Musings

Grace Tan In International, Life, Musings, Running a Business

Of travels and holidays

I have to admit. Since the Chinese New Year celebrations in January this year, I’ve been slacking off a bit. Just a bit. The end of 2011 was so hectic that my back was beginning to ache from all those shoots, and on top of that I twisted my ankle the day before a wedding in January. That week, I had to shoot 2 weddings with a twisted ankle. At that stage, it became clear to me that somehow I needed to rest. God’s message to me was crystal clear: If you don’t learn to rest, more of you will soon start to break down.

So Chinese New Year was a welcome break for me, and then came February with some other Malaysian holidays (did you know that Malaysia has one of the highest number of public holidays in the world? So yeah, if you love your holidays, do work in Malaysia).

So we kick started February with a celebration dinner with the team – to remember and give thanks for the success of 2011. Since it was Weiming and Mark’s birthday, we also had a cake!

Standing (L-R): Myself, Mun Tzin (Mark’s wife, who recently started her wedding planning business, Milestones), Felicia (our Digital Artist), Diane, Johan, Alex
Seated (L-R): Zhi Ming (Intern), Weiming and Mark

In February I went to Jakarta to photograph the wedding of Eric and Jennie. That was the first Indonesian wedding I’ve ever photographed. I loved it! But that’s for another blog post (speaking of blog posts, I am absolutely delayed with many of them!).

After Jakarta, Alex and I flew to Jogjakarta for a short holiday. We didn’t really do too much there but one of the must-dos was visit Borobudur temple, of course!

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

Danny & Jennifer: A beach wedding in Avillion, Port Dickson

Distance.

That’s the key word to describe Danny and Jennifer’s first year together as a couple. It’s also a running theme for their wedding day, as we had to travel many kilometres to go from one location to another. Danny started the day at his home in KL, while Jennifer got ready in Seremban. Together with his heng dais, they traveled the distance to pick Jennifer up, and then headed back to KL for the tea ceremony. Immediately after, everyone departed KL and headed south again, this time to Port Dickson for their beach ceremony.

But that distance doesn’t compare to the one year they spent traveling back and forth from Malacca to KL. They were physically apart, with Jenn working in KL and him in Malacca, completing his final year as a student. It was a tough journey, as they each led separate lives (one working, the other studying), finding it difficult to spend time or even meet up with each other but they never gave up.

Back track 8 years ago… to when their story first began in 2003. They met on the very first day of uni in MMU, placed in the same orientation group. It was not a typical ‘love at first sight’ story.

Danny & Jenn’s story as written by Danny

In 2007, after Jenn graduated, we began writing our love story. How did we go on a first date? We both loved spaghetti carbonara, that’s why we had our first date to try out the delicious carbonara at The Noodle Bar, Melaka. That first year was a really tough year but once I graduated, I worked in KL which allowed us to grow our love and bring our relationship even further.

After 3 years together, we decided to take a big step in our life – to buy a house together. We wanted to spend the rest of our life together, build a beautiful home, and to have our own family. When she least expected it, I proposed. Jenn always wondered if I would ever propose because I was never a romantic person, and always say there’s no need to propose.

Buy house = no proposal = get married straight.

On 01/01/11, I surprised her with 99 red roses and a diamond ring. I got down on my knees to propose and of course, she agreed.

Grace Tan In For Photographers, Musings

Bloom Workshops: Register Now!

Don’t miss this photography workshop! You will definitely get personal attention from all 4 of us girls and we aim to make this a really fun session for everyone!

As for the topics, we have everything from lighting to posing (babies, families & couples!) to learning about Lightroom & Photoshop, and even about the business side of photography! For our fun filler sessions, we have a make up & fitness session too. Do read the synopsis in detail here.

A description about what I’ll be covering:

Show me the Light! by Grace

Interested to know how to make your bride look slimmer?
Find it difficult to shoot once the sun goes down?
How about lighting a group of 50 people in a dark church?

Mastering lighting is one of the keys to making your photography better. Grace will share her experiences and techniques on available and artificial lighting while making the session practical and easy to understand. You will see things in a different light after this session!

Due to a number of requests, we are now offering a FREE 2 hour basic photography class to confirmed participants on a separate date prior to the workshop. Beginners are encouraged to attend this class. Date to be announced soon. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Grace Tan In Musings, Tips + Ideas

Tips: Photographing the Chinese Tea Ceremony

Since we’re all still in Chinese New Year mood, I thought I’d share some tips (from a photographer’s perspective) regarding the tea ceremony that happens at every Chinese wedding. Hope it helps you plan for your tea ceremony!

1. Please prepare a list so you are well organized during the ceremony. You don’t want to accidentally miss that aunt who travelled all the way from Ipoh to attend your wedding. It also enables the ceremony to run smoothly as the next person can prepare their gifts and ang pow before it is their turn.

2. In the past, we’ve photographed a tea ceremony with a large group of about 100 people. And that was only one side of the family! Instead of taking 2 hours for the session, you could speed things up by preparing additional seats – while one couple is being served tea, the next couple is already seated on the 2nd set of chairs, waiting for their turn! One couple we photographed actually created a semi-circle of about 10 seats. Everyone was seated, and the couple made their rounds in an orderly manner.

Diane In For Photographers, Musings, Tips + Ideas

Mastering Group Photos

It’s the season again where your family members are back from afar, and gatherings and dinners are scheduled to guarantee a good time. Good times like these need to be documented, and there you are armed with your camera but you’re just not too sure how to get a good shot of your family. Worry no more! In conjunction with the Chinese New Year season, we at Stories would like to offer you a few tips on how to photograph good group photos!

You will need:

A camera. (Any kind of camera will work, really! Doesn’t have to be an expensive and bulky DSLR. Your point-and-shoot will work well!)
Your group of happy relatives.

Tip #1:

Leave no gaps, unless it’s intentional.

As you can see the picture above, the gap has created a kind of awkwardness. As if Weiming (right) does not want to have anything to do with the group. So remember to ask your subjects to go closer.