BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash. — Despite a long night stuck on the Walla Walla Ferry it was still a picture-perfect evening for Britt Jezak, a wedding photographer that was on board that tried to make the best out of this unexpected situation, by offering free photo shoots to passengers on board.
"Making the most of a situation we've never seen before," said a smiling Britt Jezak who tried to bring smiles to a ferry filled with uncertainty Saturday night.
Jezak is a photographer from Port Orchard. She was was one of nearly 600 people on board the Walla Walla Ferry that ran aground on Saturday after Washington State Ferry officials said the vessel suffered a "generator failure."
"I was supposed to photograph a proposal tonight, booked last minute at the Great Wheel in Seattle and instead I am on the ferry that was supposed to take me there, of which has crashed," said Jezak.
Jezak and other passengers were on the ferry for nearly six hours waiting to get back on land. As the hours went on she noticed a dip in morale, including in a group of people who were supposed to go to the Navy Ball.
"Stunning hair, makeup, ball gowns, uniforms and I was looking at all these people and just noticed that they, you could just see that their night was ruined,” said Jezak.
That's when she grabbed her camera gear and asked the ferry's captain if she could conduct a free photo shoot for people on board to remember this unusual and unforgettable night.
“I might not be able to get us out of here any earlier, but I can make it a more enjoyable experience and just lift some spirits along the way and that's what I love about my job, just making people feel better than they were when they walked into the room with me,” said Jezak.
Jezak said she took more than a thousand pictures that night and met some of the kindest people, whom she now calls friends.
"I can give people memories, through an experience and that's the greatest job I could ever ask for and I just feel really lucky and yeah it makes me feel that I cannot believe that I get to be a photographer for a living,” said Jezak. “This is as good as it gets."
Jezak said that couple that was doing the marriage proposal at the Seattle Great Wheel did get engaged that night. She hopes to do a re-shoot with them in the future.