family

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

85 Blessed Years – Amy Low

Our second winner for the free portrait shoot is Amy Low. An amazing lady whose story is told by her granddaughter, Priscilla. Here is Priscilla’s account of her grandmother’s life.

Her name is Amy – beloved.

Yet her life is a long unloving journey. Unknown. Untold.

Taken from her biological parents at birth, she was given to a childless couple so that she could care for them in their old age.
Love her they did not. Instead, they abused her.

At 16, she entered an arranged marriage.
Love her he did not.

From one prison to another, unloved.

But God has been faithful, merciful, loving.

85 years old, fragile, wrinkled.
Daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother.
She bears no grudge, no resentment. She has learnt to love. Beloved indeed.

My wish is that her smile can be immortalized, for her generations to come.

I was really touched by Priscilla’s story. How often, stories like these are untold, kept tucked away in the recesses of our mind, until something draws it out into the open. It is stories like these that remind me about how precious each person is. No matter what background we may have come from. How we all deserve love. And how large and extravagant God’s love is.

This is Amy Low.

Isn’t she beautiful?

She used to weave these baskets from paper and sell them. Such creativity!

Her son and daughter-in-law.

Priscilla with her family.

Amy’s grandson – Reuben & his wife, Joanne.

Four generations of women.

And the men…

A little lovin’ going on here…

Even Joseph tried his luck – attempting to give a kiss to Joy-Anne who promptly avoided him!

And finally, the entire family.

Thanks for sharing your grandmother’s story, Priscilla. I am glad to be part of history – knowing that I have immortalized her smile for your family. I pray for God’s richest blessings to surround every one of you!

If you’d like to view the 1st winner’s photos and read her miraculous baby story, click here!

Grace Tan In Maternity, Portraits

Maternity Portraits: May Lee & Adrian

It’s amazing when as a photographer, you can connect with your clients. It only took a few minutes for us to feel comfortable with each other. I only met May Lee & Adrian on the day of our shoot, and within two hours, we parted as friends. The love that they share for each other is just so obvious. May Lee, you look gorgeous! And Adrian, you’re not too bad yourself too! :)

I love this bib and clothing that has cute words like these. Even before your child forms their own opinion, the parents have decided what the kid should ‘think’. :) Yup, my kid will definitely have t-shirts that say things like “I have a cool mom”.

It was a beautiful day.

Thanks for a wonderful photo session together! Can’t wait to hear the good news really really soon! :)

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

A mother’s unending love

In May and June, I ran a competition to give away a free portrait shoot. One of the two winners is Selina, whose story is written beautifully by her husband Robert. Here is his write up that won her a free portrait shoot:

Last year July, my wife was pregnant. We were very happy waiting for the arrival of this second child.

However, in the 3rd month of the pregnancy, my wife experienced the membrane ruptured where there was very little amniotic fluid inside the water bag. When she was in the 5th month, the fluid never increased. Doctor advised us to terminate this pregnancy as the complications would cause abnormalities in the baby, and infections to my wife which may lead to death.

My wife, who had been happily waiting for the second baby, refused to terminate. She went to see several famous gynaes in the Klang Valley and all she got was the disappointing news.

She was still very persistent and flew to Singapore on her own without me knowing to seek the final opinion.

The Singapore gynae said she should continue the pregnancy. She should give the little life a chance to choose his life.

Throughout the remaining of the pregnancy, my wife encountered bleeding, fluid leaking every night when she was sleeping, she had mood swing, she was exhausted, and been refrained from many of the daily activities that she likes to do. She was not allowed to go swimming, yoga, shopping, driving, going up stairs, walking, and this was a torture for an active person like her.

The day had come and she was in the labour room with 7-8 doctors surrounding her. They were expecting that this baby was not going to make it. Baby is finally born at 7th month. I am proud to say that my wife and baby are both healthy. The doctors said this is a miracle! We have created a miracle baby!! Our son is now 3months old and he is growing like a full term baby!!

I am thankful for my wife for her persistence. She has gone through the pain throughout the pregnancy and I really want her to be deserved for this photo shoot, together with our miracle baby.

This is a family that really stuck through thick and thin. I had the pleasure of meeting their 2 wonderful children Jovie & Jovan, the miracle baby. Here are some shots from our portrait session!

This is Jovan, the miracle baby. He was a little sleepy during our photo session.

Seeing Jovan here and hearing their story reminds me of how good God is.

A little sisterly love going on here…

Some father-daughter time.

And finally, some photos of Robert & Selina together. Robert, you have an amazing wife, who has such a strong spirit and energy! And two beautiful children, whom I’m sure bring tremendous amounts of joy to the both of you. You guys definitely deserve this shoot.

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

Family Portraits: Jason, Peng & Leia

Leia is 17 months old. She loves music, dancing and playing on the slide. It took her a while to warm up to me, but in a short time, she was running around and having fun with her parents, Jason & Peng. And when Leia smiles, you just can’t help smiling along with her.

It’s obvious that Jason & Peng dote on Leia.

I love her second outfit, isn’t that super sexy for a little girl? :)

I enjoyed our little outing together, Jason & Peng! I had a great time chatting and getting to know the both of you during the shoot too! Thanks for the wonderful time!

Grace Tan In Maternity, Portraits

Maternity Portraits: Danial & Najihah

Gorgeous Najihah meets cool Danial. They look so good together, it was a breeze photographing them. Najihah sheepishly says that she likes being in front of the camera, and Danial says, “And I like her!”. Well, it’s no surprise that Najihah was a natural in front of the camera because she has appeared in a number of local television commercials.

Carcosa Seri Negara is a beautiful place to be photographed in. I am so glad that Pitter Patter managed to organize this shoot at this location. I love the decor and the style of the house. Unfortunately it rained heavily with thunder and lightning that day so we weren’t able to take shots outdoors. We were warned that the equation of Carcosa + outdoors + lightning = not a good combination.