The Extended Tan Family Photoshoot with Orange Studios

I love photos. I love having nice pictures of my kids, family and friends. I enjoy taking the photographs, but that would also mean that I am often not in any of them. Thus, when Orange Studios approached us to do a shoot with them, I quickly replied to say yes. Especially when they agreed to let me bring my whole clan along! hehehe... Well, actually, it's just my parents, my sister and her family, and us. See how law abiding we are? Government say Stop at Two, my parents stopped at me and my sis. Government say have three or more... My sis and I have three kids each. Not too shabby, eh?

We've been wanting to get a nice shot of our three generation family. But, despite having two gigantic DSLRs in the family, photographs taken with the tripod and timer function is simply no match for this wonderful picture below. It is simply amazing that all 12 of us are looking at the camera and smiling too!!!

Photo by Orange Studios

And the amazing thing about the above photo and all the other photographs taken during the Orange Studios shoot is, it was all very spontaneous. We didn't have to line up according to height. We weren't shifted around like inanimate objects. We were not given any specific instructions to place our limbs in predefined positions nor anything like that. 

Being something of a control freak, I had to resist the urge to try to organise the kids to be synchonised "All sit with your legs out. Shawna! Sit properly! Smile! Ah yah, why some squat, some sit?!" Wait. I think I did say all that! Thankfully, the pictures just came out great. 

Ryan, the photographer, just seemed to have a knack for capturing us at our best.  

Photo by Orange Studios

We tried to ask for an outdoor shoot, figuring that nice background scenery would definitely be preferred to a boring studio shoot. But we were told that Orange Studios currently only do studio shoots, and no outdoor shoots. We further became even more skeptical when we realised that it was just gonna be a pure (boring!!!) white background. What? No ornate fake library background? No beautiful Japanese sakura flowers falling in the snow scenery? Er, not that we wanted those... just that.. er, er... you mean like that also don't have?!

But what do I know?! Look at the pix! Ryan's good, very good at making us the stars of our own shots. I can see, now, why he prefers to just use a plain white background. So that the emphasis is on us! :)

Photo by Orange Studios

You know, with my love for family photographs and making photo-customised items, I confess that I am a fan of those online website deals where you can buy a coupon for a really cheap family photo shoot... Thus, this is definitely not our first photo shoot, studio or outdoor. But, after going for a photo shoot with Orange Studios, I now understand the difference in service standards between mass booking photo shoots and the personalised service provided by Orange Studios. 

For mass booking photo shoots, the time allocated is fairly strictly adhered to. So, time is of the essence. As such, the photographers tend to frown when you appear with too much clothing changes and props. However, with Orange Studios, they actually make a personal phone call with you days before the appointed day of the shoot, to have a chat with you, giving you some tips on make up (light or none!), dressing (multi-colour is the way to go), as well as to encourage you to bring props along!

We brought our cardboard swords (above), Spiderman, Shawna's Minnie Mouse, bubbles... My sister's family brought their inline skates, Natalie her Lego, Rebecca her art box, and Isabelle brought along her whole collection of Geronimo Stilton books!

Photo by Orange Studios

We all brought clothing changes, and were very pleased to see that Orange Studios has a proper changing area in the studio that can provide you with some privacy to change in. Oh, you'd be surprised - we once went for a studio shoot which didn't have a changing area so the ladies had to go to the public toilets to change while the men hurriedly changed in a corner of the studio.

We had loads of fun that day at Orange Studios. Despite us being such a big group, Ryan was very patient and flexible with us, and especially the kids! We did big extended family shots, nuclear family shots, couple shots,  individual shots for the kids and many other different combinations and variations. 

I love this one of Asher below! Yes, of course we had to bring Spidey!  :)

Photo by Orange Studios

In my experience with the various photo shoots I have done with different studios, I realised that different studios have a different system of charging. So before you take on a studio shoot, be sure to clarify and understand what you are paying for.

Analysing Orange Studios' rate card, their system of charging is simple. You are charged $150 for the creative session of a one hour photo shoot in the studio, this is payable upon booking and is non-refundable. After the photo shoot, they will edit the pictures and place them in an online gallery for you to view and make your selection in the comfort of your own home. Thereafter, depending on how pleased you are with the resultant pictures, you can choose whichever package deals ($200 onwards) they have for you to buy the high resolution pictures, in soft copy, hard copy, flush mount album, or canvas prints. Thus, in other words, if you like the pictures taken, you can choose to pay more to get more of the pictures, but conversely, if you are not happy with the pictures taken, you can refuse to pay any more. Thus, you pay for what you want! :)

And boy do I have good news for you! If you like the style of pictures that Orange Studios does, why not give them a try? Quote "Tan Family Chronicles" and receive a S$150 cash voucher which can be offset from their package rates. However, you need to make the booking within one month from the date of this post, and the date of your photo shoot session needs to be within two months from the date of this blog post.

Look at the beautiful shot of my parents below... Frame it! :)

Photo by Orange Studios

Author's Note: Orange Studios offered us their photography services in exchange for a blog post. Opinions expressed are entirely our own! :)