Audrey Woulard

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Audrey Woulard Chicago Portrait Photographer
Nikon USA Ambassador
Westcott Top Pro
www.katcteens.com
www.awteaches.com She is a Nikon USA Ambassador.

Audrey Woulard is a portrait photographer that works on location and is based out of Chicago, IL. Audrey photographs tweens, teenagers, and seniors in high school under the popular brand KIDSANDTHECITY™ . The KATC brand operates throughout the Chicagoland area, and is also available to be commissioned for travel. Audrey Woulard is also a photography educator. Her brand also created the educational platform AW Teaches. You can find the website at www.awteaches.com. If you're a photographer ( regardless of your skillset ), you will find tutorials that will benefit you! The AW Teaches website encompasses Audrey Woulard's very recognizable style.

f/1.2 | 1/8000 | ISO 100 | 85mmEven on a really windy day...sometimes you have to create your own "wind". 😁💨📸 - Z8 + ...
10/04/2026

f/1.2 | 1/8000 | ISO 100 | 85mm

Even on a really windy day...sometimes you have to create your own "wind". 😁💨

📸 - Z8 + Z 85mm f/1.2 S

Light - FJ400II + Rapidbox Octa S

Light is so balanced that the photographers who scrutinize shadows will wonder how... 😁📸 - Z6III + Z 85mm f/1.2 SLig...
10/03/2026

Light is so balanced that the photographers who scrutinize shadows will wonder how... 😁

📸 - Z6III + Z 85mm f/1.2 S

Light - FJ400II + Rapidbox Octa S

f/1.2 | 1/500 | ISO 100 | 85mmSee...I am not always outside. 😅Here's to not making your low light flash images look flas...
10/02/2026

f/1.2 | 1/500 | ISO 100 | 85mm

See...I am not always outside. 😅
Here's to not making your low light flash images look flashy. 😁
When the ambient light is low, I loathe that flashy/spotlight look. And balancing indoor ambient with a single strobe? That has to be intentional...

📸 - Z6III + Z 85mm f/1.2 S

Light - FJ400II + Rapidbox Octa S

How do you use flash when the ambient light is low...without the FLASH being the first thing you see? You know the look ...
10/02/2026

How do you use flash when the ambient light is low...without the FLASH being the first thing you see? You know the look I am talking about right? When the flash looks like a spotlight shining on your subject? 🤐

THAT is the balance I'm talking about.

Because if I chose a location because I loved what the ambient light was doing, the last thing I want to do is add a strobe and completely kill the very thing that made me stop there in the first place.

I want to light HER...without losing everything happening around her.

Yesterday, someone commented that my flash looked more like fill flash than harsh flash. Then this morning, someone else commented about how hard it can be to balance flash with low ambient without making everything look too "flashy."

YES!!! That's it. 😁

With this image, I am definitely using a strobe, but look at everything happening behind her. That is just as important as my girl. I still wanted those city lights. I still wanted the color. I still wanted the mood. I didn't want it to go dark, with that "spotlight" look on her. When the light is low, it is really easy to lose the color. I'm not talking about the color of the bokeh, but the ENTIRE scene.

And learning how to add that light without making the flash become the first thing you see...THAT is exactly what I'm breaking down in Don't Kill the Ambient. 😁

Sidebar...if you're new here, I like to crop like this. It's a signature at this point. 😅

Anyways, I will write more below!

📸 - Z8 + Z 85mm f/1.2 S

Light - 250 watt strobe + 2ft octabox

Photographing when the light is low and adding flash can be a recipe for creating a "flashy look." I know that descripti...
10/01/2026

Photographing when the light is low and adding flash can be a recipe for creating a "flashy look." I know that description can be subjective, but for me, that is when that delicate ambient is eliminated, and I have never been a fan of that look...especially when the light is low. It's such a fine balance, but I find the results to be worth it.
Yesterday, I mentioned that I was sharing my method behind it all. Check out 👇

📸 - Z8 + Z 85mm f/1.2 S

Light - FJ400II + Rapidbox Octa S

f/1.2 | 1/640 | ISO 100 | 85mmThe main reason I chose this location was specifically for how the ambient light looked in...
09/30/2026

f/1.2 | 1/640 | ISO 100 | 85mm

The main reason I chose this location was specifically for how the ambient light looked in the background. Period. It was nice and low. Not to mention it was a super cloudy day.

That ambient wasn't going to expose my subject for the way I wanted to compose the shot. So yeah, I used flash. That isn't interesting, but what I DIDN'T want the flash to change is.

I think this is where a lot of people overpower the ambient with flash...then try to edit that back in post. 👀Basically...they killed the ambient. I wanted to keep it IN CAMERA, and not try to bring it back in post.

Beggars can't be choosers right? Well...they can. With flash. 😁

So I needed to light HER without changing everything else I loved about the scene.

I'll show you what I mean below. 👇🏾 I will also show you below what it looked like without flash...AND what it would look like it I only used ambient light.

📸 - Z8 + Z 85mm f/1.2 S

Light - FJ400II + Rapidbox Octa S

f/1.2 | 1/8000 | ISO 100 | 85mmYou can never go wrong with soft light. 📸 - Z6III + Z 85mm f/1.2 SLight - FJ400II +...
09/29/2026

f/1.2 | 1/8000 | ISO 100 | 85mm

You can never go wrong with soft light.

📸 - Z6III + Z 85mm f/1.2 S

Light - FJ400II + Rapidbox Octa S

f/1.2 | 1/2500 | ISO 125 | 85mmCan I say that we are "swinging" into the new week? 😅I shared something yesterday and to ...
09/28/2026

f/1.2 | 1/2500 | ISO 125 | 85mm

Can I say that we are "swinging" into the new week? 😅

I shared something yesterday and to my list. Just in cased you all missed it, I will share it below.

📸 - Z8 + Z 85mm f/1.2 S

Light - FJ400II + Rapidbox Octa S

f/1.2 | ISO 100 | 1/6400 | 85mmThis was captured at my Richmond workshop while teaching how to seamlessly blend natural ...
09/27/2026

f/1.2 | ISO 100 | 1/6400 | 85mm

This was captured at my Richmond workshop while teaching how to seamlessly blend natural light and strobe lighting.

Heavy emphasis on the word...seamlessly. 😁

📸 - Z8 + Z 85mm f/1.2 S

Light - FJ400II + Rapidbox Octa S

f/1.6 | 1/4000 | ISO 125 | 85mmSo yesterday I mentioned that someone asked me if I was a "strobist." 😅I shared a bunch o...
09/26/2026

f/1.6 | 1/4000 | ISO 125 | 85mm

So yesterday I mentioned that someone asked me if I was a "strobist." 😅

I shared a bunch of natural light images because...well...I actually use natural light too...regularly.

Today, I am back to my "strobist ways." 😂

But honestly, the light in this finished image doesn't look much different than yesterday's images.

For me, using a strobe isn't about fixing bad light. In fact, I don't believe the only time you should reach for a strobe is when the available light is bad.

Sometimes the natural light is perfectly fine...and I still choose to use a strobe, because I'm not always trying to fix the light. Sometimes I'm trying to CREATE the light I want. So many forget that, or they don't know that it's a possibility.

And when I want that light to feel natural, my goal is that you shouldn't look at the finished image and immediately think..."FLASH."

Yesterday's images were natural light.

This one isn't.

But hopefully they all just look like the light I want. 😁

📸 - Z8 + 85mm f/1.4 G

Light - 250 watt strobe + 2ft Octabox

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Chicago, IL
60607

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+13123730368

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