hari raya

Chi Yin Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits, Studio

The Yearly Hari Raya Ritual: Alif Satar and Shadila Halid Family

Malaysian artist and actor Alif Satar together with his wife Shadila Halid and their extended family, made it a point to take their Hari Raya family portraits annually. It’s their family tradition to print out Raya cards every year. We love how they plan ahead of time, have their Baju Raya ready earlier and gather everyone together to have some fun before Raya. It’s the second time having this lovely family in our studio. It was wonderful capturing the nine adults and seven children having fun with one another. We love all the little silly moments and love seeing how they enjoy each other’s company. Why not adopt a family tradition like this in yours?

Chi Yin Tan In At Home, Family + Children Portraits, Portraits, Studio

Selamat Hari Raya from all of us!

Hari Raya Aidilfitri is a huge celebration here in Malaysia. Part of our Raya traditions include taking Raya family portraits for different families. It’s always nice to see families dressed up in Raya outfits of the same colour, making time to be together in a photo session. Most of the time, we even get to enjoy some Rendang, Satay, and Kuih if we are at the client’s house.

We do have some returning families who make a point of returning every year to update their family photos. I love how we can journey with families like this, seeing each other every year and watching their children grow.

I hope you have had a great celebration and a wonderful time on this occasion.

Jamie Ang In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

Our Second Raya with the Naza Family

One year ago, we were contacted to photograph Datuk Wira SM Faisal SM Nasimuddin’s Hari Raya family portraits, and I was pleased to hear that we were asked to do it again this year! What an honour for us to be invited back again to their family home. This time, Jamie took these portraits, so it was nice to have a fresh pair of eyes to the same location. Have a look at a few of last year’s photos here! Naturally, not only did we get to wear our wonderful baju raya, we also got to enjoy delicious kuih and rendang Raya. It’s a great idea to do a yearly family portrait, as you can see the growth of the family just within a year. We encourage everyone to make the idea of documenting your family a priority in your life. This is after all, a moment in history, no matter how trivial some of you might think it is. One day, your kids will look back at these images and remember…

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

Hari Raya with the Naza Family

I was honoured that an old friend had recommended me to Datuk Wira SM Faisal SM Nasimuddin, who was looking for a family portrait photographer during the Raya holidays. It was wonderful meeting the entire family behind the Naza Group of companies, including Marion Caunter. Donned in festive clothes too, I tried my best to look good setting up lights while wearing a kebaya. :)

Everyone looked really smart in their baju Raya and the kids were just too cute. Here’s the large family portrait that was set up in 5 minutes. As one of the siblings, Nadia mentioned on her Instagram account, “There’s a whole troop of nannies behind this shot”… and may I add, taking photos for the family with their mobile phones! I wish we had taken a behind the scene shot of that!

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Grace Tan In Casual Portraits, Life, Musings, Portraits, Relationships

Reminiscing: Portraits in Kelantan

A year ago, the Stories team headed to a small village in Kelantan to photograph portraits for the families affected by the devastating 2014 flood. We were just so blessed to be able to meet these families and to replace precious family photos that were lost in the flood. We braved the Hari Raya jam and drove up north, to a place we had never visited before and ate Raya kuih with families who welcomed us with open arms. Have a look at the behind the scenes video that describes more about what took place over the few days we were there. It was a one of a kind experience for all of us. Wishing a great time of family bonding for everyone celebrating Raya!

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