SAMANTHA K. TAN

ARIANA.

This was my first birthday shoot. Families and friends came together to celebrate Ariana’s 2nd birthday. People danced, ate, sang and reunited for this special moment. A friend recommended me to Ariana’s parents, and I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity. Not only did I get to shoot a live event, but I was reminded of what excites me as a photographer. I love connecting with people.

After that day, I realized I wanted to do more birthday shoots, especially for children. You might ask, why? Isn’t it hard or stressful? Can’t it be hectic with kids running around everywhere? The answer is yes. But I live for those moments. I like the idea of sliding in between crowds and quickly taking photos of that “perfect moment.” Plus, I love kids. I love the bright atmosphere, the music, the family and friends coming together and the kids running around and laughing. Seeing everyone happy makes me happy, and all I want to do is give them something to look back on, to bond over the great memories and to appreciate the people around them. And I hope I did just that when they hired me as their photographer.

JENNY’S MOTHER.

For her mother’s birthday, Jenny wanted to have a photoshoot at Longwood Gardens. I was pretty young when I last visited the garden, so I was super excited to visit again, especially for a photoshoot!

This. Photoshoot. Was. So. Fun!!! Jenny’s mother was a bit shy and awkward at first, but I’m glad I got to provide her a comfortable space to just be herself in — to be present with her daughter. As a fellow filmmaker, I understood that this moment was special for the both of them. Jenny lived in a different state and was pretty active in the film industry; she finally got the chance to visit her mother. During the photoshoot, I overheard Jenny saying she and her mother didn’t have a lot of nice photos together. I wanted to do this for them. I really wanted to capture their love for each other, their beauty, their goofiness — everything.

The mother and daughter chemistry was absolutely beautiful, and it was a pleasure working with these ladies.

MCKENZIE.

That day, my family and I were celebrating my cousin’s 2nd birthday and my aunt asked me to take photos for them. She’s a November baby. Since my grandmother’s birthday is also in November and Thanksgiving was around the corner, my family members all decided to fly to Pennsylvania to conjoin the birthdays and holiday. During this time, I wasn’t home too often because I lived on campus, but I’m glad I made it home for this special moment. It was so nice to see my aunts and uncles all in one place. Since we all live in different states, I only get to see them once or twice a year. What a great day. Wow, McKenzie’s so cute!!!

BRYANT.

These photos were taken in Fall 2019 — right before I flew to LA to finish my last semester of college there. Bryant and I would always have photoshoots, but as we prepare for the post-grad life, we knew this was going to be our last… at least for a while.

To celebrate his 23rd birthday, we decorated his wall with string lights, numbered balloons, vines, and silver and gold fabric. It took us about two hours to set up. We had a difficult time deciding how we wanted the frame to look. It was hard because we had limited space; we were working in the kitchen. After we finally set up our dream backdrop, I used a lamp to light up the one side of his face. On his other side, we had his roommate standing on a chair and sprinkling confetti over him as he blows more confetti into the camera. It was a trial and error type of thing. Since we had no control of where/how the confetti flew and where it fell, we had to do it over and over again until we got it right. I took over 800 photos.

One thing I took from this photoshoot is that DIY sets aren’t so bad at all. It allows us to really immerse ourselves within our space and to just be creative with it. It can definitely be challenging if we have limited resources, but I love problem solving, so it was really fun!

VALENTINE’S DAY.

My client wanted to do a Valentine’s Day shoot at the Philadelphia Art Museum. I’ve only been there once (when I was younger), so I honestly didn’t understand the appeal of shooting at the museum, but what the hey — I trusted and respected her creative decisions. Once we got to the museum, she immediately went to the bathroom to change. I didn’t know what to expect since I wasn’t told much about what she was going to wear, but my jaw dropped when she walked out of the bathroom… that beautiful long dress — MWUAH! Excellent! At this moment, I still had no idea what to expect from the shoot, but I was ready to start.

After a few minutes, we found the beautiful golden staircase. She quickly grabbed her rose and ran up the stairs. All I could think was, “WOW! She’s beautiful. The staircase is amazing. Let’s do this. We got this!” I really wanted to capture a sense of innocence but maturity. It was Valentine’s Day after all. I wanted to focus on the flow of her dress and her eyes. I think putting the two together could bring out those themes… Looking at her dress, I see each fold demonstrating a different part of her life. Although things could get rough (like how her dress folds in around her legs), things will eventually “smooth” its way out (hence the dress perfectly and smoothly flowing down the steps and the folds overlapping each other). Her eyes also speak to me; I feel like she has a lot of stories to tell. By having her look at her rose or looking off into the distance could reinforce the mentioned themes. Unfortunately we were asked to stop taking photos (oops…), but working with what we got, I think we did a pretty good job.

This specific photoshoot taught me to become more open minded and consider locations that aren’t necessarily common to shoot at. I learned that I can strictly follow my clients’ visions but also adjust accordingly. I can use what I have and adapt to my environment.

THANKSGIVING.

Super blessed to have gotten the chance to take photos for my family’s Thanksgiving. As a photographer, I can proudly say that I connect with people very easily. Whether or not I personally know them, seeing people come together simply makes me happy, and I just wanted to help my clients (in this case, our family) remember this beautiful moment.

We all live in different states, and although we try our best to have one or two family reunions every year, we would always miss a few family members. This was the first time that everyone could make it — for Thanksgiving, for my cousin’s birthday and my grandmother’s birthday. Yes, this was a HUGE celebration.

This was also my first time taking photos for my family, so this was a pretty big deal for me. Raised in a traditional Asian household, sometimes it’s hard for them to understand what I do as a filmmaker and photographer. My family knew I was into photography and saw a few of my works, but I guess it hit them differently now that I was taking photos for them. They loved the photos. I’m so happy I got to do this for them.

I took plenty more photos, but for privacy reasons, I’d like to keep them for myself and my family.