Meet HELLEN OLIVEIRA: Wedding Photographer & Videographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with HELLEN OLIVEIRA and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi HELLEN, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
As a teenager I used to accompany my mother to weddings, as she was a wedding planner/coordinator, I would help her with the set up, clean up, and coordinating the wedding. I really liked being involved and being a part of making someone’s wedding day happen. After I graduated from college, I couldn’t figure out if I wanted to work in my field, so I tried healthcare, hospitality, food industry, and IT, but I didn’t feel like I had quite found my match. I come from a family of entrepreneurs and I really liked the idea of owning my own business, being my own boss, having unlimited vacation time and making my own schedule! Fast forward a couple of months after my wedding, I reached out to my wedding photographer and asked her if she would be my mentor and if I could assist her on wedding days so I could get experience. Once I started booking my own weddings, I realized how my experience as a teenager actually lead me to this field that I am in today, and how things just aligned perfectly. I have been a wedding photographer and now videographer for 5 years and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love creating beautiful work for my client’s of their most precious day, and on my own time and I have the freedom to travel doing so!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We are a husband and wife team and we offer both photos & videos for weddings and lifestyle shoots. We have been in the industry for 5 years now and we have learned a lot along the way not only about our craft but about owning a business as entrepreneurs in general. It has not been easy navigating it alone and just winging it sometimes, but we’ve never given up when we encountered a situation that we didn’t know how to handle, or an obstacle we reached out to the photography community in the area and around the world using social media as a medium and connected with others that may have been through the same things. We are a part of the Atlanta photography/videography community and we participate in styled shoots, and meet ups whenever possible in order to meet new people, build portfolio and make new connections. We work hard every day to serve our clients in the best way possible, and make them happy with our customer service, our products, and our friendship. We spend a lot of time cultivating a relationship with our clients that will last beyond their event. We believe getting to know our clients before hand will help them become more comfortable during the shoot and trust us to capture their day perfectly! Rafael and I love to serve our clients beyond our craft, we will be there for them throughout the whole experience, providing our knowledge and experience, tips, and making sure their voice is heard!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In Atlanta, we’d definitely have to go to Krog street and Ponce City Market for food and drinks. For Shopping I would take them to the Avalon and the Outlets. I would take them to SkyLounge to see the city during sunset and to SkyView if they wanted to ride the ferris wheel at night. I would definitely recommend some coffee shops around town for breakfast like: Cold Brew Bar, Octane Coffee, Rev Coffee, or Matcha Cafe… Centennial Olympic Park, Woodruff Park, also see the High Museum of Arts are always fun and very touristy. Take a walk through the Beltline and depending on the time of year, attend a local festival, like Atlanta Beer Festival, or Atlanta, Wine Festival. Also visit a winery in Dahlonega like Kaya Vineyards & Winery.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I can think of many people who deserve recognition for the success of my business. One main person that I would love to dedicate my shoutout to is my husband Rafael. He has been accompanying me and supporting me since the beginning from joining me on a hike, being there for support, carrying my bags during wedding days, bringing me a card or batteries for my camera, driving the whole time (so I can take a nap after working more than 10 hours at a wedding), to now joining me as a videographer and leading the efforts on perfecting our craft with the best equipment and skills. He has been there the whole way through and actually enjoys it. Now we get to travel together and meet new people all while working together and doing something that we love!

Website: www.hellencophotos.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellencophotos/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hellencophotos/

Image Credits
@hellencophotos