Grace Tan

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Pre-Wedding: Noel & Hui Yi

Photographer: Grace
Hair & make up: Doris
Wedding gown: Pretty In White
White lacy umbrella: Crafio
Location: Pullman Hotel, Putrajaya

It was 4am in the morning. Hui Yi woke up to discover her eyes were red, puffy and swollen. It wasn’t because of the lack of sleep the night before. It wasn’t normal. But with the courage to carry on, and under the talented hands of Doris, the make up artist, Hui Yi was transformed. When I rolled around to Pullman Hotel at 7am, I didn’t even realize her eyes were swollen.

Thank God for amazing make up artists, and for clients who have faith in them and also their photographer.

Hui Yi told me before the shoot that Noel is quite camera shy. I reassured her that 80% of my brides tell me their grooms are camera shy or don’t really like taking photos. Most times I meet my clients before our photography session, but when they live overseas or time does not permit, I only get to meet them on the shoot day. In a short span of time, I have to build a rapport with my clients and get them to feel comfortable with me. It’s definitely a challenge but I do enjoy the process!

Noel travels a lot for work and so this meant that a long distance relationship was necessary. I do respect couples who despite the distance, manage to make the relationship work. It takes resilience, patience, and also lots and lots of love!

Grace Tan In Casual Portraits, Portraits, Studio

Stylized Portraits

I got to know Kenny Shim through last year’s SIBKL & DUMC MadWorld production. It was through this production that I discovered how talented this young man is! He can dance, model, direct a play, choreograph… well, Kenny, what can I say, it’s God-given skills!

Not too long ago, Kenny, together with a few friends, got together with the Stories team to shoot some stylized portraits, kind of like a fun fashion shoot. Together with Mark & Johan, we came up with some pretty awesome shots! Here are some of my favourites…

Image below: Photographed by Johan (left image) and Mark (right image)

Johan’s image below:

My shots below:

Unfortunately it poured and poured that day, with a huge thunderstorm. We couldn’t venture very far from the condo we were in.

Image below: Mark’s shot on the left, mine on the right

Overall, I am pretty pleased with what we could come up with in just 2 hours, despite the pouring rain! All the best with your modeling career, Kenny!

Grace Tan In Life, Musings

The Final Goodbye

28th June 2011. That was the date we said our final goodbyes.

Goodbye to the place I called home when I was a child. The place where I learnt to ride my bicycle, play fashion stylist to all my 9 Barbies, reluctantly helped my mom bake her pineapple tarts so she could sell them for Chinese New Year and also the place where I tried to cram my head full of info for my SPM exam.

It’s never easy to say goodbye, but in life, you have to move on.

While I discovered my treasure trove of Barbie dolls with clothes that have been lovingly hand stitched by my mom from scrap pieces of cloth…

My sister discovered some old pots that she decided was worth keeping. And my uncle from Brisbane discovered his old copper art piece that he created years ago.

We also discovered my brother’s old teddy bear that my sister claimed was bought by my dad when he was in London years ago (like 40 years ago or so!). And my dad’s beloved chess set. He was the President of the Malacca chess club in the 80s.

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Weddings

Fun & Dong Liang’s wedding

Photographers: Grace, Mark & Weiming
Wedding Kua: Wedding Isle
Evening Gown: Coast (London)
Groom’s chinese suit: Loh Tim Kee
Groom’s evening suit: Smart Master
Hair & Make Up: Lee Kuen
Flowers: Flora Etc
Dinner Banquet: Hee Lai Ton Restaurant

It was Fun’s older brother that brought them together. Dong Liang was young and had just graduated from college in the UK. She decided to work in KL but she didn’t know many people in KL at that time, other than Fun’s brother who was her coursemate. So one weekend while having coffee at KLCC, Dong Liang was introduced to Fun…

Fun’s story:

I was having tea with my friends in KLCC as well when my brother called me and asked me to join them. We then went to a karaoke as a group. I had a good time at the karaoke, and I had a good feeling about her. After the first meeting, I ‘made use’ of my brother’s friendship with her to intentionally meet up with her.

Luckily for Fun, Dong Liang had a good impression on him as well! After that karaoke session, they decided to exchange contact details and made plans to go out as a group again soon after.

Dong Liang’s story:

In the beginning, we were always bickering in front of others. But soon we started going out. And what happened in between is a little hazy, after all it has been almost 10 years! What really brought us together, i feel, was the 4 years we spent in London together. Because there was no family and not many friends there, it felt like all we had were each other. He has been such a great partner and always very supportive of whatever I do. It was then crystal clear to me that he is The One and I’m so lucky to have found him. And then, on my birthday in 2009, he proposed! We had a very long engagement….but now, we’re married!

Fun:

And yes, I love my wonderful wife with all my heart, and I wish to spend the rest of my life with her!

Grace Tan In For Photographers, Musings, Tips + Ideas

Photographing Large Groups

At weddings, it’s normal for the couple to request for group photographs. Most times, the group size ranges from 5-20 people. However, if you are like Ben and Angela here, you might request for ALL your guests to be in the same image. While it’s a cool idea, there are some challenges a photographer faces when shooting such a large group. How do you even organize the people? How do you see everyone in one image? How do you even light everyone properly, especially if it’s an indoor venue?

Unless you have a huge, multi step platform with about 15 steps that can comfortably fit 10 people per row without one person blocking another, there’s no way to properly achieve this shot.

Tip: So, if you plan to do a large group image like this (anything beyond 50 people)… please make sure there is a way for the photographer to be elevated above the guests.

I wish I had a behind the scenes shot to show you how we achieved this shot. The photo was taken at Zion Lutheran Church in Brickfields, and it didn’t have a 2nd floor where I could be elevated. So Ben organized a tall ladder for me, Johan placed 3 speedlights behind me and held the ladder steady while I climbed it to get this shot.

Ideally I would have liked to see everyone’s faces better without any distortion, but given the space constraints, I could not use any other lens other than a wide angle lens.

Having said that, I am quite happy with the results and I think it’s a pretty cool and unique group photo!

So, it is possible to take large group shots and also make it interesting. Hope that helps! Over time, I hope to share more tips on planning for your wedding, especially from a photographer’s point of view.