Family + Children Portraits

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Parties & Events, Portraits

1st Birthday Portrait: Zoe, Calvin & Queenie

When you have a birthday party that has awesome props, why not reuse it for a family portrait session at the studio the next day? We love this pastel theme, perfect for a little girly-girl. If you would love to have a styled portrait session at our studio but do not have the capacity to decorate it like these, you can contact us – we do have some props at the studio, or we can point you to a planner that can help bring your vision to reality. The only thing we definitely cannot do is whip up a cake from our fridge! You would have to order one for your session if you are interested in having a cake smash session too.

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 Family + Children Portraits, Portraits, Studio

Family Portraits: Andrea & Marek

I am pretty sure every Asian parent would be envious of this little kid, with her huge, gorgeous blue eyes. She looks so much like a doll and her smile can turn any blue day into a sunny, happy one. It’s days and sessions like these that keep us energised and excited. We love candid moments like these too… they are all part of the fun, and make a session memorable.

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

Family Portraits in Desa Park City: Ranjini & Rune

Rune is from Denmark and Ranjini is Malaysian. 10 years ago, they met by chance at the now defunct Bar Savahn in Heritage Row. It so happened that he was standing at Ranjini’s spot at the bar when she returned from the washroom. That was the first time she saw him and spoke because she wanted her spot back. He was happy to move a bit but stayed to keep talking. It took Rune 6 months to woo Ranjini because she was not into younger men. Rune said that he was the Danish national salsa champion (not true), and yet 5 years later they got married with the most awesome wedding! Two years after that they had Noah, and another 2 years later, Luna. We were privileged to have met this amazing family in a fun filled photo session in Desa Park City.

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits, Studio

Large Family Portrait in the Studio: Lai family

When 26 people get together for a large family portrait, there’s bound to be chaos! In fact, my studio looked like it was hosting a giant Chinese New Year eve family gathering. There were 3 generations in this family shoot, but interestingly, all the married grandchildren did not have children of their own yet. It would be even more challenging if babies were added to the equation!

I’ve known Timmy Lai from the good old days of when I was in DUMC, so it was nice to get to know his entire family. His brother Jacky coordinated this session for his grandmother’s 80th birthday. This is what he had to say…

“Our last family portrait was taken almost 23 years ago. Therefore, in conjunction with our grandmother’s 80th birthday, we would like to retake our family portrait once again. This is also to create a new memory for all of us, so that, someday, we will be able to look back and cherish the beautiful moments and memories that will definitely put a smile on our face.

Family unity is very important to my grandmother. Even till this day, she still worries about all her children and grandchildren. She is a typical Hakka Lady, the one that works super hard and relentlessly for her family especially during her younger days.

The family that we are today, is not really perfect, but with the countless sacrifices that she made with her blood and sweat in order to keep the family united as one! As a young mother, who was also the breadwinner of the family back in the old days, she would always make sure that there was food on the table and a roof over her children’s head. Today, I can say that she has passed down this great legacy to her children and also to us, her beloved grandchildren.

A lot of things had happened since our last photo-shot. There were plenty of ups and downs, joy and laughter, pains and regrets; but because of the strong foundation that my grandmother has built for us, we still stand united as one family. As we looked back at our previous family portrait, we noticed that our grandmother has definitely aged gracefully. Not forgetting her children, our parents, who have grown older with time too. The grandchildren will be moving on to their next stage of life where meeting each other would be rare. Therefore, seizing this opportunity while celebrating our grandmother’s birthday, it would be an amazing moment for us to cherish and look back our this coming family portrait in future.”

What a beautiful reason for a family portrait! We did something different this time for such a huge group. We tested out an idea we had of taking multiple shots of individual families and then compositing it into one large panoramic image below. What do you think of the result? The print looked really unique in my opinion!