Photography
- Getting Ready,Formal photos, Ceremony and Reception : Ritz- Carlton Downtown Chicago
Slav went well out of his way to accommodate our needs, and as I understand it, this is his usual modus operandi. He worked non-stop at our event, made sure to capture all the right moments, and our entire extended family, who tend to be critical, were pleased with the results. His style of shooting group photos was also pleasant, and his personality is upbeat and sincere, unlike some photographers who seem to be trying too hard to make you smile.
He also understands all the intricacies of an observant Jewish wedding, where there are different things happening at the same time, sometimes in two different places (since there is often a men’s side and a women’s side throughout, except for the chuppah).
I agree that it is a good idea, as with any service provider, to get things in writing beforehand so there are no misunderstandings later.
Slav obviously takes pride in his work, and if you order an album or portrait he will do meticulous retouching. I know this because a relative ordered family portraits that were taken at our event. For us, we went with the raw images for now, but when our budget allows, we hope to order an album from him, having seen the impressive samples in his studio. We will probably do a simple full page per photo, but he can Photoshop inset pictures and collages if that’s your style.
Avigail Bakaleynik
- Getting Ready, Formal Photos, Ceremony and Reception: Midwest Conference Center
Review from Customer
We looked into a number of photographers in the Chicago area who are familiar with Orthodox Jewish weddings. We chose Slav both because he is a very gifted photographer and because he was a pleasure to work with. He did a friend’s wedding a few months before and she had given him rave reviews.
Even knowing all of that going in, he still far exceeded our expectations! He did such an incredible job throughout the entire process. He was great at communicating and always got back to us very quickly. He arrived early and stayed late to make sure he got all of the important shots of the day and he did just that — he caught all of the beautiful moments throughout the ceremony, the dinner, dancing, everything.
He does all of his work in-studio and the quality is excellent. I’m not sure how we’re going to pick photos for the album as just about all of the photos are album-worthy and exceptional. Everyone who sees them comments about how stunning they are and what a great photographer we must have had.
He had the photos posted soon after the wedding and they’re even organized by sections (different parts of the day), which makes them much easier to view.
Thank you Slav! The only part of the wedding I cared about (besides the chosson/groom, of course), was the photographer and you went above and beyond anything I could have imagined! You should be blessed to bring more joy and beauty to many more simchas.
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I had a wedding I was going to photograph that was all over the Chicagoland area. Wedding party getting ready in Chicago and Oak Park, wedding in Chicago, formals in Mundelein, some informal pictures in Mount Prospect, and finally the reception in Des Plaines. If you’re not from the Chicago area, that is a LOT of driving. Not only that: I was working with a second photographer that I had never worked with before. My friend Mary Glabowicz , who is a wonderful wedding photographer,gave me the name of a photographer she had been working with, Mark Silgalis.
We were running a little behind at the bride’s house when I got a text from Mark that they were already wondering when we were going to get to the church. We did get there a little late with the bride but the ceremony went off without a hitch. Originally, I wasn’t going to have Mark join me for the formals but I thought I’d see if he could get some other shots while I was shooting the wedding party. Good decision on my part to bring him along. My GPS gave me bad directions and I was half an hour late to the formals.
Mark was already there and didn’t miss beat. He started shooting while hearing a thunderstorm move in. He took a bunch of shots that the bride ended up using in her album. I got there just before the sky opened up. The whole wedding party was crowded into a tiny but open structure trying to avoid the rain. Mark, trying to block the rain with his body so members of the wedding party wouldn’t get wet, got soaked to the bone. So wet, a simple change of shirt wouldn’t cut it. I sent him home to change and meet us at the reception. He told me later that when he took the diffusion domes off of his flashes he poured a cup of water out of each of them. (The flashes still worked fine. I guess that’s why we buy the good stuff.) I kept shooting and took advantage of the beautiful post-storm light.
Mark made it to the reception on time and started shooting detail of the tables and candids during the cocktail hour. We covered the reception very thoroughly and were happy to see that it was a very fun group of people at the celebration. All in all, the bride and groom were very happy with the memories delivered in their wedding album.
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Slav came highly recommended to us by Kareem from Flow Entertainment (Our DJ)when we were planning our daughter’s Bat Mitzvah in January 2011. Slav by far exceeded our expectations. Slav is not only a great guy, but he also does incredible work. Slav pays attention to the details and he takes the best pictures ever! Slav has top notch equipment and produces very high quality photos. Slav is excellent with people and really makes it so much fun. Slav is totally organized, punctual, happy and an absolute pleasure to work with. Since our daughters Bat Mitzvah, we have also had Slav take photos for my 40th Birthday party and our son’s Bar Mitzvah this past September. I would not think of ever using any other photographer than Slav. The book that Slav produced is beautiful and Slav really helped guide us in deciding which photos to choose. He gets an A+ all the way around from our family. Heidi K.
Zi Studio provided photos for our daughter’s Christening. His team did an excellent job!!! The CD-Rom, Photobook, and related material he prepared were outstanding. As an experienced amateur photographer myself, I can honestly say, Slav’s studio surpassed my expectations. His prices are competitive and well worth it. He is tops in his field, truly artistic, and in my opinion, the best in Chicago. Book him while you can!!! Sam L. Pappas
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My husband and I really enjoyed having Slav Zinger be a part of our special day (our wedding) and capture so many great pictures. He was easy and fun to work with, he made everyone feel comfortable and made everyone look photogenic in all the pictures and knew how to pose everyone to get the best shots. Our limo was late getting to the hotel to take our bridal party to take pictures, and he made what should have been a stressful time into an easy stress free environment. He found a spot out back of the hotel to take pictures and the pictures came out great, no one would ever know otherwise that we were not where we had initially intended on going.
After the wedding; less than a month after; he contacted and let us know that our pictures were all ready on his website to take a look at. A few days after that he told us to choose the pictures we would like in our album, and a week after that, the album was ready!!! The quality of the album is great, the pictures are beautiful, and everyone loved looking at our album.
I greatly recommend Slav to be your photographer at any occasion you may be having. He is very nice and great to get along with! He is very easy to get in contact with, and gets back to emails/phone calls almost immediately!
- Getting Ready, Formal Photos, Ceremony and Reception: Midwest Conference Center
