Photography

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

Happy 27th Anniversary, Mr & Mrs Tan!

When Vivian contacted me over email one day about her family portraits, I didn’t realize that it was for her parent’s 27th anniversary. It was only on the day of the shoot that I realized they had created all these fun boards for the shoot. Little did I know that she had a really fun family, willing to do all sorts of things for the camera!

But you would have never guessed that by looking at this image below…

Slowly but surely, their true nature starts to show…

And then we got all warmed up when we trooped to the garden for some photos…

Grace Tan In Chinese Weddings, Weddings

Kevin + Denisse

Photographers: Grace & Ian
Location: Concorde Hotel, KL
Make Up & Hair: Kimmy

When I first met Denisse, she told me that she is a really simple person. They like to keep things simple, have a simple wedding and a simple dinner. And that made her one of the least stressed brides I have ever photographed. I think it must come from the fact that Denisse is from Miri, Sarawak. A lot of East Malaysians I know are super friendly and laidback!

And so, Denisse and Kevin had a simple wedding. But one that is full of good memories, laughter and friendship.

Grace Tan In Portraits, Pre-Wedding & Engagement Portraits

Pre-Wedding: Derrick & Wan Leng

Photographer: Grace
Make up & hair: Sharon from Wedding Isle
Bridal Gown: Pretty in White
Evening Gown: Red Lantern Studio
Location: Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Love, like wine, should get better with age. It should be savoured bit by bit and with every sip, cherished.

Even though Wan Leng has been together with Derrick for almost a decade, just like aged wine, their love tastes sweeter and better than ever. When she first met him, she thought that he was kind of cute; if there was Facebook back then, she would have clicked “LIKE” immediately. After Wan Leng’s first encounter with Derrick, she could not stop thinking about him… and now, a decade later, she still can’t stop thinking about him!

The feeling was mutual, because when Derrick first saw Wan Leng, he thought that she was attractive beyond words yet she had this aura of mystery that made him want to know her more. They met at a social function and since then their friendship blossomed through different modes of communication.

Derrick: “Usually my first impressions of a person are spot on, and my first impression of her was that she had a special inner & outer beauty bottled into one. Although the first impression counts for something, I believe that lasting impression is above all, and I hope to give her the best lasting impression a man could ever give.”

Wan Leng: “Sometimes I still can’t believe that I ended up with him and *gasp* I’m getting married to him! :) And I’m very excited!”

I’m excited for the both of you too!

Grace Tan In Family + Children Portraits, Portraits

Family Portraits: Lee, Cyndi, Russell & Owen

My relationship with the Fang family started years ago through my sister’s friendship with Sara. I photographed Sara’s extended family years ago, and more recently, her immediate family. And now, Sara’s sister – Cyndi’s family. I just love the way the world works and how one thing just leads to another.

Lee and Cyndi are really cool people. Of course, so are their sons Russell & Owen. They are the kind of family that does things together – like making your own mooncake festival lantern from scratch. By their conversations, you know that Lee & Cyndi have a deep friendship with their children; they speak about anything under the sun. Even though Russell’s PMR exams are just around the corner, he wasn’t cooped up in the room 24 hours 7 days a week… he was out taking his family portraits. :)

Grace Tan In Boudoir, Casual Portraits, Portraits, Studio

Lights, Boudoir, Action!

I recently did another boudoir photography shoot, this time completely in the studio. It challenged my creativity because I had to constantly think of new poses for my client. You wouldn’t have thought that the background to this shot was anything but black in real life right? In fact, the background was grey. I used two flashes to create the look and to reduce all ambient light around my subject.

In the past, I used to shun away from using flash for my photography work. It is a scary thing that is hard to control. But once you begin to understand it, light is a fun thing to play around with. I am still learning and improving my skills over time. I know that there are flaws to this image, but overall, I am rather pleased with it.