fbpx Skip to main content
search
0
Grace Tan
In Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Beach Wedding, Andaman: James & Brielle

It was the perfect setting for a summer romance. The venue: Penang. Two families from 2 different continents – James from UK and Brielle from Australia happened to meet by chance at the very same resort. They were 15… young, adventurous and naive. From the moment James said hello to Brielle by the pool side, they were inseparable for the week of the holiday.

What started out as a teenage holiday crush, turned into keeping in touch regularly as pen pals. Naturally, they took every opportunity to meet up whenever Brielle came to the UK to visit family as she was growing up. Soon, the teenagers grew up, and after a backpacking trip to the UK when Brielle was 21, they both realized that their teenage crush was more than just a crush.

It was then that they started a relationship. Their first holiday as a couple was in Langkawi, and so Malaysia was a place where many memories were born.

Brielle returned to Australia and James to UK…and 6 long months of being apart made things really difficult for the both of them. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out. But circumstances changed in 2008, when Brielle returned to the UK to live there. With some persuasion from James, they met up and rekindled that teenage romance once again.  From that moment on, they went on from strength to strength, and in 2011, he proposed.

20130515_WEDDING_JAMES_BRIELLE_0516

20130515_WEDDING_JAMES_BRIELLE_0530

Continue Reading

Grace Tan
In Portraits,

Pre-Wedding in Pulau Ketam: Charles & Lih Woon

Pulau Ketam holds a special place in my heart. When I was a young photographer, one of my first outings was to Pulau Ketam. I remember meeting this old man reading his newspaper in an equally old shop. He said that many of the young people had left the small island to work in the city. Indeed, it felt as if time stood still on that island. Now, years later, as I revisited Pulau Ketam for Charles and Lih Woon’s pre-wedding shoot, I didn’t think very much had changed. It had an old school charm which made it really special.

What was meaningful was that Lih Woon’s parents used to work in Pulau Ketam years ago. We caught a private morning boat to the island from Klang jetty, just in time for sunrise.

20130315_PRE-WEDDING_CHARLES_LIHWOON_005A

Charles and Lih Woon accommodated my every request. We had to trek back and forth along small, dilapidated bridges, passing by wooden homes in the hot sun. The people on the island were really friendly, and even allowed us into their home compound for photos!

20130315_PRE-WEDDING_CHARLES_LIHWOON_024

20130315_PRE-WEDDING_CHARLES_LIHWOON_048

Continue Reading

Grace Tan
In Casual Portraits, Family + Children Portraits, For Photographers, Maternity, Musings, Portraits, , Running a Business, Tips + Ideas

Bloom Workshops #3: Portraits in Penang

Bloom3poster---rev3

Bloom Workshops is back once again this year for another round of teaching, learning and absorbing all sorts of photography goodness from each other! We ran 2 successful workshops last year – the first was themed “Empowering Female Photographers” and the second, “From Passion to Skill”. This time, we’re headed to the beautiful island of Penang for some inspiring time with each other. You don’t have to be a pro-photographer to attend, as long as you have an interest in photography, this workshop is for you. It’s open to both male and female participants (yes, people do ask!).

The early bird registrations end by 1st of July, but if you do manage to gather a group of 2 other friends who are interested, you can still enjoy the rate of RM1,100 as long as you register before the 9th of August 2013. Three days of goodness together!

The main topics you’ll be learning will be about posing and lighting. We will teach you all sorts of skills on posing couples, plus-sized people, couples with height differences, large groups, families, children and more! One of the practical session involves a trip to the beach and we’ll learn how to do shots like these:

20130515_WEDDING_JAMES_BRIELLE_0552

20110906_WEDDING_FRANK_DEMI_623

You’ll also learn how to pose large groups like these:

20120623_CHEN_FAMILYPORTRAITS_002 Continue Reading

Grace Tan
In Chinese Weddings, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Beach Wedding, Andaman: John & Tiffany

He was there to attend his ex-roommate’s birthday party. She was fashionably late. A stranger to John. But the moment she walked through that door, his heart literally dropped. John had no idea who she was, how she was related to the birthday girl or what ethnicity she was, but all he knew was that he HAD to meet this girl. Throughout the night, he tried to be as close as possible to her so he could initiate conversation with this mystery girl. That was all he needed to motivate himself to ask her out on a date the next morning, at 6am when he got home!

Over the next few months, they went on numerous dates, but though they were really comfortable with each other, John never worked up the nerve to hold her hand till 4 months later. But after he started, he knew, from that day onwards, he could never let go of her hands.

20130422_WEDDING_JOHN_TIFFANY_120

20130422_WEDDING_JOHN_TIFFANY_135

I only met John and Tiffany on the day of their wedding. They had flown all the way from the US to be wed at The Andaman, Langkawi. Some of their family members came from Hong Kong to witness the ceremony. When I walked into the room, Tiffany said to me, “Tell us if you need anything…Do whatever you need to get the shots.”

Yes! To me, that was like a free ticket to move furniture in order to get better photos, and the freedom to control timing so that I can give them the best possible coverage in the time we have together.

That day, I witnessed one of the most amazing sunsets I had ever seen in Langkawi. John and Tiffany, the day couldn’t have gone any better. Enjoy the wedding video highlight below, and the photos in this post!

Continue Reading

Grace Tan
In Casual Portraits, Family + Children Portraits, For Photographers, Musings, Portraits, Relationships

Stories Family Feature: Diane Lee

Since this blog is mainly managed and written by me, Grace, I thought that it’d be great if the readers of this blog could get to know the people behind the Stories family a little better. I am really thankful for these amazing group of people who have been ever so supportive and working oh-so-hard to make sure everything is in order!

Today, we’re featuring Diane… probably the very first person you’ll come into contact with whenever you call the Stories line or email us through our website. She has been working with us for 2 years now and is a crucial link to everything because she communicates with everyone before and after a shoot. Diane is a bubbly person whose laugh matches her personality. She can speak to anyone and everyone, and lights up a room just by her presence (and singing, sometimes!). The photos featured here were taken by Diane. Read on about her!

1. Describe what you do at Stories and what you love about your role as a Studio Manager and Photographer.

As the Studio Manager, I am the bridge and communicator between the clients and the team. I am also the one replying all your emails and calls. I enjoy knowing our clients personally – to know their different personalities, hear about the things they have planned for their weddings and hear their excitement for their own weddings. I also shoot family portraits for Stories.

* View more of the Chong family portraits here. Continue Reading

Close Menu