Daily Inspiration: Meet Shelby Oliveira and Alex Cooper

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shelby Oliveira and Alex Cooper.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Think back 17 years. We met our freshman year in High school. We were best friends right from the beginning and spent every major holiday, event, and hardship together.

Early on in high school, Alex found her passion for photography, and naturally, Shelby wanted to join in and assist with whatever was needed. We would turn everything into a photo shoot. We used everyone we knew as a model. 16 years later we decided to make it official and created what is now Nashville Candid. Our passion is to capture the messy wild moments, the type of photos you can really feel.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We both grew up in Los Angeles, and now live and work in Nashville so our biggest hardship so far has been starting a business in a new state with no known connections. We are both very social, so the best part so far has been meeting new people and creating our own “tribe” right here.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
We named our business Nashville Candid because we want to capture the raw moments in people’s lives. We as humans are constantly juggling, stressing, celebrating, and what we want is to truly live life as if it’s our last day on earth. That is how our photographs feel.

Sure, we can have our clients stand and pose with a standard smile; but when they look back at them what will they feel? What will they remember? We want our clients to embrace the chaos so that when they look back on their photos, they know they were truly themselves at that moment. That is what sets us apart as photographers.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
We want to thank our moms for letting us run wild with our cameras as teenagers; we wouldn’t be where we are today without their encouragement and support.

Pricing:

• Mini sessions start at $350

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Nashville_candid/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nashvillecandid/

Image Credits
Godwin family, The Anderson family, The D’Andrea family, The Dobbins family, The Bonner family, The Chidester family, and The Nicoletto family