Tips + Ideas

Female Standing Poses: Tips & Tricks

There are many ways to pose a person so that they will look good in front of the camera. Naturally, our clients are not models, and they rely on us as the photographers to guide them on how to stand. Watch our video for some basic tips on female standing poses and see how your images can be much better by just applying some of these simple principles!

Female Standing Poses: Basic Tips & Tricks

Stand at a 45 degree angle to the camera to give some shape to your body. If our body faces the camera directly, the shoulders appear square and the entire body looks wider.
Bend your arms and knees to create shape. The female body is full of curves, even if you are plus sized! Arms that lie flat against the body look squished and makes it look even bigger than it actually is. So, go ahead and bend any limbs that can be bent!
Push your hips to one side of the other. If you are standing at a 45 degree angle, one leg will be forward. Put your weight on your back leg and push your butt and hips to the back so that it will make your hips look smaller.

Go ahead and get beautiful images of yourself!

Grace Tan In Musings, Running a Business, Tips + Ideas, Wedding Films & Videos

The Stories Experience: Our Workflow

It’s our 11th year of operations and since the first day we opened our doors, we have refined our processes through the years. From the moment our clients connect with us, to thinking about the ease of transaction, online payments via credit cards… we only want the best for our clients! I also just recently counted, we have hit our mark of 100+ FIVE STAR reviews on Google and Facebook! It is really amazing and exciting to see that our clients love our work!

Please have a look at our video to see what we usually do for our clients, from the start till the end of your interaction with Stories.my.

Grace Tan In Life, Misc, Musings, Parties & Events, Portraits, Tips + Ideas

Planning a kid’s baking party

This year, my daughter turned 6. Every year, I tell myself to do something simple for her birthday, but it always ends up elaborate! I guess it’s too much fun trying to think of party themes especially since she is at such a cute, young age. Last year, I had a lot of fun planning a unicorn party for Krysta and a fire station party for Kyle. If you’d like to view those photos, click here.

Thank God I had the help of another mother this year. We planned a joint chef / baking party for Krysta and Sherisse who were born 2 days apart. If you’d like some tips on how to plan a baking party, here’s how we did it at a low cost: Continue Reading

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Musings, Parties & Events, Portraits, Tips + Ideas

Zoe’s 1st Birthday Party

Styled birthday parties are the rage nowadays, and we love all the little details that go into making it such a pretty event. Two years ago, we went to New Zealand to photograph Calvin & Queenie’s wedding, and now, we’re photographing their daughter’s 1st birthday! So much love went into planning this rainbow themed, colourful party. Queenie also went as far as to coordinate her shoes with little Zoe. As a mother of 2 myself, planning parties like these are fun, but can be pretty stressful. It definitely helps if you have a planner and decorator like Mint Events & Soirées to do the bulk of the work for you!

We also photographed their family portraits the next day. I’ll share more of that in a separate blog post! I’ve included lots and lots of detail shots as inspiration for mothers who want a similar theme for their parties.

Grace Tan In Life, Musings, Relationships, Tips + Ideas

Everyday photos that you need to take

As a photographer, I have this innate desire and need to document my life. There are some important people, places or events that encompasses an essential part of who I am and the life I live. I believe that this process of documenting life is really important and I encourage you to think about your own life and how you can capture these moments because they become little windows into a memory that you once held dear.

1. Your house

It may seem trivial to take a photo of your house from the outside. But when you move and settle into a new home, you might find it hard to remember if there was a rose bush by the old gate or if your door was wooden or glass because those memories will fade. Just by looking at a picture of your old house on the outside can actually bring a flood of memories to mind of the times you spent pruning that rose bush and the barbeques you had on the porch.

My family home in Malacca where I spent my growing up years. This was the final goodbye as we packed the house to sell it in 2011.

2. The inside of your home

Just like the outside, you’ll want to remember the interior of the place you called home. Maybe one day your kids will want to see their old room, or the doorframe where you had their height measured every six months; and maybe even have a laugh at the type of furniture you had. They might even remember the time they spilled juice all over that carpet! They will be images that have far more sentimental value than you’d expect. This is one of the reasons I love photographing families in their own home, mess and all.