Meet Helen Montano | Wedding and Portrait Candid Photographer

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

Hi Helen, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I grew up in Houston, TX but my family is from El Salvador. I was raised by my grandparents with a lot of those traditions. I always saw my family and grandpa working extremely hard as a server to make ends meet. Thankfully, I had everything and more but nothing in excess. I was taught that we can be happy with ourselves and with the necessities and minimally. That was really implemented in me. Also just being a kind person and a good soul is the way to true happiness. They also emphasized the importance of education all of my years of growing up. I feel extremely grateful that these morals were implemented in me and I feel like these are the reasons why I have gotten to the place I have gotten and what keeps me going.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I do all types of photography! I do specialize in weddings, couples, and portraits but soon want to venture into branding as well. In such a saturated market, I honestly feel like it is hard to stand out. I like to think I stand out because I truly care about every single one of my clients. I originally wanted to get into therapy because I want to help people and make people feel heard and see. I started doing photography and I absolutely fell in love. I realized I could still help people and make true connections through photography. There has been so many moments where clients have literary cried after I give them their photos and it is one of the best feelings ever. They literary thank me for my art, and for making them feel so comfortable and capturing special moments.

I got here professionally from being consisted, investing into myself, investing into education and staying hopeful. My biggest culprit is comparing my work and success to others. I combat this by realizing that it all takes time. We are all in our own journey and that is okay. I constantly try to work on myself and be a better person, like going to therapy and working on my health.

I have learned that the world is our oyster, you just have to be smart and strategic about it.Once you feel like you hit the ceiling, KEEP PUSHING, and break through.

I would love to world to know that I care about everyone, and I want to make a change in this world. Even if it is through photos, I know those small moments and interactions with my clients can have lasting effects. Also that I put my soul and heart into everything I do and it is not easy at times. I have worked so hard to get to this position as well and it was not an overnight success. There were many days i cried myself to sleep or have gone to therapy because of a client or comparing my success to others. I also would to the world to know that I am trying to destigmatize mental health.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to Austin! Get some BBQ and head to the little river and canoe!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Definitely my uncle Mario who is the person that taught me a lot and pushed me to keep going! He is a wedding videographer and gave me my first camera!

(@htownfilmspro). Also my best friend Nicole, my boyfriend Jesse, and a really good friend of mine Alex that mentored me and also does wedding photography.

(@alextongolphotography). Also the rest of my family like my younger brother who just started a clothing brand (@houston_goods) and my younger sister Giselle

Website: helenaphotographs.com

Instagram: @helenaphotographs

Facebook: Helena Photographs

Other: https://www.google.com/localservices/profile?spp=Cg0vZy8xMXJxN2djaGR2&scp=CgA%3D&q=Helena+Photographs