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Grace Tan

Oh, wonderful San Francisco!

This is my first trip to the United States. A couple of days prior to my trip, I was running around like a headless chicken trying to sort out so much work before leaving for 3 weeks. After 19 hours of sitting on planes and waiting at airports, I arrived in Los Angeles. Early the next morning, Alex and I took a flight out to San Francisco. I understand why people fall in love with San Fran. It’s a beautiful place with lots of exciting nooks and crannies.

Well, on the first day we arrived in San Fran, I told Alex, “Wouldn’t it be cool to cycle across the Golden Gate bridge?” And so we rented bicycles…

Which, ironically, costs more than the day rental of a car. The bike was USD32 per day, or USD8 per hour.

What we didn’t expect was that we’d be cycling for 4 hours almost non-stop. The ride from the city towards the Golden Gate bridge was lovely but there were some hills to navigate. And it was just soooooo far away!

Luckily there were lots of nice things to see along the way.

By the time we reached the Golden Gate bridge, our legs were aching and butt muscles cramping!

But the bridge is really beautiful. What an architectural wonder. Unfortunately, Alex lost his sunglasses here when we stopped on the bridge to take a photo.

We noticed these signs along the bridge. It’s kind of sad to think that people choose to end their lives by jumping off bridges. Hopefully by having these phones available, it would have saved a life or two.

By the time we reached Sausalito, we were just so exhausted! I forgot to take photos then! We took a ferry back to the city from Sausalito and met Jenny Sun & her husband Ju for dinner. After dinner, it took us another hour to get back to the bike rental place because we were trying to avoid going up those steep San Francisco roads! But there was no way out of it.

Needless to say, my legs felt like rubber the next day.

From a lovely sunny day, the next day, San Fran turned gloomy and it rained. The winds were so strong that most of the people on the streets found themselves with flipped umbrellas!

In the evening, the rain cleared a little. We spent most of the day around Fisherman’s Wharf and also visiting Lombard street (the crookedest street in the US). This time, we were smarter. We took the cable car.

We noticed some men on the streets, asking for donations for ‘canabis research’. Yeeaaaah, riiiight….

Had a pretty relaxing day and we even had time to take some silly shots of ourselves!

After 2 days in San Francisco, we left with Jenny and Ju for a coastal drive down to Los Angeles. But that’s another blog post.

Mong Ling & Hai Liang: Four Seasons, Langkawi part 2

Ceremony Location: Four Seasons Resort, Langkawi
Dinner Location: Tapaz
Wedding Planner: Touching Hearts Wedding Concepts
Wedding Gown: That Special Occasion
Evening Gown: Keith Kee
Suit & Shirt: Ian Chang from Bespoked
Make Up: Michelle Touche
Wedding favours: Wicked Wax
Photographers: Stories: Grace & Mark
Wedding Film: Wedding Story

After the wedding & tea ceremony ended, we had to take some photos around Four Seasons Resort. After all, it is a beautiful location! I love this feature wall.

And this funky stone wall…

I love this orange Mediterranean wall as well.

Look at the detailing in this gown. Lovely gown from That Special Occasion.

In the evening, we set off sail on a yacht to see the sunset, and for a grand entrance to the dinner reception area!

While we were out at sea, the dinner location, Tapaz, was being decorated. I love the look of the cake!

And then just before it got too dark, Mong Ling & Hai Liang appeared at the harbour on the yacht.

There were lots of dancing and partying that night.

Evening gown by Keith Kee.

The speeches by friends and family were really funny and revealing!

Thanks, Mong Ling & Hai Liang, for making our shoot so fun and memorable. You have treated us like family and are really welcoming. We appreciate that.

View part 1 of the wedding here.

Mong Ling & Hai Liang: Four Seasons, Langkawi part1

Ceremony Location: Four Seasons Resort, Langkawi
Dinner Location: Tapaz
Wedding Planner: Touching Hearts Wedding Concepts
Wedding Gown: That Special Occasion
Evening Gown: Keith Kee
Suit & Shirt: Ian Chang from Bespoked
Make Up: Michelle Touche
Photographers: Stories: Grace & Mark
Wedding Film: Wedding Story

Her laughter is so contagious, you can’t help but laugh along with her. It’s obvious that they have a deep love for each other. And a sense of adventure! After all, they decided to get married in Langkawi, at the beach in noonday sun, tea ceremony on a swing, and make a grand entrance to their dinner location by yacht. It was definitely a wedding to remember.

Langkawi is quickly becoming one of my favourite places to shoot in Malaysia. Not only does it have beautiful beaches, but it has lots of lovely paddy fields and quaint ‘kampung‘ or village houses all over the island. This was my first shoot at Four Seasons, and the moment I laid eyes on the place, I fell in love with it. The beaches were absolutely white.

I found it so hard to choose which photos to show here on the blog. Here are some of my personal favourites.

When Hai Liang came to pick up Mong Ling from Sheraton Langkawi Beach Resort, he was in for a surprise!

This is the beautiful location they chose to say their vows to each other…

I love the pink and blue combination.

Mong Ling appeared in a wedding buggy! How cool is that!

After some formal family portraits, the tea ceremony was conducted under the shade.

To be continued with portraits of Mong Ling & Hai Liang, and also the dinner reception!

View part 2 here.

USA, here we come!! And of course, WPPI 2010!

I absolutely love traveling. It is the first genre of photography that captured my heart. I am always excited to see new places, faces and experiencing different cultures. This 24th February, I’ll be leaving Malaysia to travel to the US for a few weeks with my husband Alex.

The main highlight of the trip is the WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) conference in Las Vegas from the 4th till the 11th of March. I can’t wait for this conference. It is such a huge event, with thousands of photographers traveling from all over the world to listen to world-renown photographers on topics such as portraiture, lighting, posing, business, commercial work etc.

I believe in investing money for education, and year after year, the Stories team attends various workshops. In order to improve, I believe I must always have this ‘learning’ attitude, even in years to come. At the end of the day, our clients are the ones who benefit, and if they are happy, we are happy too!

If you are living in the States, I’d love to meet up and get to know you – whether it is for a drink or chat, or if you’d like to have some portraits taken.

Do send me an email through the contact us page and I’ll be in touch with you! I’ll be blogging regularly from the States, so do keep watch over this space!

Boudoir Photography

Boudoir photography is really popular in the US, UK and Australia, but something relatively new in Malaysia. Boudoir is a french word, derived from the meaning, ‘to pout’, or bedroom. These women, portrayed in a glamourous, sensual way, use the photos as gifts for their husbands or boyfriends. What a wonderful way to celebrate the human form!

I have been fascinated with this form of photography, but never had the opportunity to shoot one till recently. I think I have an edge as a female photographer – my client felt comfortable in front of me. I am really excited to share with you a few shots from this recent boudoir shoot. I have lots of ideas for this style of photography, so if any of you are interested… drop me a line and we can talk about it!

Of course, sexy lingerie and make up is a must for this shoot! Accessories are cool too.

And if you have lovely looking heels like this one – it’s a plus point!

Most women feel that they don’t really have it in them to pose for these type of shots. We tend to feel self conscious of our body and how it is portrayed. “Tummy too flabby, arms too fat, etc”. But at the end of the day, getting great images is really a collaborative effort with your photographer. You don’t have to worry about the poses, because you will be directed on what to do. We will know how to focus on the areas that you like and hide the parts that you are uncomfortable about. The final result will surprise your husband, and I am sure it is worth it!