Grace Tan

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Teasers: Cafe themed pre-wedding shoots

We’ve seen it all before. In movies, where couples fall in love over a meal, sharing drinks, enjoying each other’s company till the wee hours of the morning. Chatting about everything and anything under the sun, oblivious to others around them. I love the notion of falling in love doing something as simple as sharing a meal. In my recent pre-wedding shoots, I photographed 2 couples, different yet similar in so many ways.

A Chinese coffee shop vs an Italian cafe. Kopi peng vs wine.

But over this meal, romance blossoms and hearts pound in anticipation of the next date.

Note: The first image has been replaced due to various reasons. The full blog post will come later!

Grace Tan In Church Weddings, Weddings

Laughton & Wendy’s Wedding

Photographers: Grace & Andrew C
Bride’s Make Up & Hair: Michelle Touche
Make Up & Hair (Mothers of the bride & groom): Angie Ng
Church Ceremony: Assumption Church, PJ
Dinner Reception: Oriental Banquet, PJ
Wedding Cake: Buns in the Oven

Months ago, Wendy emailed me from London to ask if I was available to shoot her wedding in Malaysia. After a looong conversation over email, Wendy decided to make a booking, which eventually lead to another booking for her pre-wedding shoot. I really enjoy getting to know my clients before their wedding day, and even before I met Wendy in person, I felt as if I already knew her.

She is a really chatty and easy going person. On Laughton & Wendy’s pre-wedding shoot day, I discovered that Wendy’s a Peranakan, just like me! From Malacca! That describes the talkativeness and the fun nature! My brother jokingly reminds me all the time that Peranakan women are noisy, fun, love to dance and are full of drama!

And consistent with the nature of most Peranakan families, there was a little drama on Wendy’s wedding day.

Wendy’s lovely bouquet (featured below) was accidentally left behind at the Seapark Brickhouse prior to the church ceremony.

It was quite an upsetting moment, especially when Wendy had to walk down the aisle with ‘replacement’ flowers. But after all that drama, everything turned out well… the church ceremony went ahead beautifully, the friends were excited for Laughton & Wendy over their marriage, the dinner was scrumptious, and the families were happy.

Grace Tan In Boudoir, Casual Portraits, Portraits, Studio

Lights, Boudoir, Action!

I recently did another boudoir photography shoot, this time completely in the studio. It challenged my creativity because I had to constantly think of new poses for my client. You wouldn’t have thought that the background to this shot was anything but black in real life right? In fact, the background was grey. I used two flashes to create the look and to reduce all ambient light around my subject.

In the past, I used to shun away from using flash for my photography work. It is a scary thing that is hard to control. But once you begin to understand it, light is a fun thing to play around with. I am still learning and improving my skills over time. I know that there are flaws to this image, but overall, I am rather pleased with it.

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

Jason + Krystal + 3 cute boys

Jason and Krystal have their hands full. Their first two boys, Ryan & Jaden are energetic enough to bring the house down. And now, comes Damien. When I stepped into Krystal’s family home for our photo shoot, both Ryan and Jaden were running around the house with their cousins. The Decibel level was pretty high. :) It makes me wonder how did parents in the generation before manage with 10 or 13 children in the house.

Boys will be boys and so Ryan and Jaden promptly ignored us while we started our photo shoot with Damien. He turned one month recently. Isn’t he adorable? I love the giraffe blanket and basket that Krystal prepared for the shoot.

Grace Tan In Life, Musings

What does the heart seek?

I’m in one of those reflective moods again. Every now and then, I ponder about life, the meaning of it, and what is my purpose in this world. In the past, I’ve blogged about issues like these on my personal blog, but never on the Stories blog before. It’s always difficult to be open and vulnerable to others, but I do believe in being authentic.

I’m constantly busy. This year was a really hectic year for me, with the launch of Stories as a brand (wow, I can’t believe it’s been 8 months already!). In the midst of running a business, selling my house, traveling, buying a new house, renovating the new house… I hardly had time to breathe. But today, I had to take a moment to reflect. What am I working so hard for?

People say that it’s either one of these things that motivate you in life – money, fame, or a cause greater than yourself. If I am being completely honest with myself, I think I’d like to be well-known. I’d like to know that I am successful in my business. I want to shoot more, be excited about new projects, be a photographer in demand…

But all for… ? What?

What is the level of success?

What am I building?

It brings me great satisfaction to know that the work I produce brings so much joy to others. Part of my job satisfaction comes from knowing that I am building a legacy of images – records of people’s lives and a moment in history. Photography connects people. And I’m so amazed that I have been given this blessed opportunity to bring people together.

I guess I am reminded today that my purpose in life should never be solely about myself. In this quest for success, I must never lose my soul.

Children sharing a meal in Myanmar, taken during my travels in 2007.