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Grace Tan
In Musings, Relationships

Light Hearted Readings

Every now and then, I receive an email with some really hilarious jokes. Since the dawn of age, men and women have had their differences. Hence the need for books like “Men are from Mars, women are from Venus”. And also courses like these…

Summer Classes for Men at
THE ADULT LEARNING CENTER

REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED
by Friday, August  28 th 2010
NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL
OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM

Class 1
How To Fill Up The Ice Cube Trays–Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.
Meets 4 weeks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 2
The Toilet Paper Roll–Does It Change Itself?
Round Table Discussion.
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00 for 2 hours.

Class 3
Is It Possible To Urinate Using The Technique Of Lifting The Seat and Avoiding The Floor, Walls and Nearby Bathtub?–Group Practice.
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 4
Fundamental Differences Between The Laundry Hamper and The Floor–Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.
Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.

Class 5
Dinner Dishes–Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Kitchen Sink?
Examples on Video.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM

Class 6
Loss Of Identity–Losing The Remote To Your Significant Other.
Help Line Support and Support Groups.
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM

Class 7
Learning How To Find Things–Starting With Looking In The Right Places And Not Turning The House Upside Down While Screaming.
Open Forum
Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours.

Class 8
Health Watch–Bringing Her Flowers Is Not Harmful To Your Health
Graphics and Audio Tapes.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 9
Real Men Ask For Directions When Lost–Real Life Testimonials.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined

Class 10
Is It Genetically Impossible To Sit Quietly While She Parallel Parks?
Driving Simulations.
4 weeks, Saturday’s noon, 2 hours.

Class 11
Learning to Live–Basic Differences Between Mother and Wife.
Online Classes and role-playing
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined

Class 12
How to be the Ideal Shopping Companion
Relaxation Exercises, Meditation and Breathing Techniques.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 13
How to Fight Cerebral Atrophy–Remembering Birthdays, Anniversaries and Other Important Dates and Calling When You’re Going To Be Late.
Cerebral Shock Therapy Sessions and Full Lobotomies Offered.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7 :00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 14
The Stove/Oven– What It Is and How It Is Used.
Live Demonstration.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM, location to be determined.
Upon completion of any of the above courses, diplomas will be issued to the survivors.

Grace Tan
In Life, Musings

My first WPPI Accolade of Excellence!

To have won a WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) award means international recognition. It means that your work is amongst the top of the world. This quarter, over 1900 prints were sent in for judging. And I’m so proud to say that many Malaysian photographers have made their mark in the world. Amongst those who have won 1st, 2nd or 3rd prizes in various categories (in recent competitions) – Louis Pang, Jenny Sun, Kenneth Tan, Shen, Edmund Tham… gee did I miss out anyone else?

And those who have garnered Accolades of Excellence in this competition and in the past… Jon Low, Zach Chin, Paul Kong, Andy Chin… These are at the top of my head. This recent quarter was the first time I submitted prints for a competition. I usually don’t like joining competitions because I am rather afraid of failure. But recently, I learnt that doing things like this helps me better myself as a photographer. It helps me be more critical of my work and aspire to improve in the future.

And so I was quite happy to find out today that one of my prints received an Accolade of Excellence from the judges. Of the 6 submissions I entered, I thought that this photo was the strongest and my instincts was right. This was the photo that received an AE.

4 other photos of mine were each 2 points away from receiving an AE. I wish I could hear the judge’s critique on the images though. That would be a great learning curve. Anyhow, I am glad for this experience and for all industry colleagues who have made their mark internationally. I am looking forward to my trip to Las Vegas in March 2010 to attend the WPPI conference and learn from the best in the world.

Grace Tan
In Life, Musings

Jerry Ghionis Seminar, KL

The room was packed with photographers. Of course, who would miss out on the chance to meet world renowned photographer Jerry Ghionis for only RM350? Naturally, this wasn’t a personalized workshop with Jerry, but we had the privilege of hearing him speak for a full day. Before we started, the kiasu 3 of us – Mark, Ian and myself got a photo with Jerry. I was surprised when he lifted me! Must have been easy peasy since I am really light.

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Jerry shared with us his life, about how he started in the business of wedding photography, how to market ourselves, how to pose, how to look at light… etc. In a couple of hours, we absorbed as much as we could. If you sign up for his 5 day workshop, you’ll get to learn all these in detail.

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Grace Tan
In International, Life, Musings

Adventures in Holland

The past one week has been a whirlwind of an experience. From the moment I touched down in Amsterdam on the 4th of August till the wedding day, I’ve been running on adrenaline. After spending 2 days in Amsterdam, I came down with a full blown fever and flu on the third day. It was a really challenging time for me since I was by myself and having to lug heavy equipment and bags all over Holland while blowing my nose at the same time is not something I was looking forward to do.

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Some sights around Amsterdam.

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But I had to muster whatever strength I had and travel about an hour away by train to meet Christina and Chee Su at Zwijndrecht. That evening itself we were supposed to have our pre-wedding shoot but since I was not feeling too well we decided to postpone the main part of it till the next day. Instead we went to a nearby river for some quick shots.

The next day, we went to Kinderdijk, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. The place is covered with mindmills and the landscape is absolutely stunning! We spent about 2 hours there and I even had time to climb up one windmill (as a 10 minute touristy thing). That afternoon, I crashed for 4 hours since I was still weak from the flu. Later in the evening we came back for more photos! Christina and Chee Su braved their fears and went out onto the water in a really unstable row boat. Thank God it didn’t overturn! Here are some teaser shots from the shoot.

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Grace Tan
In Life, Musings

Musings: God Made Me Female!

I’ve always considered the world of photography as a predominantly male industry (which it is!) and initially when I considered joining the ranks of wedding photographers, I thought, “Oh my goodness, I’ll have to grow a goatee, wear an ugly vest and talk tech all the time.” Well, that was like 2 years ago, and now, after having met lots and lots of cool female photographers like Jenny Sun, Fiona Lim, Anna-Rina, Asther Lau, and myself included *ahem*… I am jumping for joy. There’s hope for us yet!

I can look stylish and hot as a female photographer! It sounds incredibly vain, I know, but hey, at least I’m being honest!

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I’ve thought through some of my strengths and weaknesses of being a female photographer, and thought I’d share some here:

Strengths:
– I can connect with the brides out there who are usually my first point of contact during any form of client consultation. I am genuinely excited to hear about their wedding plans, how they met their fiance and what kind of decorations they’ll be having on their big day. You know, girly talk.

– On the shoot day, I can get access where most male photographers cannot. For example, brides would usually allow me to be in the room while they change. They have no qualms cupping their breasts in front of me while my shutter goes clicking away.

– I have more wardrobe options than male photographers. Yay!

– When I started photography, I didn’t really focus a lot on the technical aspects of it, but rather the composition and story of each shot. I think that is still one of my greatest strengths. I look for emotions and storyline above everything else.

– I smile a lot to people. I think that warms them up and breaks the ice. Ok, ok, this is not really a gender difference.

Weaknesses:

– I’m female and small. Being small can be another blog post in itself, but the fact that I’m female, most people would tend to look at the male photographers first before looking at me. They probably think that I’m a guest taking photos. They are quite surprised when I command the situation especially during group shots etc!

– The other male photographers I shoot with can shoot off anything technical in one breath, talk about the latest gadgets in the market, explain ALL the features in the various camera bodies available in the market AND refer you to the websites that has great reviews about them. I am a little slow in these things. :)

– I cannot push large heng tais away, especially those that block my view during the chip san leong session.

– I like to be pampered way too much, so sometimes I spend my hard earned cash on things like massage sessions and pigging out sessions with my girlfriends.

So, what are your thoughts out there? What are the advantages or disadvantages of being a female/male photographer?

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