Grace Tan

Grace Tan In Life, Musings, Relationships, Running a Business

Onward, preggie mummy!

* Credit goes to my hubby, Alex Lam for taking this photo of me. Of course, with a little guidance from the ‘bossy lady photographer’!

It’s now the 18th week of my pregnancy, and I must say, it’s been a good 4 months so far. Initially, I was really worried about how my body would fare, balancing pregnancy and photography. I am happy to report that I pretty much breezed through my 1st trimester…

I only had minimal bouts of nausea. The top 2 things that would trigger my nausea were the floor detergent used in my studio and the restaurant cooking steamboat downstairs from the studio.
I only vomited four times in my first trimester. And the toilet was not too far away too! Yay!
I didn’t have any cravings. Unfortunately, this meant that I deprived Alex of the privilege of buying roti canai for me at 3am in the morning. Oh wait, I did have a craving once. I insisted on having a Peranakan Itik Tim soup for lunch one day.
My taste buds did change though. Everything I ate tasted too salty or sweet. Until… I passed that phase and wondered why every dish my father-in-law cooked tasted bland.
I didn’t feel overly fatigued, though I did sleep slightly more than usual.
Finally, I had to buy new bras & clothes, but hey, who’s complaining when it comes to shopping!

Thankfully, I managed to get through all my shoots for the 1st trimester without fainting in exhaustion. It was great to hear feedback from my clients too, when they said things like…

“Grace, even though you are pregnant.. and assigned us a third photographer, we felt that it is very professional of you to help us capturing all the great moments of the day and all the hard work that you put in making that day unforgettable for us. We were sort of a little worry for you as you trying so hard capturing some of the great moments for us in the church. Make sure you take it slow in your upcoming photo shooting..

We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for providing us with such beautiful memorabilia of our most precious day of our lives, erm.. even though we didn’t have a chance to glance through our photos yet… and every one is asking for it already!!!!”

– Amy & Enoch –

“Dear grace and team, thank you for those wonderful n absolutely gorgeous pics (ourselves included)! :) When we first met u, we were indeed taken back by ur TnCs (have to say v onerous :) ) but we saw what u can do and glad to say that we couldn’t be happier. So thank u for you and ur team’s profesionalism (ur pregnancy didn’t hamper ur ability, the mozzy didn’t affect ur team s spirit (mostly ours…hehe)..thanks!”

– Wilson & Elaine –

So now that it’s the 2nd trimester, people tell me that it’s the ‘honeymoon’ stage of pregnancy. I would feel healthier, stronger and better. The months pass by so quickly. I am indeed cherishing every moment of my pregnancy!

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Blue & White Wedding: Wilson & Elaine

I was stoked when Wilson and Elaine said that they’d use our little Smurfette, the VW kombi as their wedding car. I was even more excited when I discovered that their theme colours matched Smurfette completely – white & blue! Elaine is a hands-on bride, she planned and sourced for some of the wedding decorations that you’ll see in this blog post, even created the signage for the back of the kombi herself!

Well, even from our initial meeting about a year ago, I knew that she’d be a detailed person. After all, she is a lawyer, and working for such a big organization like the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, you’d have to be meticulous. Needless to say, she pored over the T&C in my booking form prior to signing it. A little nerve-wracking to have to explain everything to a lawyer! Haha…

Wilson came across as someone who was really easy going, but completely supportive of Elaine. It’s a great combination to have as a couple. Wilson & Elaine, we had a blast at your wedding. Thank you for being so relaxed and letting me head off earlier, even before the dinner reception ended, since I was really quite tired from the pregnancy. I love how everything came together so beautifully, and how the morning Chinese theme blended in with the more western theme of the evening. All the best for the future!

Grace Tan In For Photographers, Musings, News, Running a Business, Tips + Ideas

Bloom Workshops #2: From Passion to Skill

Bloom Promo
We are really excited to announce a new photography workshop coming up this 31st August till 1st September 2012, called “From Passion to Skill”! Earlier this year, we had our inaugural Bloom Workshops titled “Empowering Female Photographers” and it was a huge success. Frankly, organizing a workshop like this is HARD work.

Together with the pregnancy, I wonder if I am killing myself by doing too many things this year. I hear lots of advice telling me to ‘slow down’ but I think it’s part of my DNA to keep on going! (Interestingly, last week, at the wedding I was photographing, I got lectured by the grandmother of the bride… telling me to be careful since I am pregnant! Coincidentally, during the same wedding, the banquet manager noticed too and he offered me a chair. How sweet!)

The good thing is… I have a holiday scheduled for next week! The unfortunate thing is that… it was meant to be a diving trip at Sipadan island (one of the world’s top diving sites!) but now, I can only snorkel. Anyhow, I am not complaining.

Well, back to the workshop. I hope that all our hard work will really benefit someone out there. Actually, the 30 participants that we hope to get. The four of us share our hearts out at these workshops, and we give everyone 100% of our attention and energy, as much as we can. So I look forward to seeing familiar and new faces at the upcoming Bloom Workshops. Good thing is, while the previous workshop was only targeted towards females, this one is now open to everyone!

Have a look at the previous workshop and what we achieved in 2 days. Thank you, Weiming for shooting and editing the video!

[FMP poster=”http://www.stories.my/wp-content/uploads/2012/videos/BLOOM_HIGHLIGHTS.jpg” width=”672″ height=”368″]http://www.stories.my/wp-content/uploads/2012/videos/BLOOM_HIGHLIGHTS.mp4[/FMP]

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

Tan Family Portraits: Featuring adorable children!

Years ago, when I was a young girl, I went on little cycling adventures with one of my closest friends around a small neighbourhood in Malacca called Ujong Pasir. We stopped briefly by the sea, only to throw stones at mudskippers and yell in excitement whenever we hit a ‘bull’s-eye”. I remember a time when her mum made homemade pizza for lunch, and that was a luxury for me! Time went by, and things changed when she had to leave for Australia to continue her secondary school studies there.

But I never forgot those little adventures.

We kept in touch (as much as we could!) and I am glad that we never completely lost contact with each other. More than 10 years have passed since I visited her family home, but everything looked vaguely familiar as I walked through that front door last month for her dad’s 70th birthday party. Georgina, thank you for the good times. I am glad I could be there to capture these photos for your family. It was definitely meaningful for me and brought back a lot of memories.

Introducing… Georgina & Stewart.

And the Tan family…

On that day, I got to know the extended Tan family. This little cutie (the youngest grandchild!) made me all mushy and brought out my motherly instincts (YES! I will have my own cutie pie soon enough!).

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Church Weddings, Testimonials, Weddings

Testimonial: Amy & Enoch

Dear Grace and The Team,

We don’t know where to begin to thank you. You and your team did such an amazing job that not only did we think so, but every one of my family and friends would agree. You and your team are extremely talented and you exceeded our expectation on every level.

Diane, thanks for setting up everything including all the necessary paperwork and arrangement for our day.

Not forgetting Johan for cranking up jokes and making the photo session merrier for everyone. We loved our photographers for the day, even every one is talking about how wonderful these photographers we had. Grace, even though you are pregnant.. and assigned us a third photographer, we felt that it is very professional of you to help us capturing all the great moments of the day and all the hard work that you put in making that day unforgettable for us. We were sort of a little worry for you as you trying so hard capturing some of the great moments for us in the church. Make sure you take it slow in your upcoming photo shooting..

It was a day when we were both too nervous to notice anyone or anything around us, but we hope that the photos you have will re-create our world on that day for us – the wonderful people we love, the detail of each session, and the scenic views around us..will help us remember our special day.

Thank you for capturing our wedding day with your creativity, your attention to detail, and your love in such professional manner. Your service was very professional and we will definitely recommend your service to all our family and friends.

Thank you again for all your work and dedication in making our wedding day so wonderful!

– Amy & Enoch –