Audrey Woulard - Professional Photographer Magazine

HILD’S PLAY

Audrey
Woulard
photographs
children
au naturel
BY LORNA GENTRY
All images ©Audrey Woulard

espite being stuck in rush-hour
traffic on an unsually warm
autumn afternoon in Chicago,
Audrey Woulard is upbeat and talkative. As she
wends her way home to the suburbs from her
downtown studio loft, Woulard is energized, even
though she’s been shooting all day. Not
much seems to faze her. Not traffic. Not
babies urinating on her. Not even balancing
motherhood—she has four boys aged five to
15—with a weekly average of 35 photo
sessions in studio and on location.
Success came quickly to Woulard, who
had been a professional photographer just a
couple of years when a guide for new moms,
“City Baby Chicago,” anointed her one of the
city’s top children’s photographers in 2004.
Early this year she acquired an agent to
handle her editorial work, which sharply
increased after a catalog assignment for
Pottery Barn Kids.
Her work has also appeared in InStyle
magazine, Better Homes and Gardens magazine,
the Chicago Sun Times newspaper, and
on CBS news. She was chosen to be one of
14 photographers nationwide featured in the
2007 book, “Professional Children’s Portrait
Photography: Techniques and Images from
Master Photographers” (Amherst Media).
Three years ago she stopped marketing
altogether. Word of mouth and repeat
customers keep volume high.
All this was unexpected. Born in
Winfiled, Ill., a village about 30 miles west
of Chicago, Woulard earned a degree in
computer science at the University of
Illinois. As her children were born, she
faced the uncomfortable choice between
career and full-time mothering. She chose
to stay home but grew restless. Her
husband, Byron, bought a small Fuji digital
camera hoping it would give her a creative
outlet. She photographed her kids—a lot.
“Then I got serious about it,” she recalls,
when she borrowed her father’s Pentax SLR
camera. “I started shooting every single day
and bought a big purse so I could carry the
camera with me everywhere. I didn’t intend for
it to be a career, but when people started seeing

my work and commenting on it, I wondered
if maybe I could get paid for my photos.”
She learned camera techniques and
studio lighting, but Woulard’s passion for
photography and her natural talent polished
her work. In early 2003 she approached a
chic Chicago baby boutique with an offer to
photograph the staff’s children for free if
they would allow the portraits to be hung in
the store. “That turned out to be a good
idea,” she says. “It gave me credibility and
really jumpstarted my career.”
Hip, urban Chicago parents liked her
style. She traversed the metropolitan area
photographing babies and children in their
homes. Although she was good with location
lighting, “Lugging around all that gear made
me feel like a traveling salesman,” she says
wearily. “It took a huge lump of creativity
out of me.” Four years ago on a job to
photograph a 3-year-old, Woulard left her
lights in the car and started shooting in
natural light only. She loved the results—
and freedom—the all-natural look gave her,
and never used her lights again.
“I use natural sources such as white walls
and sidewalks to bounce light,” she says.
“Sometimes I even wear a white shirt. I’m
not afraid to tell clients that I need to shoot
in the bathroom or kitchen. I tell them to
trust me.”
MAKING A CONNECTION
In part because she uses natural light,
there’s a softness and immediacy to
Woulard’s work. But it’s her obvious
connection to children that makes her
portraits disarmingly honest and intimate.
From newborns to teens, her subjects are
relaxed and focused. Because she earns their
trust, Woulard is able to linger with her
camera in the small landscape of a child’s
face and wait for unguarded moments.
Woulard photographs families and expectant
mothers, but her primary subjects are

‘‘ portraits. Other
I would put kids
in bright colors
and stripes. At the
time that was a
popular look in
editorial but not in
photographers
kicked me around
about that. They’d
say, ‘What are those
kids wearing?’
But I liked it.

‘‘
I never coo-chee-coo at them
or wave toys over my head.
I just keep talking
’’
so they have
no choice but to look at me.
newborns, babies, children, tweens (children
eight to 12 years old) and teens. Tweens can
be self-conscious and shy, but Woulard likes
photographing them most of all. “It’s one of
my favorite ages because they are still young,
yet old enough to relate to me,” she says.
“What works well with them, especially the
girls, is to show them their picture on the
LCD screen. They can be stiff and uncertain
about whether they should smile or not. But
when they see their picture they know it’s
OK and then they really get into it.”
To get beyond mugging and shyness in
younger children, Woulard shoos away
parents and starts talking. “I never allow
silence because that gives them time to pose.
I don’t immediately pick up the camera. I
talk to them first. And I move. The more they
and I move, the less likely they are to pose. I
talk and laugh with the older kids and encourage
them to talk to me as I’m shooting. With
the younger kids, I just act like a goofball.”
She uses her non-stop talking technique
with babies, too. “I never coo-chee-coo at them
or wave toys over my head. I just keep talking
so they have no choice but to look at me. I
don’t like having parents around because
kids will always look to them for approval—
even babies. I try to keep it just the kids and
me so they concentrate only on me.”
PHOTOGRAPHY ON TOE POINT
Woulard decided to get a studio in 2006
when her client base grew large and travel
fatigue set in. Her 2,100-square-foot studio
is awash in natural light, even during the
bleak Midwestern winters. In warmer
months, the ratio of studio to location work
is 50-50. “I still prefer location work
because I like the challenge it presents,” she
admits. “I never know if I’m going to a small
apartment or a mansion because I never
scout locations. It keeps me on my toes.”
Not being able to predict shooting situations
necessitated investing in many camera

odies and lenses. In her camera bag are a
Nikon D2Xs, Nikon D200, Nikon D70,
Fujifilm FinePix S5 Pro, two Fujifilm FinePix
S3 Pro cameras and five prime lenses.
Woulard uses Photoshop, but only
minimally, due to the volume of work she
has. “I’m even to the point that I can just
crop a picture and be finished. My exposure
is consistent nine out of 10 images. I use
layer adjustments like Soft Light to boost
contrast and I sharpen, but that’s it. The
image is almost all done in the camera. I
watch the white balance, make sure
exposure is OK, and I’m good to go.”
She likes experimenting and owns three
Holga cameras. “I love old film and gritty
negatives,” she confides. But clients want
color, she says, so she doesn’t get many
opportunities to experiment. “I started in
color. I would put kids in bright colors and
stripes. At the time that was a popular look
in editorial but not in portraits. Other
photographers kicked me around about that.
They’d say, ‘What are those kids wearing?’
But I liked it. If I could do Holga sessions I
would, but I’m known for color now.”
As for photographing her original subjects,
her own children, well, Woulard is bit chagrinned.
“In terms of photos, they’re neglected,”
she syas. “In fact, I had to hire a photographer
to take our family photos this year! Otherwise,
I knew it would never happen.” ■
To see more of Audrey Woulard’s work, go to
her Web site, www.alwphotography.com.
Lorna Gentry is a freelance writer in Atlanta.