Charlotte NC | get your family portraits made and support Western North Carolina hurricane victims

WNC photographer here.

I’m finding myself at what should be the height of my busy season for family portraits, watching my neighbors and community picking up the pieces of their lives (both metaphorically and literally). The forest, waterfalls, and golden tree groves I’ve photographed families in for the past 20 years are inaccessible. It is not the time to advertise here and yet I have to keep working both financially and for my own heart-which is fulfilled when I make beautiful portraits of people.

So I’m coming to Charlotte for half sessions October 26th and 27th at Big Rock Nature Preserve

For every session purchased I will be gifting a session for hurricane victims in my area.

These gifted sessions will be offered and can be used for up to a year, giving people the ability to get back on their feet and put photos on the walls of their rebuilt homes.

Sessions are $350 and will include 25 minutes of photography and edited digital photos for download and professional print options.

My sessions are low stress and I capture both classic portraits and candid/movement shots.

Text or call 828-329-3969 to reserve your spot.

Check out my work HERE

The moments you don’t see | Documenting ALL the love on your wedding day

When I first started wedding photography all the attention was focused on getting the best shots of the couple. 30 minutes after the ceremony was allotted to posing and positioning them just so while the party started without them. A few years later I started being more choosey with my couples and only did a few weddings a year where people just wanted to have their day captured—not have a kick ass blog post.

It was then I started realizing that the wedding day is a great big love story, and a thousand other love stories woven in the tapestry of that day. The love of parents, the friends that have seen you through every single valley, the nieces checking out the cake, the grandparents tearing up.

Something I love surprising my couples with is the behind the scenes photos of all the love. Their people enjoying the day that was so carefully planned and executed. Let’s be real, wedding days are so often a blur and it’s hard to take it all in. I love providing my couples with the photos of their love and a bunch of the surrounding love as a bonus.

Honoring the past and rolling grape leaves | multigenerational family reunion

In 1903, Hanna Makhoul Fakhoury left Roum, Lebanon and got on a boat to America in search of a better life for his family. Coming through Ellis Island his name became John Mack and he settled in Mooresville, North Carolina. For 25 years, his descendants have held reunions to gather all the cousins and celebrate their family story.

Last year I came to the realization that I wanted to photograph MORE. While people were messaging me about mini sessions every fall, I was, in fact, wanting to do longer sessions, sessions where I put my camera down and hear stories, sessions spanning generations, and sessions where I could preserve nostalgia as best as I can.

A client/friend of mine was listening to me as I processed this out loud and she heard me—she petitioned her extended family to hire me for their bi-annual family reunion.

I’ve been to family reunions before but nothing could have prepared me for the richness of legacy that I saw from the Mack family. From intergenerational grape leaf rolling, to a walk around town visiting old homes and ancestral graves, I was so touched with the way this family weaves in history for the children. One little girl stood on the grave of a family member for which she was named, tiny hands mimicked motions as they rolled grape leaves with their Sitti (grandmother), and my friend retold the John Mack story to the youngest generation. The whole weekend was filled with the most incredible Lebanese food and lots of laughter.

I was honored to capture this incredible and rare celebration. The last evening, when I was headed home, I called a few of my cousins, trying to start the conversation of hosting a celebration for my own family.

I feel called to this work of preserving heritage and legacy.

Do you have a family story you want to tell?

Text me at 828-329-3969 or email me at photographybyhelenjoy@gmail.com to chat about how I can help document the beauty of your own family.