Portrait Favorites

Below are a few favorites from some recent portrait sessions. Enjoy. ---paul

Environmental Portraits

Our bread-and-butter is "on-location" portraits. In other words, showing people in a natural, familiar environment. Jean and I have been to more homes, parks, fields, patios, lakes, beaches, forest preserves, and country clubs than we can remember. This keeps things fun and fresh for us, but it also is a challenge because every location is unique.

Preparation is the key. If we can't scout out a location in advance, we try to arrive an hour before the scheduled shoot-time to get set up. We bring enough studio equipment with us to light up the darkest room, but we try not to use it unless we have to. Backdrops are only used as a last resort. This minimalist approach suits our style and doesn't overwhelm our customers.

It's tough to beat the look of natural light, and we try to choose locations and times to maximize it both indoors and out. Many times we'll supplement natural light with flash, and sometimes we'll go 100% flash. When we do use flash, it's hard to tell because our portraits do not look "flashy."

Our portrait sessions are relaxed and free flowing. We'll have different spots picked out depending on the size of the group, the number of subgroups, ages of the kids, weather etc. Outdoor shots are the best, and we try to make it outside even during the winter. Many great shots occur when the family is having fun in between the posed groups, and we try to capture these like a photo journalist would covering a story.

Within 1-2 weeks after the session, customers receive a keepsake proof album and a link to an online photo gallery. We also try and create a documentary slideshow of the portrait session but can't guarantee this in every case. Customers can order prints using order forms included with the proof album or via the online shopping cart. And calling it a proof album doesn't do it justice. It's really a selection of finished images that have already been digitally corrected and retouched. Check out a sample 10x13 proof portfolio here.

Why do we like on-location portraits so much? Well, first of all, we don't have a studio! But besides that, we feel that we deliver better portraits when we go to the customer's location rather than asking them to come to us. Take a look at a recent family portrait session to see if you agree

Black and White Film

For the record, I like black and white film. Both the kind you can get processed at a drug store (type C41) and the traditional kind that must be processed in black and white film chemistry. Some labs still process traditional black and white film, but you are better off doing it yourself. Therein lies its biggest advantage. By developing the film myself, I have total control over the outcome.

Once the film is developed - either my me or by a c41 lab - I scan it into a computer where the film images are merged with the digital camera images I took from the same event. This is called a "digital darkroom" and it allows me to apply the latest digital enhancements to all my images. It doesn't matter whether they originally came from a film or digital camera, they get treated the same once they are on my computer.

But they don't look the same. I'm not sure why. There is a lot of film vs digital debate on the internet, but I don't want to get into that here. I use primarily digital cameras in my business, but I always try to shoot some black and white film at an event too. How much and which kind of film depends on the clients and the event. For black and white, my film images have a different look and feel than my digital images. Could be the way I process the film, could be the "handling" differences between the film and digital cameras, could be a lot of things. I like the results and I like offering it to my clients. It's something that differentiates my company from the others.

What's the downside? Time. Few activities can burn through time faster that scanning film. Ask Jean if you don't believe me. Developing and scanning film are two extra, time-consuming steps that must be done to all the film images before they even get the same point in the production as the images that came from the digital camera. These are costs that I must pass on to my clients, but I believe the results justify the added expense.

Happy Thanksgiving

Everyone at Paul Boyd Photography wishes all our customers and visitors a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Gobble Gobble!

Corporate Parties

Sorry this post is overdue but we are in the middle of our Holiday Rush. A photographer's season starts even earlier than a shopper's season as people line up their family portraits in time to get Christmas Cards printed. Or at least the people that are on the ball do this. Then there are the families that call us in early December who just realized Christmas is coming.... We understand and try to be accommodating but we book up fast this time of year.

This is also the time of year for corporate galas, balls, black-ties, and other parties. We don't advertise that we do these events, but we love to do them. They are always exciting and it is fun to photograph people in their finery. If you are interested in viewing a black-tie we did last weekend, follow this link . Enjoy.

Obsolete Technology

At a family portrait sitting, when I pull out my Rolleiflex, invariably somebody in the younger generation says "wow what a cool camera!" The older generations, and most professional photographers, relegated these cameras to the scrap heap Ebay a long time ago, which is where I picked up mine and had it refurbished in 2005.

A Rolleiflex is a German medium-format film camera manufactured prior to modern electronics at the height of mechanical craftsmanship. The thing is like a big Swiss watch with two lenses and a shutter. Read more here. My camera was manufactured around 1958. Note for movie buffs - this is similar to the camera that Natalie Portman uses in "Where the Heart Is."

For family portraits and headshots, I love using black-and-white film in this camera and developing the film myself to achieve a unique look. Timeless and comforting. Not bad for a camera that turns 50 next year!

Repeat Customers

Two things I love: word of mouth advertising and repeat customers. It's one thing to be recommended for a job, but it's even more gratifying when your customers call you back for repeat business. This must mean we're doing something right!

Our very first customer after we incorporated our business was a family portrait sitting. Jean and I showed up at their house very nervous. The family had two girls - an infant and a toddler. We did portraits indoors, outdoors, groups, individuals, kids napping, with several outfit changes etc. We were exhausted but the pictures turned out great. Well this family has had us back for five years in a row now, and we've seen their kids grow up. They call us "Mr Paul" and "Miss Jean" when we arrive. And, taking pictures of the same family year after year forces us to expand our creative repertoire - can't get away with the same recipe every year.

Last week, I received an email from a customer asking about a print of her daughter that was taken in 2004. I remembered the image well because it was so moving. The mother wanted a 16x23" enlargement to fit a custom frame in their living room. I still had the original "raw" digital file and was able to apply modern processing techniques (software has come a long way in 3 years!) to produce this heirloom print. Enjoy.

Website 2.0

We got our new website online today. The old one was nice and served it purpose for nearly 3 years, but I was looking for a cleaner, more elegant, "front door" to our company. After looking at a variety of website templates, fancy flash-based websites for photographers, and various custom design services, I ended up doing it myself in-house. Took a month. As with most big projects, after the initial excitement at the start, there was a long period in the middle where I was trying to figure stuff out but had no results to show for it. Then, once I settled on the "floor plan," other pages and galleries started popping into place quicker. The final design is a clean quick-loading xhtml website with flash photo galleries and slideshows. Threw this blog in there for good measure. Most importantly, I know it inside and out, and it will be easy to maintain. Enjoy: paulboydphotography.com

PS. w3schools.com is a free website that teaches you how to do this stuff. Check it out.

Soapbox Derby

We had a neighborhood soapbox derby two weeks ago. There were about 25 cars all built from a standard kit, but then customized every which way. Boats, whales, buses, sharks, and of course, race cars. This was the brainchild of the MacKennas who are a couple of big kids themselves. They closed off the street in front of their house, which also happens to sit on top of a long hill. Over 200 people turned out for the event that started at 2pm and ended after 8pm when the street lights came on! Jean and I brought our cameras and put together a slideshow. However it was such an amazing gathering that a local news station really should have covered it. Next year. Anyhow, check out our slideshow if you have a few minutes: soapbox derby. Many thanks to the MacKennas!

Weddings faves

We had the privilege of shooting Catherine and Jim's wedding recently. Great loving couple surrounded by unbelievable family and friends. The wedding and reception were held at chicagoilluminatingcompany - a huge loft/warehouse in Chicago's South Loop. There are several different rooms to separate dinner from dancing, a couple of outdoor patios, and the rumble of Chicago's L-Train every 15 minutes or so. It was a wonderful urban-style wedding. If you have 3 minutes, please check out our slideshow: Catherine&Jim Enjoy!

Welcome & thank you

Welcome to our blog and thank you for taking the time to look. Please check back every week or two for updates. We hope to have our revamped website online soon.

Regards,
paul