COEUR d'ALENE - Sylvia Darcy remains convinced that technology is not necessarily a better way to get the job done.

So much so that when the pressure to go digital got to be more than she liked, she took a year off to think about it.

"Everybody was telling me I'm a dinosaur," she said. "I'm more of a stick-to-your-guns person."

After a year of feeding chickens and other farm animals in Harrison, she is back in Coeur d'Alene again, doing what she learned to love a decade ago. She reopened the photography studio she once ran from her home, and renamed it as well. Wild Child Photography specializes in a style most have left behind.

And she uses an old favorite, left behind by all but diehard photographers - black and white film.

"I don't like my work when I do color," Darcy said.

And as the name suggests, children are her sole subject, although adult family members can be included in her portraits.

"Everybody is somebody's child," she said. "As long as they are open to my style. I book for the children. It is the child's photo session."

Samples line the wall of her studio in the back shop of Frances Sandberg's Butterfly Gardens boutique at 804 N. Fourth in midtown.

"I want to capture the children, the faces," Darcy said. "It's not about trickery, props or special effects."

From her perspective, the lack of color gives a truer image of the person being photographed, and the use of 35mm film provides more depth.

"You don't even have to have a trained eye," Darcy said. "When you see a black and white print, you know the difference. It is classic, timeless."

Only natural light is used, never a flash. She works with a variety of backdrops and fabrics to frame her subjects.

"They have a lot of texture," she said. "You see tone and light rather than color."

Darcy also finds alternative locations attractive.

"I love to go on location," she said. "Outdoors shooting is free and natural."

Printing from film is far more time intensive than manipulating digital photos, so she gets plenty of time in her darkroom, insisting on doing her own work. But the studio "gets me out of the house. I can meet great people I might not otherwise get a chance to."

She chose to move from her home studio to the retail operation after working next door to Butterfly Gardens at the now-closed Shabby to Chic store. She and Sandberg had known each other for some time, working in the arts community after meeting while taking dancing classes - a scenario that makes them both laugh - and since Sandberg wanted to be out of the store some days, the pair decided to work together.

"I have been looking for somebody to be part of the store," Sandberg said. "We thought it would be a good idea. I can be open more days."

Darcy works in the store for Sandberg 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, giving potential clients an opportunity to stop by and look at her work and discuss photographic options. They will also collaborate in a booth at the Downtown Street Fair this year.

"The Fourth Street location is great," Darcy said. "It gets me out of the house."

Being in the store also allows Darcy to indulge her other creative side, shabby chic. Some of her work is on display in the store, including frames for the portraits in shades including pink and green.

"Working with black and white, I discovered the Martha Stewart colors in furniture," she said. "I am turning old pieces into something more vibrant. I love doing framing. It is part of the service."

Darcy did not set out to become a photographer. Instead, life just sort of led her to it.

"I kept taking jobs that were photography related," she said. First as an order clerk for a photo lab, where she later became manager and learned a lot about running a business, then later as an assistant to a wedding photographer.

"That's how I found out that was not what I wanted to do," she said. "If it was not for children, I wouldn't want to do this."

Since Darcy is just picking up where she left off a year ago, she has plenty of time to take on customers in need of quick work. And she is beginning to book for Christmas photos.

And of course, for those who need some sort of digital version of her photos, scanning is offered as an option.

Information: 660-2648