Musings

Grace Tan In Casual Portraits, Chinese Weddings, For Photographers, Musings, Portraits, Tips + Ideas, Weddings

Behind the Scenes: Making the Most of Every Location

Sometimes I think of myself as not just a photographer, but also a furniture removal specialist, a clutter-free agent, and a lighting consultant. It’s very normal to find less-than-ideal situations at every wedding. Naturally, everyone would love to photograph at beautiful locations and resorts, but most times, I find myself in truly-loved family homes. Read: It usually includes lots of collectibles and objects that have accumulated through the years.

So, I’ve done all of these and more:

1. Moved furniture for the tea ceremony so that we can maximise on better light.
2. Packed clothing into cupboards, hidden rubbish bins, and the rogue red polka dotted mat.
3. Removed curtains because the colour clashes with the wall colour in the bride’s room.
4. Posed couples and families in the compound amidst shoe cabinets and vehicles. Just like these 2 photos of the bride and her bridesmaid were taken in what looked like a seemingly neutral background.

BTS-jon-priscilla1 But in reality, was taken here:

BTS-jon-priscilla2 I had two things that went through my mind when I chose this location: The beautiful light, and clean wall.

Love the challenge! :)

Grace Tan In Musings, Outdoor Weddings, Tips + Ideas, Weddings

Planning a Destination Beach Wedding

Langkawi-panorama Planning a destination beach wedding in Malaysia? Without a doubt, Langkawi is at the top of the list. It has everything – deep blue seas, white fluffy clouds, white sandy beaches, great 5-6 star resorts, duty free shopping and great Malaysian food. Of course the other famous beach wedding destinations like Maldives, Hawaii, Bali or Phuket has its own charm, but if you are hoping to have a beach wedding in Malaysia, Langkawi is the place.

As a team, we would take the one hour flight from Petaling Jaya to Langkawi pretty frequently to cover beach weddings there. Organizing a beach wedding can be relaxing and yet stressful at the same time. Everyone is away at an exotic location, just ready to have fun in the sun. But planning for a destination wedding from a faraway country on your own can be a pretty daunting task.

To make your life a little easier, I’d like to share some thoughts about how to best organize your day so that you can get the most out of your photography. Since I consider sunset as the focal point of the day, I’ll work backwards from there and give you a pictorial journey of planning a beach wedding from a photographer’s viewpoint.

1. Do check on sunset times for the date of your wedding.

On average, the sun sets about 7.30pm in Langkawi, so a good time to start your ceremony would be 5.30pm. It will be slightly warm at that time, but starting this early would give you ample time for portraits and formals after the wedding ceremony. There’s always a rush to document all the dinner reception details too after the wedding, so if your ceremony starts too late, we will be running around like headless chickens trying to capture all the important shots before night falls. Ideally, I would like to have at least an hour for portraits after the ceremony ends. Continue Reading

Grace Tan In Life, Musings, Relationships

Chinese New Year Memories

As I was growing up, every Chinese New Year would be a season of laughter, good food and memories. Strangely, in my Peranakan family, ketupat and rendang was one of our staple Chinese New Year cuisine, together with tosai and idly. I never really thought too much of it growing up (till I went to KL and found out that normal Chinese families don’t do things like these!). But the months leading up to Chinese New Year was also a season of stress because my mom would be up for many hours from 4am till midnight baking cookies in her little oven pictured below.

oven

It was her passion and also her business. She would bake hundreds upon hundreds of butter cookies, prune cookies, pineapple tarts, love letters and lots of other types of cookies to sell. Amazingly, she did most of it single handedly. Unfortunately, I was the little grumpy kitchen helper who hated to meticulously place lines across pineapple tarts for hours on end.

And my dad… well, he needless to say, he gave my mom added stress because he wasn’t really supportive of her long hours, especially after she fell ill with heart problems. He wanted her to rest and give up this business but my mom really loved doing this. On hindsight, I wished I helped her more in the kitchen those days instead of just running away the moment I had the chance.

Now that I’ve moved to KL and left Malacca, I kind of miss the days when I had lots of cookies to eat. My mom no longer bakes and my dad is in his advanced stage of Alzheimer’s. Do cherish the little moments in life, especially with your family members this festive season. Have a good celebration with your family and friends, and remember to take lots of photos.

Love,
Grace

tarts

What Motivates Us

If I could sum up everything in one word, it would be LEGACY. What connects us and brings us together as visual storytellers? It is the idea that we are creating something that will far outlast ourselves. The love that you share as a couple, the memories of your parents, your child as she takes her first step… we want to record these precious moments and build a family legacy that you can look back on, years from now… and remember.

I hope this video will give you a glimpse into our thoughts and motivations and why we keep on doing what we do.

Lots of love,
The Stories Team

Credits:
Filmed by: The Stories Team, Edited by Felicia.

Grace Tan In Casual Portraits, Life, Musings, Portraits

Turning 30: Joanne

How strange it is that the older we grow, we realize we’ve never truly left our youth? When my dad was in his 70s, he kept telling us stories of when he was in Kirby College, how he almost got frostbite during a particularly cold winter. Last year, I also celebrated my brother’s 50th birthday…and during that celebration, we partied like he was 20. I am also reminded of my 50+ year old aunt turning 60, but still doing bunny ears in photos.

I sometimes wonder if each of us really does have an inner child within us, even though our exterior doesn’t say so.

Joanne recently hit a huge milestone in her life. She turned 30. An age where you begin to feel that you have this idea of identity all figured out in your life. The 20s is an age where you discover the world is your oyster… you can do almost anything you want in life. Almost. (If only money was not a problem!)

But in your 30s… you feel more secure, confident, and wiser. I like how Joanne puts it…

“I wanted to do this photo shoot cause I’d like to have something physical to look back on, as the years pass me by. At 30, i feel wiser than i was at 20. At the same time, i know I’ve still got some way to go, and life has lots more to teach me. What’s in the year/years ahead?”

Joanne, I hope the years ahead will bring you to more places than you’ve ever dreamed was possible. I hope you also never lose your inner child. One that has innocence and wonder at the world around us. May God bless your journey.

20131210_PORTRAITS_JOANNE_023 20131210_PORTRAITS_JOANNE_005