Back in 2003, I was working at Sao Paulo’s airport and studying Tourism, I knew that was not for me and I loved Travel magazines, so I thought: that’s what I want to do! Be a photographer for a Travel mag, and so I was, and from there, I realized I wanted to work with people and emotions. Weddings got me deeply passionate. Marcelo could feel this and he was super intrigued, one day he shot with me and our business together started. He left his Travel Agency with almost 100 employees and we moved to Canada to create Sambajoy and have a new business and lifestyle.
It’s about a connection created through images, it’s a style, and, it’s energy. It is something from inside out, knowledge, passion and technique together. Let’s say that talent is lots of hard work and luck is discipline.
We totally deliver what we believe and what makes sense for us, also, it has to make sense for the clients, so it is very important that they love our style and understand this process, we educate them in a playful way, showing our work in printed and digital versions, telling about the construction of the images on our portfolio, it’s almost like a class.
I (Madalena) jumped in first, I left a career in a travel magazine to be closer to people and Marcelo left the Travel Agency, we both had solid and stable careers, and yes, we love to travel, and weddings are our passions. We got married twice 🙂
We works as a couple team, of course our dynamic is stronger, we know exactly what we want, we encourage each other, we are always looking to deliver the best and we share a lot of our ideas. I did my post grad in Photography, this helped me a lot and Marcelo got to learn and bound, automatically.
Is it the same as when you’re just attending as a guest? We love the first look, if they don’t have one, we love to see the groom’s reaction when the bride walks down the aisle.
We believe it’s the number of moments that create the whole storytelling. From getting ready to the first dance, they are all so special.
Most of the times! We smile almost the entire day, and we clap a lot haha. Sometimes we cry too!
Yes, do it better, try something new, be bold.
We’d love to go to more places, learn different cultures inside the wedding day, and also teach again. We love teaching.
Our website changed many times along the 4 and a half years of Sambajoy and it’s always the same thing: I envision it and ask Marcelo to create it. So, I believe we both do the best of us, sharing and understanding each other creating the same language.
It definitely made it more easier, also makes us want to explore more and more, but now, telling love stories. Travelling runs through our veins and we find it quite easy to go far and pack fast, but it’s also quite a risk when it’s a wedding. So, we believe working is not the same as a vacation time, it requires not taking risks with exotic food before the wedding, for example.
Real stories, deep love, artsy movies, and specially travelling.
For us, it’s very important because we moved from Brazil to Canada, then from Winnipeg to Vancouver. Which means, we were newcomers twice, without knowing a single soul on both times. Marketing is what helped us to start and to show our work.
We love the connection we create and we love to inspire people to change, to do it better, to grow, and to connect more, giving them inspiration and real tools. Also, speaking in conferences is something we really enjoy doing.
Do it for yourself, try to find inside of you what makes sense, understanding that you will deliver memories, like forever. Remember you will be telling a story through images. And, again, talent could mean hard work. Good luck and love what you do
Thank you so much SambaJoy Photography for your thoughts and time! If you want more information about their stunning photos please visit their website sambajoy.com