doing it right.” I’ll direct you constantly, demonstrate what I want when necessary, adjust the tiny things, and keep us moving.
We’ll make beautiful photographs. We’ll probably also laugh a lot.
5. YOUR REVEAL
Every image I present is fully retouched before you ever see it. We’ll meet on Zoom for your private reveal, where you’ll experience the finished photographs for the first time and choose the images you love.
From there, I’ll guide you through digital collections, albums, folio boxes and custom wall art. You’ll be able to see and compare album materials, frame corners, and finishes so the photographs you choose can live in whatever form feels right for you.
CELEBRATING 40
Laura had been following my work for a couple of years when her 40th birthday gave her the reason to finally book a session.
She wanted to give herself an experience that would remind her of the woman she was at this point in her life: beautiful, strong and sexy.
From the wardrobe planning through hair and makeup with Katrina, we built a session that could show different sides of her personality and style. Laura wanted photographs that felt like her, while giving herself permission to step outside of everyday life and celebrate the milestone.
When she saw the finished collection, she saw exactly what she’d hoped for.
“Each photo showcases a different side of me.”
And the photographs became more than a way to celebrate turning 40. Laura began thinking about how they’ll live beyond this birthday, too.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to create memories that I can share with my children and grandchildren someday.”
Her advice to someone considering doing the same?
“If you have been thinking about being photographed by Jennifer, DO IT! You will feel like a queen and you will not regret it.”
— Laura
WHAT BIRTHDAY CLIENTS ARE SAYING
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“Thank you, Jennifer, for giving me a gift that will last a lifetime and a reminder to myself that 40 is indeed fabulous.”
— Lei Lei, 40th Birthday
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“Turning 40 felt like the perfect reason to be photographed.”
— Kristin, 40th Birthday
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“Turning 40 felt like such a pivotal moment in my life. I wanted to look back at this age and see happiness, confidence, and strength.”
— Lei Lei, 40th Birthday
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“These photographs embody who I am right now, as a 40 year old, and also who I am striving to be in my next decade of life.”
— Kristin, 40th Birthday
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“I chose to be photographed by Jennifer as a gift to myself to celebrate turning 55.”
— Robyn, 55th Birthday
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“They are a showcase of my best 47-year-old self.”
— Selmin, Portrait Client
BIRTHDAY SESSION INVESTMENT
Birthday sessions include the full Jennifer Brindley Portrait experience, individually planned around you.
SESSION FEE: $449 + TAX
Your session includes:
Professional hair and makeup
Pre-session style survey
Consultation + wardrobe fitting
Access to the studio wardrobe
Multiple looks
Fully guided photography session
Professional retouching
Private Zoom image reveal
Photographs are purchased separately.
Portrait collections begin at $2,500, with digital collections, albums, folio boxes and custom wall art available.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT AGES DO YOU PHOTOGRAPH FOR BIRTHDAY SESSIONS?
Birthday sessions are especially popular for milestone birthdays like 30, 40, 50, 60 and beyond, but you don’t need a round number to decide a year deserves documenting. If this birthday feels significant to you, that’s enough reason. Adults 18+.
DO I HAVE TO DO A CAKE, BALLOONS OR CONFETTI?
Absolutely not. They can be fun when they fit the vision, but they’re completely optional. Your birthday can be the subject of the photographs or simply the reason we’re making them.
CAN I BRING A BIRTHDAY CAKE OR OTHER PROPS?
Yes. If there’s something you’d like to incorporate, we’ll discuss it during planning so it feels intentional within the session rather than something we’re trying to figure out on shoot day.
I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I WOULD WEAR. IS THAT A PROBLEM?
That’s part of my job. Your style survey gives me a starting point, and I’ll curate wardrobe possibilities for you before your consultation. My studio wardrobe includes more than 1,000 garments and accessories, and we’ll combine those with pieces from your own closet whenever appropriate.
I’M AWKWARD IN PHOTOS. WILL YOU HELP ME POSE?
Constantly. You do not need to arrive knowing how to pose or perform for the camera. I’ll direct your body, hands, expression and movement throughout the session and demonstrate things myself when that’s easier.
IS PROFESSIONAL HAIR AND MAKEUP INCLUDED?
Yes. Professional hair and makeup with Katrina is included in the session fee. We’ll discuss the look you want beforehand, from minimal no-makeup makeup through full glamour.
CAN I INCLUDE MY PARTNER IN SOME OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS?
Absolutely. The session remains centered around you and your milestone, but your partner can be incorporated into part of the shoot when that’s meaningful to you. We’ll plan for it ahead of time.
HOW FAR IN ADVANCE SHOULD I BOOK MY BIRTHDAY PHOTOSHOOT?
If you’d like your finished photographs by a particular birthday or celebration, earlier is always better. Your consultation and wardrobe fitting happen before the photoshoot, and your reveal takes place afterward, so give yourself room to enjoy the full process rather than squeezing everything into the week of your birthday.
DO I NEED TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED ON MY ACTUAL BIRTHDAY?
Not at all. Most birthday sessions are photographed around the milestone rather than on the birthday itself. The photographs are about this chapter of your life, not proving what happened on one particular date.
WHERE IS YOUR STUDIO?
Jennifer Brindley Portrait is located in West Allis, just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All birthday portrait sessions are photographed in my private studio.
MEET JENNIFER
For nearly twenty years, I’ve photographed people through milestones, transformations, accomplishments, transitions and all the ordinary years that eventually become important ones.
I’m a Master Portrait Photographer, and my work has appeared in magazines and publications nationally and internationally.
My West Allis studio was built specifically around creating a fully guided portrait experience, from the first conversation and wardrobe fitting through the moment you see your finished photographs.
Birthdays are one of my favorite reasons people walk through my door. They give us a marker in time: this is who I was at 40. This was me at 55. This is what 70 looked like.
And I think that’s worth photographing.
Learn more about the full Contemporary Portrait Experience.
YOUR BIRTHDAY LOOKS GOOD ON YOU.
You’ve already made it through every year that brought you here.
Let’s make some photographs of the person who arrived.
Tell me a little about what you’re celebrating and what made you start thinking about being photographed. You don’t need to have the session figured out yet. That’s what the planning process is for.