Paul Hillier Photography

I feel I need to add to this, since it’s been years since that incident.
To Paul’s credit, I have run into him regularly at other Unilocal and non Unilocal events, and he has been nothing but professional and friendly to me in our encounters and doesn’t seem to have carried any grudges with my review.

I’ve worked with Paul well over a dozen times now, and though he’s thrown me some deals, I’ve still been a paying customer on many occasions. Why in the world haven’t I reviewed this magical artist? I’m about to fix this, please keep reading. Paul’s the best!
Paul Hillier Photography is a five star business run by a five star gentleman. He always gets the shots you ask for, and his touch ups are first rate. I feel silly constantly using him for easy-​to-​shoot events, because his actual portfolio is so. darn. creative. Go check it out
. His character work with cosplay and his fashion work in particular is reminiscent of what you’d find in Vogue or Vanity Fair.
If I were a bride in Toronto, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask Paul. He’ll get the job done, make you look fab and have a smile on his face the whole time.

Love paul.
I met him first at the Adventurist’s Afternoon Tea Time sponsored by Hendricks, and he did a GREAT job. The photos are awesome.
I then have seen him at multiple Unilocal events, and I find him really nice. He always lets me rub his head. Which he shouldn’t. C’mon paul. Don’t let me get away with that!
I’m a kinda a camera whore, and he’s always said yes to taking my photos. I’m not sure about what happened with Chris P, and find that hard to swallow. There defo has to be a misunderstanding there.
Paul’s a great photog.

I think Paul Hillier is a fantastic photographer.
I’ve worked with a lot of photographers over the years and Paul’s got both a good sense for professional, fun, or provocative shots depending on the job.
His portfolio of fashion work is impressive as is the event stuff (check out the Comicon work). He does almost all the Unilocal Elite parties (and it is quite evident when someone else is doing the work!) and I’m surprised at a few of the negative reviews on here… especially when I’m sure Paul’s provided these characters with plenty of their own great profile pictures (c’mon!). Yet he still comes to the events, ever positive and always producing good work.

I’ve worked with Paul Hillier a number of times and always found him to be highly professional and very congenial.
Most recently I needed professional head shots for my new corporate website. Normally I’m not very photogenic, however Paul was really able to capture some amazing shots that I’ll be able to use.
Paul has a warm and very easy going way about him, making you feel comfortable and more relaxed. He really knows how to get you to smile!
I’ve seen Paul working a number of events around Toronto, including Unilocal,and he was always eager to take our picture.
In regards to Chris P’s negative review about Paul, I also attended the Elite event at Reposado. The event was incredibly packed and it must have been very difficult to find room to take pictures. There were also a lot of drunk and belligerent people, completely smashed on tequila. While I didn’t experience anything like Chris P has mentioned, I supposed it might be possible in an environment full of completely wasted Unilocalers.

Paul has a great personality, fun and has a positive attitude. When I’ve met him shooting at various events he’s always smiling, joking around and having fun. It totally comes across in his photos.
The photo quality is impeccable which is one he was one of our top contenders for our wedding photography, however, his portfolio is stronger for Events and Print.
He also does like to put weight on digital enhancements, which for some is great, but wasn’t what we were looking for in wedding photos. At the time, there wasn’t a lot to judge, and we were looking for someone who can capture a moment. I feel like his strong suit is posed and still photos.
I absolutely adore the travel photos that he has. Like, I would love to buy prints of these photos. The colours are vibrant and composition is excellent.
I’ve never had the experience during Unilocal events that Chris P. mentioned, but I trust that he’s not making it up either, so I am surprised. Nonetheless, when you meet Paul, he’s always got a smile on his face.

I had the pleasure of meeting Paul Hillier during the numerous events he shot, and never once had I experienced any poor professionalism on Paul’s part. He had always been gracious, even when the venue was packed to practically less than standing room (as in the Reposado Elite event’s case), or at huge events spanning across multiple locations (as at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, TCAF). Despite these pressures, I never once saw Paul lose his cool or act rude to anyone. My experience with him has been quite the opposite.
Having been really impressed with the shots Paul took for said events, he was the first person I turned to when my husband and I needed professional head shots taken for our websites and individual projects. I never would have hired Paul had I ever seen him act anything less than professional. My experience retaining Paul’s services were beyond top notch all the way, from deciding on shoot themes/​locations, to the photo shoot itself, to receiving the finished product. I am uncomfortable in front of the camera and admittedly very self-​conscious about my weight; however, Paul made me feel completely at ease, and it shows in the photos he took. I look natural, happy, and dare I even say, pretty. He’s amazing behind the camera, and the photos were worth every penny — and more. His turnaround time is exceedingly quick, and he is extremely dedicated to his craft.
Given my experience with Paul at events, as well as having used his services as a paying client, I would have absolutely no hesitation recommending Paul for any event or photography needs.

I appreciate all of the Unilocalers posting reviews in response to Chris’s review, I am honestly happy that they have had positive experiences. As the «friend» Chris refers to in his review, I can vouch that the incidence at Reposado happened. I was completely shocked the unprofessionalism. I was dumbfounded to be honest.
As someone who did event photography for a couple of years, I could not believe that he said «No» and walked away when we asked to be included in a photo. We did so politely and with a smile on our face, and we approached him with a friendly tone and good intentions… and I was completely offended by his reaction. I honestly thought at first that he was kidding.
As an event photographer, promoters would hire me to take photos that represented the evening, paid me to post them online for promotional purposes and to drive traffic to the website when the party go-​ers would log on to see the nights pics. It was my job to photograph everyone, no matter in what state they may have been or how I felt about them. And since I don’t believe I had ever met Mr. Hiller before that moment, I can only imagine that this had nothing to do with any pre-​conceived notions of me.
Since then I have been to many Unilocal events, and have yet to have Paul approach me to have my photo taken. Not that I need to be photographed to be honest, I get enough of that in my professional life, but I find that a number of dedicated Unilocalers are often omitted from the event photos, whereas others are consistently showing up in the pics. It would be nice to have all of the attendees represented.
My two cents.

Paul Hillier is one of the best event photographers I encountered in the numerous events I attended.
Paul doesn’t only take awesome photos, but I love how he interact with his subjects. the results are photographs that are full of energy and positive vibe…
I do wish he let me look at some of my own photos before publishing… a little photo shop might help?
** Why are my eyes CLOSED!!!

Paul does some great work and is clearly skilled behind the lens. He has many great examples on his website.
Over the last year or so Paul has shot a number of events for Unilocal,many of which I have attended. Unfortunately Paul’s professionalism does not follow in the same footsteps as his photography skills. Last summer at the Unilocal Elite event at Reposado I was chatting with a fellow Unilocaler when when Paul happened to be standing near by. We asked him to take a photo of us. He flat out said «no». My friend and I laughed thinking that he was joking until he just walked away to some other people who he then asked to pose for a photo. We were left looking at each other flabbergasted and wondering if what happened really did just happen. I figured that maybe this was just a random slight or something and left it at that. I was wrong, as last night at the Elite event at The Gladstone he did the same thing to a couple of ladies, just straight-​up said no when they asked for a photo to be taken.
Over the few events I’ve been at that Paul has shot it seems that he is really only interested in building his portfolio, not actually being an event photographer. He generally sticks to a few groups of people and ignores everyone else at the event. I’ve used a few different photographers for events that I’ve organized for clients and never seen anything like this. I mentioned this privately to Vivek last fall as a few others I’ve talked to have also had various similar experiences so I thought I would speak up. Either the feedback didn’t make it to Paul or the feedback was not accepted.
So some constructive criticism: When shooting an event and someone asks you to take their photo, take their photo. Saying no offends them. By saying no you are inadvertently calling them ugly or fat or whatever else that person might be physically self conscious of. After all, you’re shooting digital; there’s no significant cost to snap your shutter like there is with film. If those people don’t fit into your creative idea of the event then just don’t post the picture later. When people go looking through the event photos later and don’t see theirs, they’re most likely to assume that the photo didn’t turn out.
While Paul has done some great work and clearly has the accolades to back it up, you may want to think twice before hiring him to shoot your event, lest he may offend some of your guests.