Meet your founder and creative team

**Heather Olker, MFA**
Founder, Creative Director and Lead Photographer

Heather can plan your dream wedding images wherever your imagination takes you.

Heather has been shooting weddings for the past decade and is an award-winning photographer. Olker Wedding Photo is a Zola preferred vendor and the studio has earned “The Knot Best of Weddings” award and the “Wedding Wire Couple’s Choice” award.

Her work has been published in fashion-forward magazines and exhibited at Scope Art Show, Miami, FL, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, New Apostle Gallery, New York, NY, and other galleries.

Based in Chicago’s North Shore, Heather is an expert in her field and holds a Master of Fine Art in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, New York, NY.

Olker Wedding Photo (est. 2012) is an award-winning wedding photography + videography artist collective that places great emphasis on your wedding day vision. When you hire Olker Wedding Photo you gain a team of professional, reliable artists. We have the artistic vision, client focus, and dedicated planning skills required to capture your special memories in a unique and personal way. Our team members all have Master's degrees in photography to make your wedding vision come to life with compelling artistic results. What sets us apart is our lighting expertise and colorful, emotive, and editorial style. We look forward to collaborating with you to create beautiful, high-quality heirlooms that you will cherish for years to come.

Meet the Team

Founder, Creative Director, Business Manager and Lead Photographer
Heather will put you at ease by ensuring you’re where you need to be, on time, throughout your wedding day timeline. She gently directs you and your wedding party with enthusiasm, friendliness, empathy, and laughter! She is a true left brain and right brain and can simultaneously manage the timeline, direct the photo/video team, and compose creative photography, making her a unique asset to your wedding day vendor team. It is important to hire someone with organizational and multitasking skills so that you can enjoy and be present to one of the most epic days of your lives together.
Heather’s friends, colleagues and clients describe her as fun, personable, energetic, creative, artistic, ambitious, bold, take charge, adaptable, responsible, thoughtful, and detail-oriented, while also seeing the big picture.
Her favorite thing about shooting weddings is the energizing and demanding environment. Everyone is on emotional highs and she enjoys to capture that range of feelings traveling throughout the crowd and couple. She loves the variety that wedding day coverage brings, and her photo background has strengthened every part over time!
“I love using my macro lens on the detail shots and shooting food photography has helped me to strengthen this work. The portraits are my favorite part because I get to direct these fun, romantic sessions where my clients are alone and connect. My fashion experience helps to create stunning results during this portion. I also love capturing the moments because we don't know what to expect and it is a delight to see things unfold as I look through the lens. My experience as lighting assistant in the editorial world has inspired my colorful, emotive and dramatic style. It isn't easy to master three different genres of photography, but we genuinely do at Olker Wedding Photo and we want to contribute these skills to your forever wedding heirlooms.” - Heather
Fun facts about Heather:
I invest a lot of time getting to know my clients, so I tend to tear up when I witness their first kiss along with the emotions immediately following that, plus those emotional speeches!
When I am not shooting, you can find me pursuing the various art galleries in Chicago’s West Town, running in Northbrook, becoming one with the sand at Glencoe Beach, hiking with my son, camping, watching a new fav series with my husband, or enjoying some sushi!
Associate/Lead Photographer and Videographer
Alex Yuan is a New York City-based photographer, videographer, creative visual professional, and Pulitzer Prize Finalist.
He is highly skilled in capturing story-telling moments and creating theatrical lighting effects, Alex‘s photography work has been featured in the world’s major publications.
Pieces from his photo projects were exhibited at the Louvre in Paris, galleries and museums in New York, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Beijing. Alex also teaches studio lighting courses for MFA students at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
View his portfolio
Support Photographer & Videographer
Sihan (she/her) is an experienced photographer and videographer who specializes in a photojournalistic style of wedding photography. She believes strongly in the impact of capturing happiness and love as it exists naturally, in the moment. Her work is a lovely compliment to Heather’s, with strengths in capturing moments, close-up portraits, fun group shots with the secondary life partners’ crew, and still lives - such as morning details and table settings. When Sihan isn’t shooting, you can find her playing with the office cat or watching movies at home. Sihan typically works in the role of secondary photographer or lead videographer and has a Master of Fine Art degree in Photo, Video and Related Media from the School of Visual Arts, New York.
Printing Specialist
Esteban brings a thoughtful approach to fine art printing. His meticulous capacity for details, color, and masking means you will receive fine art wedding prints that are perfection. He only uses the highest quality materials, such as Hahnamuel photo papers, so you’re guaranteed that it will last for generations to come. Esteban is originally from Colombia, currently resides in New York, and holds a Master of Fine Art in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, New York.