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Grace Tan
In Indian + Punjabi Weddings, Portraits, , Weddings

Wedding in E&O, Penang: Arun & Rani

“I think I am the most complicated person I know and I’d ever come to know. I am usually conflicted, emotionally. I hold back when I should take the plunge. I let it rip and fly off the handle when I should hold it in. Yes, complicated, is definitely a word I’d use to describe myself.

The absolute truth is, I don’t think I’d have grown so much in the last 6 years if not for this one person who came into my life and turned it completely upside down! Arun. He changed me in ways I didn’t think I’d let myself change, and ways I didn’t know I could change, and ways I didn’t know I should change. He has been my best friend, my worst nightmare (at times) and my most loyal companion. Through it all though, he has just been there. Refusing to budge. Refusing to leave. Refusing to take ‘No’ as any kind of answer…”

Rani

20131215_WEDDING_ARUN_RANI_001920131215_WEDDING_ARUN_RANI_0074I remember my first encounter with Rani. It was at the Westin wedding fair, and she came with a group of friends who were funny, witty and easy to chat with. That instant, we clicked. Rani signed up for our photography package, and months later, off to Penang I went with Diane to photograph their Malaysian reception. Arun and Rani were wed in India (darn, I still am hoping to photograph a wedding there one day!) but they had a 2nd celebration in Penang’s colonial looking E&O Hotel. We spent a good part of the day taking portraits, and then photographing their dinner reception in the evening.

A really funny thing happened that morning while Diane and I were waiting to meet Arun and Rani. Since I had only met Rani once and it was more than 6 months ago, I couldn’t quite recall how she looked like… exactly. And we had never met Arun. So while we were waiting, a couple walks into E&O after disembarking from their wedding car, all dressed up, and we went over to them thinking that they were Arun and Rani. Needless to say, it was an awkward moment when we all realized we didn’t know each other! Well, we had a good laugh after that and we wished the other couple well.

I was glad when the ‘real’ Arun and Rani turned up and everything else went on smoothly that day without any further hiccups! :) Continue Reading

Grace Tan
In For Photographers, International, Life, Musings

Fraser Island, Australia with the Panasonic GX7

Early this month, I was invited to Fraser Island, Australia to test out the new Panasonic Lumix GX7. The first time I laid eyes on it, I fell in love! It has a beautiful vintage look that will look good with any outfit I wear, plus, it fit my small hands perfectly. Over 2 days, I had the privilege of going around Fraser Island with this micro four thirds camera and a huge range of lenses. Thank God the camera and lenses were light, so lugging around 7 lenses in my sling bag was easy-peasy! I would definitely consider this camera as a travel buddy.

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The landscape at Fraser Island is just so raw and untouched. It is the largest sand island in the world, with the beach stretching over 123km in length. What was interesting to me was the fact that the beach is actually a designated highway so there are signs saying 80km/hr is the max you can go!

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Now can you imagine this landscape with a couple in the photo? Darn, I wish we had models to photograph!

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All the photos in this post were taken with the Lumix GX7 – minimally edited. I was really amazed at the quality and colour of the images. The curse of being a photographer is that sometimes, your photos never get to see the light of day because you’re always wanting to ‘edit’ your images before posting them online. I mean, I have been guilty of colour grading every single travel photo before posting it to Facebook! Since the images that come out of this camera look superb already, hopefully, it’ll cure me of this ‘editing’ disease that every photographer faces.

The 90-degree tiltable Live View Finder also made shooting interesting since I could see things from a different perspective. (Plus, it made me look cool – do refer to the first image in this post). One thing I had to get used to was learning to focus on the touch screen, but with the focus peaking feature, it gave me the confidence knowing that the highlighted edges in an image are the parts in focus.

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Grace Tan
In International, Portraits,

Pre-Wedding: Nicholas and Lina in Krabi, Thailand

When I told Lina that she had to wade through sea water while wearing her gown in order to climb onto a long tail boat for our shoot, she balked. A little. But I thank God that she trusted me enough to just go with the flow. I must say that this pre-wedding shoot was a little challenging for me. Coordinating 2 boats in the open sea without a loud hailer (and with no Thai language under my belt) made me look a bit like a silly girl trying to play the charades with herself. Lots of sign language, yelling over the water, and patience was required.

Thank God I was pleased with the end results!

This was my 2nd time to Krabi, Thailand but my first time shooting at the surrounding islands off Krabi. I think being out of your comfort zone every now and then is a good thing. I seriously didn’t quite know what to expect because I had never been to these islands before. I had only seen those picture perfect postcard shots in all those tourist shops… but of course, those were just postcards… right?

So all I could do was trust the boatmen whom I spoke to, and believe somehow that we made the right choice to go to Hong Island.

The other part of the shoot was done at the Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort, so no climbing into boats there!

Nic and Lina, I hope you enjoyed our little adventure in Krabi (not to the mention the delicious Thai seafood!). Diane and I had a blast, and this shoot will definitely sit in my mind as one of the most memorable for the year! It was also little Krysta’s first ever overseas trip at age 2 months! Couldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for Alex who willingly became my nanny during the shoot. I have an amazing husband!

Enjoy the photos… :)

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Grace Tan
In Chinese Weddings, Weddings

An Underwater Experience: The Wedding of Seng Yong and Adeline

Ok, we didn’t really get wet for this wedding. In fact, we were totally dry. But what was cool was the fact that the underwater world was brought to us instead, in the form of flowery seahorses, shells, treasure troves, starfish and more! Seng Yong and Adeline are avid divers and they love the sea. Together, they’ve ventured underwater to many locations within Malaysia, Fiji and Bali. So their underwater themed wedding was their way of sharing their love of the sea to the hundreds of guests that attended their wedding dinner. Natasha Khoo’s team from The Peak Xperience did an amazing job at decorating the hallway.

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Grace Tan
In Outdoor Weddings, Testimonials, Weddings

Beach wedding in Andaman, Langkawi: Vanessa & Michael

I’ve said it countless times before, and I’ll say it again, I simply ADORE beach and garden weddings. Despite the fact that tropical Malaysia is rather hot and humid, the whole atmosphere during a beach wedding is completely relaxed and laidback. There were days when I waltzed up to a shoot in flip flops or barefooted! Vanessa and Michael’s wedding was held at the gorgeous Andaman, Langkawi. White sandy beaches, blue skies and seas greeted us that day as everyone bustled around in preparation for the wedding.

Though I was excited to photograph this wedding, it came with a new set of challenges as I had just twisted my ankle the day before the wedding. In an unglamorous fashion, I tripped when I came down a short flight of stairs at my home, just before I was due to head to the airport. My ankle ached that entire night even though I had placed an ice pack on it, and I had no choice but to pray for a better ankle for the shoot the next day. On the morning of the wedding, I hobbled slightly to Michael and Vanessa’s room, but miraculously, once the whole event started, I was prancing around… almost normally.

I also thank God for Johan who was there as my 2nd photographer. On the day we arrived, he carried my bags, drove the car to Andaman and got me food and an ice pack. I could not have done it alone! That’s just one of the reasons we ALWAYS shoot a wedding with 2 photographers! Photographers are always expected to perform, even though they are sick or injured. Vanessa and Michael were really kind though, they were totally concerned about my foot and my wellbeing.

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