Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington, NC based photographer
with a passport ready to go.
HELEN- LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER
I was born into love. My parents recognized my unexpected hearing loss from infancy and embraced me with nothing but love. Now my life's mission is to use my strongest sense—my vision— to know love, to love deeply and to capture it.
Whether your love is your fiancé, your child, your family, or your life's work, I'm here to celebrate it with you.
When I'm not in creativity mode, I'm a mother, dog mom and wife. In my spare time, I like to cook, boat, walk, write a children's book, or repaint furniture.
The Usuals
Alma Mater
I went to UNC-CH with focus in English and Creative Writing and worked on the Daily Tar Heel Newspaper Photo Staff for three years of college. There is where I fell in love with documentary photography.
Hometown vs Home
I was born and raised on the beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina. I also started Visuals By Helen there in 2013 in my parent's den after teaching art for a year. I was inspired from my time working with other wedding photographers and the Outer Banks is predominantly a wedding destination island so I drained all my savings for nicer equipment and did the dang thing and haven't looked back since! I now am based out of Wilmington, NC and still love booking weddings in my hometown so I have double the excuse to see my family!
Family
I met my husband during the summer of 2015 on the Outer Banks and married him in 2018 in Wilmington, NC where we have lived ever since. We love our new hometown so much we decided to start our family here and currently raise our daughter, Peyton to love the sound of a chumming boat motor and crashing waves.
Fun Fact #1
I'm significantly hard of hearing and wear bilateral cochlear implants. I don't use sign language but I can lip-read almost flawlessly so we can vibe across the room if you wanna!
Fun Fact #2
Even though I grew up on the Outer Banks, I went to high school in Lynchburg, Virginia because I wanted to go to a smaller school to outgrow my shyness and learn how to advocate for myself.
Fun Fact #3
My husband and I have a senior chocolate lab and a two year old yellow lab who we bred with a friend's lab and together they had a litter of eight puppies in our garage in August 2021!
Fun Fact #4
A year before we started dating, Jess and I went out on a sport fishing boat and my sister and I reeled in our first white marlins simultaneously!
The boat caught a grand slam that day.
rachael- associate photographer and detail extraordinaire
Rachael is the fun loving, extra organized one in this crew. She'll very likely be the one calling names during the wedding day family pics and doing it so efficiently you'll blink, and be like "Wait that's it? Easy peasy." Rachael is also amazing at details. She makes a table-scape look like the art that it is. She's a Tarheel alum and Outer Banks native like Helen and currently resides in the beautiful historic downtown Manteo, NC with her husband of 18 years and Mia, their Chartreux cat. Rachael is Helen's date for weddings focused in the Outer Banks or Northeastern North Carolina.
© Beth Ely Photography
BRITTANY- associate and candid documenter
Brittany is the behind-the-scenes candid documenter. She is a dynamite to have during big weddings so nothing goes amiss. Her forte is the ability to bring chemistry and laughs between the couple if they are feeling shy. Brittany lives in Wilmington with her two kids and husband and when she's not in mom mode, she's also doing family and wedding photography and videography full time. Brittany is Helen's sidekick for weddings based in Wilmington and Southeastern North Carolina.
© Chris Brehmer
Vicky- associate photographer and hustler
Vicky is the associate that gets the damn thing done. She can somehow be in two places at once and she'll always put others first. Her compassion and customer service bleeds into her images. Vicky lives in Topsail Island with her daughter and husband and she's a full time photographer that specializes in weddings and family. Vicky keeps Helen's company for weddings based in Morehead City, Beaufort and Topsail Beach, North Carolina.
© Alice Stoddard