Portraits

Grace Tan In Boudoir, Casual Portraits, Portraits, Studio

Lights, Boudoir, Action!

I recently did another boudoir photography shoot, this time completely in the studio. It challenged my creativity because I had to constantly think of new poses for my client. You wouldn’t have thought that the background to this shot was anything but black in real life right? In fact, the background was grey. I used two flashes to create the look and to reduce all ambient light around my subject.

In the past, I used to shun away from using flash for my photography work. It is a scary thing that is hard to control. But once you begin to understand it, light is a fun thing to play around with. I am still learning and improving my skills over time. I know that there are flaws to this image, but overall, I am rather pleased with it.

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

Jason + Krystal + 3 cute boys

Jason and Krystal have their hands full. Their first two boys, Ryan & Jaden are energetic enough to bring the house down. And now, comes Damien. When I stepped into Krystal’s family home for our photo shoot, both Ryan and Jaden were running around the house with their cousins. The Decibel level was pretty high. :) It makes me wonder how did parents in the generation before manage with 10 or 13 children in the house.

Boys will be boys and so Ryan and Jaden promptly ignored us while we started our photo shoot with Damien. He turned one month recently. Isn’t he adorable? I love the giraffe blanket and basket that Krystal prepared for the shoot.

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Pre-Wedding: Laughton & Wendy

Photographer: Grace, assisted by Shu Wan
Make Up & Hair: Angie Ng

Laughton says, “Wendy loves to talk. She sometimes talks too much!” After the laughter has subsided, he adds, “But she is a strong willed person, that’s what I like about her.” Wendy jokingly says, “And I can bully him!”

By the way Laughton looks at Wendy, you can tell that he is absolutely in love with her.

And these images are proof of that.

Laughton & Wendy live in London, and they didn’t really have the time to do their pre-wedding portraits in Malaysia, except the day before the wedding! Laughton was a little concerned about Wendy wanting to wear her wedding gown out onto Malaysian streets (yup, it’s not the cleanest of roads!) and so they opted for something a little more casual outdoors, but with the gown indoors. And considering that the places we went to were… a little abandoned and ‘dirty’, I think Laughton was really wise.

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

Family Portraits: Daniel & Grace

When I first started shooting family portraits years ago, Daniel and Grace’s family were one of the first few families that I photographed. At that time, their eldest son Lucas was just a little baby, probably about Timmy’s age right now. How time flies! And now Lucas is about 3 years old…? The great thing about the Lim babies is that they’re always very smiley (except if they get tired, hungry or irritated by the heat!) Since the Lim family have been living in Australia for a number of years, I am not surprised if they find the Malaysian weather to be too hot and humid. It was great catching up with you again, Dan & Grace… and thanks for bringing back the iPad from Australia for Alex! :)

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Life, Musings, Portraits

Happy birthday, Papa!

My dad turned 77 yesterday. He looks so old and fragile now, almost skin and bones in his less than 5 foot frame. I love my dad. He is a really smart man. His family was never well to do; after finishing secondary school, he managed to get a scholarship to study overseas in Kirkby, England. Those were the most exciting years of his life I believe, because years after that, he still speaks fondly of his memories at Kirkby. Recently though, these stories are told less frequently. You see, my dad has Alzheimer’s.