Musings

Grace Tan In For Photographers, Musings, Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits, Wedding Films & Videos

Behind the Scenes Video: Eu Jin & Samantha’s Prewedding

Our aim at every pre-wedding shoot is to relax and just have fun! For Eu Jin and Samantha’s pre-wedding, we headed to Sekeping Tenggiri and UPM. It rained just after we completed the shoot at Sekeping Tenggiri but thank God the weather held up while we were at UPM. One of the biggest challenges for me during this shoot was to drive our resident VW kombi, Smurfette to UPM. My short legs and lack of arm muscles posed a problem on the road (especially when doing 3 point turns with this non-power steering manual vehicle!), but thank God we survived!

Really had lots of fun too with Jamie assisting. And of course, this video wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Chi Yin who filmed and edited the video.

We will be posting the photos from the pre-wedding shoot at a later stage, so keep a look out for it!

Credits:
Photographers: Grace & Jamie
Videographer: Chi Yin
Locations: Sekeping Tenggiri & UPM
Hair & Make Up: Angie Ng
Wedding Gown: Pretty in White
Flowers: Floristika

Grace Tan In Beautiful Everyday, Family + Children Portraits, Life, Musings, Portraits

Photography and the Art of Documenting Life

I am a photographer because I love to document life. I feel privileged every time a client invites us to be a part of their life – whether it is photographing a union between two people who are totally and utterly in love with each other or documenting a baby’s first week of his life. It means so much to me because it shows that as a person, they are willing to be vulnerable in front of my lens, trusting me to capture them as who they are and in so doing, connecting with their souls.

I am enriched as a person because I see the fabric that makes us human… this emotion called love that binds us together and transcends culture and religion. Photographing people has always been my passion. I am drawn into this art because people captivate me. As the years go by and I hone my skills as a photographer, I realise the key word that stands out to me most is “authenticity”.

This word drives me to create images that are real. It pushes me to ask myself…

Is this emotion real?
Can I know a person through my images?
What does this image tell me about life?

I was originally drawn to photography because of the world of photojournalism. The images I saw were inspiring, real and gave me insight into someone’s life. It had truth in it.

Which brings me to the images I create for my own family.

As time goes by, I realise that the little things I cherish most are not necessarily the big events in life (yes, they have a special place in my heart), but it is in the daily, ordinary things of life that we take for granted most of the time. Now that I am a mother of two, I feel the cliche phrase “Time flies” really does hold its ground. “The days may seem long, but the years are short”, I was told by a friend.

Almost 10 years ago, I said my vows to this amazing man, Alex. The wedding felt like a fudge pot of random memories fueled by images captured by my photographer then. My pregnancy… well, how quickly those 9 months went by. Suddenly I had a newborn, then an infant and now a toddler who spews out “why, mom??!” every so often.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Now I have two.

I photograph my family as they are because I want to remember as much as I can (considering I am a forgetful person!). The beauty of documentary photography is that we get to relive daily life as if it were just yesterday. The joy of showering my newborn. The pain and glories of breastfeeding. Random bubble blowing sessions in our front yard. I want to remember these little things in life.

How much we love each other as a family. How we look like daily, eye bags and all.

Authentic.

20131201_KRYSTA_1728 Krysta approves of dad’s choice for dinner

GT1_1584 Feeding both babies at one go…

Grace Tan In Musings, News, Running a Business

GST Information please!

For the past few weeks, there has been a flurry of activity… businesses sorting out their accounts, repricing services or goods, consumers mass purchasing groceries… all because of the GST that will be implemented by the Malaysian government this 1st April. I must say, I too was caught up in this whole hype (or dread, to some!)… I bought some new dining chairs for my home, after procrastinating for years!

What is GST?

As explained on the official Malaysian GST website…GST (Goods & Services Tax), which is also known as VAT or the value added tax in many countries is a multi-stage consumption tax on goods and services.

In Malaysia, we are now charged 6% GST on top of the services rendered or goods purchased. To put things into perspective, there are many countries all over the world who have been charging GST for years. Let’s see… Singapore (7%), Australia (10%), Indonesia (10%), UK (20%!!!).
Source: http://www.vatlive.com/vat-rates/international-vat-and-gst-rates/

How does GST affect my booking with Stories?

The mother company that runs Stories, Integricity Visuals Sdn Bhd is a GST registered company. If you are interested to find out GST information about our company, please click here.

So, to keep it simple, if you make a booking with us at Stories, you will be charged GST if:
1. You are residing in Malaysia, and the shoot is done within Malaysia or overseas.
2. You are residing overseas, but the shoot is done within Malaysia.

GST will not be charged to you if:
1. You are residing overseas, and the shoot is done overseas.

Hope that clarifies! As a note, we did not raise the price for any of our services. We look forward to having a good year with you!

Angpow

Grace Tan In Casual Portraits, Life, Musings, Portraits, Studio

Dignity for Children’s Visit

Last week, we had 12 very special visitors to the Stories studio. It was an unusual day for us as we never had a group of teenagers visit us in this manner before. These teenagers were chatty, fun, cheeky and ambitious. You wouldn’t have thought that they came from underprivileged backgrounds or hold a refugee status here in Malaysia.

But thank God for amazing individuals who have volunteered their time and energy in order to give back to society. And especially so for the people behind Dignity for Children, a one stop community learning centre for the urban poor and underprivileged children. Their vision is to empower these children to break the cycle of poverty through quality education, which leads to a positive life transformation.

We were pleased to share our journey as photographers / videographers and to encourage these students to see that this is a viable career path. It was a good exposure for most of them and they even got to have their portraits photographed by our team! It was really worth it to see their smiles knowing that we made a small impact in their lives, even if it was only for 2 hours. We really pray for the best for these kids, and hope that they will lead successful lives as they make carve their path into adulthood.

20150312_DIGNITY_FOR_CHILDREN_STORIES_125 Continue Reading

Grace Tan In Musings, News, Tips + Ideas

Vendor Highlight: Michelle Touche

VendorHighlight From personal experience, I can say with utmost conviction that having the right make up artist can ‘make’ or ‘break’ you. I have gone through good and bad experiences, and I know for certain that this art is never to be taken lightly. I have known Michelle for years now, and every time I see the work that she has done, it is truly amazing. She has transformed brides and also made those who are already beautiful even more beautiful.

Amazingly, this woman looks really youthful, and you can hardly tell that she has been in the industry for over 20 years! When she was in Form 2 in Secondary school, Michelle started to learn how to apply make up over her school holidays. And when she was in Form 5, she already started training others how to do it! Naturally, through the years, Michelle has built a strong team of make up artists who are also excellent at their craft.

The rate for their wedding make up & hair services starts from RM1,000 (senior). Pre-wedding rates start from RM500 onwards.

Here’s some tips and interesting facts that Michelle has given to me in our conversation together. Continue Reading