Weddings, regardless of how big or small the scope or guest list, can be nerve-wracking, stressful…read moreexperiences. There's always a litany of reasons, but typically, the most common unifier boils down to one element: the people involved. Unprofessional staff or say, more volatile family members or friends can make or break the experience and the memories.
So, I'll stop before this gets too autobiographical and I'll add that, yes, this long-winded intro is my roundabout way of contextualizing Zhihan's amazing service: her amazing professionalism, excellent photography and, above all, her penchant for navigating trickier interpersonal waters were all highly appreciated by my wife and I (and my family!).
Zhihan showed up 20 minutes before the time we originally gave her, and she immediately started getting a sense of the work ahead: which family members would be joining later, how many people were onsite at the courthouse that day, and she was also super-nice to our dog.
From the first few minutes she started working, I could sense her warmth and enthusiasm. She got a sense of the relationship my wife and I share and sought to capture the essence of our relationship within that short amount of time. In between shots, she gave us enough room to breathe and acquiesced to our weirder demands while slowing down to give us honest, candid advice on which shots would work and what would work even better. I still look back on the great shots she took that day and I'm still all smiles.
And then, the interpersonal aspect. I have two sets of step-parents, whose relationship to one another can be best described as poisonously lukewarm. Again, not trying to get too autobiographical (too late?), but it's a testament to Zhihan's intuitiveness and emotional intelligence. The way she worked to devote equal amount of time to each "faction" while ensuring the other group was being adequately communicated to for next shots really impressed me, and like I said, it really went a long way to putting some of my anxieties at ease.
In summary, Zhihan was an absolute pleasure to work with and I highly recommend her for her professionalism, her passion, and most importantly, her empathy and ability to be a positive presence in an important family event. Awesome work, Zhihan, and thank you so much!
