So we’ve put together a little video with tips and tricks on how to photograph families. You can see from this video too that temper tantrums in kids are completely normal! I hope you’ll benefit from this behind the scenes video. Do leave a comment if you have any other tips to share!
It’s been a while since I conducted a photography class / workshop. So here I am kick-starting it off again this 18th June. If you are new into photography and are struggling to understand how to get the right exposure, this workshop is for you. Other than personalised attention, you’ll also get great coffee, so do sign up and I hope to see you there!
Register online at www.tkt.my/GettingItRight
This Mother’s Day, I’d like to share a poem that I came across on Facebook, written by this lady, Melanie Tan. It’s a really lovely piece adapted from another similar poem. I love how she has captured the feeling of motherhood through these lines. Wishing all amazing mothers out there, a Happy Mother’s Day.
Two blue lines,
Tears, excitement and fears
Will I be a good mother?
Can I survive child birth?
I wasn’t ready
Then, the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard
Hearing your heartbeat for the first time
That fast paced rhythm
I told myself, I can do this
I felt you
Your first kick
I smiled
Your first in-vitro hiccups
I laughed
Suddenly, you were here
Daddy’s nose, mummy’s lips
and those eyes
staring at me when we first met
and I fell in love
I held you, fed you
You cried and I cried
Our 3am staredowns
Sleepless nights
That smell of your head
Little wandering hands
A sniff, a kiss
While you gently suckle on my breast
You doze off
With droplets of love on your lips
I wipe them off and put you down gently
Thinking how much I will miss this
When you grow older
But there are also times I wanted to give up
Then you smile at me
Your cheeky wide grin
And you grab my hands with those little fingers
I pick myself up and console myself
This only gets better
We are growing together
Seeing the world as new
I’ll open my heart and shower you with love
You’ll giggle and I’ll do it all over again
And we’ll walk hand in hand
Until you let go
and explore the world with your two little feet
and I’ll be right behind you
Cheering you on
Or to catch you when you fall
Wherever you need me most
I’ll be there, always
I made you…
But you made me a mother.
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
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.
Krysta approves of dad’s choice for dinner
Feeding both babies at one go…
