Janeen recently graduated with a doctorate and wanted to commemorate her achievement with a family photo shoot. We had the photo session at her parents’ lovely garden in Bukit Jalil and had her nephews and in-laws join in too. We did two kinds of shots: a series with Janeen in her graduation gown and then a series of casual group shots and individual portraits. Janeen’s nephew also graduated – from kindergarten! So it was a double celebration. :)
Gone are the days where graduating students stand in front of a fake bookcase with equally fake smiles for a graduation photo. Graduating students want to have images that are modern, fun, hip and insta-worthy. While we can provide a ‘safe’ image for parents to print and display on their wall, we will also create images that are candid and natural. Our studio in Oval Damansara, TTDI has a natural setting that is suitable for such shots. We utilise various corners of our space for the session, including our hipster brick wall and we can even add on a couch and carpet to make it homely!
Alternatively, we encourage students to do graduation photos at their university or high education centres. It is a great way to remember the place they spent so many hours studying and developing friendships. The session can be combined with other friends, so it will be fun to shoot together. If family members are involved, then why not combine a graduation portrait shoot with a family shoot within the comforts of your home? Continue Reading
We photographed Corina and Andrew a few times through the years – once for their pre-wedding, then family portraits after the little one was born, and a few months ago, Corina’s family! It was her sister, Samantha’s graduation and we were so elated that we got to celebrate an important moment with her. It is really our pleasure that we get to walk through life with our clients, taking photos of key moments in their lives.
Just this thought came to me the other day… through the years, we have actually accumulated Gigs and Gigs of data in our hard drives. Even though we photographed a client 12 years ago, we still have their wedding or family photos till today! Crazy, isn’t it… but these images are as precious to us as they are to our clients. If anyone loses their images, they can always contact us as we have 2 copies of their photos or video stored away for them! Growing up, after developing the photos from negatives, I always imagined it was my responsibility to keep these images safe. I don’t know if my clients think we are crazy, but yeah, we have records of hundreds of family photos, all archived safely for them.
Graduation portraits have since moved on from being stiff images posed in front of a fake bookshelf, holding certificates with an equally forced smile. Come on…everyone is young, energetic, about to take on challenges that the world is about to give them… these portraits should be bursting with energy! We’re pleased to have had Jolina and her friend Janisha over at our studio recently for their graduation photos.
It’s obvious they were really good friends as the session was filled with lots of fun, under Jamie’s direction as photographer. Jolina is no stranger to us, as years ago, I photographed her sister Angela’s wedding and also Angela’s graduation photos. So we’re really pleased to have photographed her family again this year. I was also excited to hear that they have a wall full of canvases at home, covered with photos that we have taken through the years. :)
Oh, and there was also something special that happened at this session… our other photographer Nigel who assisted Jamie at this session met Jolina for the first time at the studio… Well, all I have to say is that we at Stories sometimes provide matchmaking services. *GRIN*
