Daily Inspiration: Meet Mike and Victoria Hensley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike and Victoria Hensley.

Hi Mike and Victoria, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We met 20 years ago through friends. In truth, Mike was more of a wallflower, while Victoria was the outgoing social butterfly! It wasn’t long before these two found common ground, including their love of photography.

Mike, an Erwin native who spent part of his childhood in California, first discovered his interest in the craft when he bought his first drone. Victoria, a Virginia native who spent most of her childhood in Abingdon, has been a picture fiend since middle school; she documented every year of grade school with a scrapbook album and then continued on to study photography in college.

Victoria is a people-loving perfectionist, who finds joy in connecting with clients and showing their unique personalities through her candid and free photography style. She specializes in portraiture, studio, and life candid experiences. She is not a “pose and shoot” photographer, but instead loves to prompt people to show their natural selves.

Mike is a technical and detailed photographer and specializes in aerial, real estate, and landscape. His passion is in the details; he loves paying attention to angles, highlighting the unique beauty and architecture of buildings, and pulling out the details. Both have a love for event photography

Their sense of humor and quick reactions to candid moments have made them the go-to photographer for local events, a recognition that they do not take lightly. They have made the Best of Johnson City 2020, and 2021 and have been nominated for 2022.

The passion and love of this dynamic couple show in every aspect of their business. Whether you are looking for an attentive photographer for your wedding, professional coverage of your event or the perfect angle for your real estate photos, both of them working together make the best team duo.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not all of it was smooth. When the epidemic hit, Victoria’s portraiture side of the business stalled.

She found creative ways by setting up Facetime creative sessions, porch, drive-by birthday, and distant sessions with her 70-200mm. Mike’s side of the business soared through reality photography.

We also set up a new studio at the start of the epidemic, which was also a scary moment because of the doubtful time we were facing. Thriving through one of the toughest times in history showed us that we can withstand anything.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Victoria’s professional career was in banking and finance and she did photography as a hobby since she was in middle school, taking classes in college and documenting all phases of her life. She specializes in portraiture.

Whether it be family, wedding, maternity then to sports and headshots, or branding.

Mike’s career started as a manager and employee in the pizza industry while getting his degree in Exercise Science. Mike is a technical and detailed photographer and specializes in mainly aerial, real estate, landscape, and event photography.

What sets us apart is that we believe in community not competition. We love to help where it’s needed and have fun doing it. We are also a duo, engaged (married upcoming October) and whatever each other weaknesses are the other can do. Pretty amazing.

We are proud of each other and we build each other up. To have started this business and grown through the epidemic, I’m sure we can get through anything together.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
The one thing that comes to mind is that we are a duo. We haven’t posted pictures of us up intentionally because we wanted our clients to get to know our work/brand for the community and get to know us face to face when they worked with us.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnsoncityaerialphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnsoncityaerialphotography
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZjNeEv8pHdKvDjwu5vJpJw

Image Credits
@johnsoncityaerialphotographyllc