Photography

Benjamin Lim In Chinese Weddings, International, Outdoor Weddings, Weddings

Morning Star Estate, Melbourne: The Wedding of Sam & Kathy

Sam and Kathy’s wedding has all the elements that make our hearts beat a little faster. Their wedding day started out traditionally with Chinese and Vietnamese influences, and then progressed to a beautiful outdoor, garden wedding at the Morning Star Estate in Melbourne, Australia. Dinner reception was held at The International of Brighton.

Sam and Kathy engaged us for a pre-wedding some months back, which was photographed by Grace. I’ve not personally met them till the day before their event in Melbourne, Australia. Sam seemed like a laid back, chill kind of guy but one who is particular about his coffee. Kathy is bubbly, cheerful & fun girl who’s into video games along with Sam. They are both really wonderful and easy to get along with.

This was my first time covering a semi-traditional Vietnamese wedding and it was pretty interesting to witness it. There were some similarities to the Chinese tradition like exchange of gifts, the games and negotiation prior to ‘picking up the bride’. The wedding day started beautifully though it was a little cold in the morning (both Alex and I were too used to Malaysian weather!). Blue skies and fluffy white clouds (plus vineyards!) were perfect ingredients for a beautiful garden wedding.

We love how Sam and Kathy personalized their wedding invitation with a wax seal and beautifully handwritten calligraphy by Sam (you’ll see a sample of that later!).

Diane In For Photographers, Musings, Tips + Ideas

DIY: Clothes Pin Photo Frame

Are you getting anxious about spending heaps of money for the coming Christmas season?

Are you bored of Christmas decorations that look the same year after year?

Are you running out of ideas for Christmas gifts?

Worry no more! We at Stories are here to help you!

Pardon my impersonation of an annoying informercial announcer above, now that I got your attention, I’d like to show you a fun and easy way of making a photo frame that is out of the ordinary.

Introducing, The Unconventional Photo Changer Frame!

Diane In Family + Children Portraits, Musings, Portraits, Tips + Ideas

Family Portraits: Edwin, Priscilla, Joseph, Joy-Anne and Isabel

After having done some outdoor family portraits, I realised that it’s not hard to make a photo session enjoyable for the whole family. Here’s some tips to make your family photo session truly a pleasure:

Let us know of the timing when your child is at his/her best mood. That way we’ll be able to work around the baby’s timing. Some babies are happier in the morning after a good night’s rest, while some are better in the evenings.

Bring sufficient drinking water & snacks. Since our Malaysian weather is hot and humid, staying hydrated is crucial! A thirsty/hungry child (or adult, for that matter) can get whiny. ;)

Be on time for shoots. This is important for outdoor shoots especially as we don’t want to miss the best lighting during the day. The best time in terms of lighting are between 7.30 – 9.30am and 5 – 7pm. It tends to get warmer after 9.30am, which might mean a cranky kid! It’ll also be a shame to miss out on good lighting for your shoot!

Talk to us! Communicate the ideas that you might have for your shoot with us. Some parents might like to have a picnic, while others just want a casual day in the park. Share with us the list of props that you have.

With all the above, I present you… Edwin, Priscilla, Joseph, Joy-Anne and Isabel.

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Testimonials, Weddings

The Wedding of Son & Jil

We would both like to say how very very glad we are to have chosen Stories. It was the second largest expense on our tiny wedding budget (there goes the deposit for our home!) and as mentioned to Grace, we initially had doubts as to whether we could afford to spend that kind of money on just photos! However, I really fell in love with Grace’s work at first sight and watching our quick edit morning CD confirmed that it was worth the extra $$ we had to squeeze out for the photos! Everyone (including us) were so impressed by the professionalism and warmth exhibited by Grace, Ben and Andrew.

A special thanks to the team for the lovely shots (I really wanted the focus to be on the people, which Grace & team delivered beautifully), Ben for great editing (Son has burned too many copies of the DVD, my mum has distributed these to her entire village and Son has tortured our relatives and friends in Malaysia and Adelaide innumerably with it ‘cos he’s really pleased with how “yao-yeng” he looks in it) and we really really appreciate Ben and Andrew’s patience and understanding (in particular, Ben’s sensitivity towards Son’s nervousness at public speaking when he subtly suggested Son use the podium) during the loooong evening dinner.

Once more, we really really want to thank Grace, Ben and Andrew for making our special day all that much more special and we can’t gush on enough about how much we love Stories! :)

– Son & Jil –

Grace Tan In Casual Portraits, Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

Kids Fashion Photography – Goodies Garment

Recently, we got commissioned for a different type of photo shoot – a lifestyle shoot for a new kid’s fashion brand, called Goodies Garment. Their website and business is still in the process of being finalized, but I would like to share some of our personal favourites from this shoot. On the day of the shoot, it was drizzling, but despite the weather, the kids followed instructions really well, and I am really pleased with the results. What do you think?