Darin Fong Photography

Jul

jacky + clarence

By Darin 0 Comments

Categories: weddings

When Jacky and Clarence first contacted me regarding their wedding in San Francisco, I initially said I could not shoot it since I had a wedding in San Diego the day before. But when I saw their schedule I knew I would have enough time to fly up to San Francisco first thing in the morning to make it in time for their wedding. So after my wedding on Friday, I went home, downloaded my photos, recharged the batteries and packed my gear. Even though I only got 3 hours of sleep before heading to the airport, I was excited to be shooting a wedding in San Francisco.

Although it was a long day, the energy of such a great wedding kept me going for the whole day and into the night.

When Jacky e-mailed me their schedule, I though it was interesting the the schedule said, “The Biggest Wedding Extravaganza for 2008 Begins!!!!!” When I first saw the reception room I knew she was not kidding! I believe there were at least 450 guests, the biggest head table I have ever seen, and more lighting gear than you would see at a big concert. What an amazing production. All the video, sound and lighting was done by CV Creations.

Thanks to Jacky and Clarence for letting me experience such an outrageous wedding.

Click here to view their slideshow.

I think there were more cameras than people at this wedding. I felt like all the extra photographers were following me like “My Verizon Network” in the commercials!

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Jul

deborah + william

By Darin 0 Comments

Categories: weddings

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Debby and Bill are from Arizona, so I never had a chance to meet them before the wedding. Little did I know what a great couple and great family they had. They chose the Hotel Del Coronado for their wedding. I photographed their rehearsal dinner out on the Hotel Del’s beach the night before and had a chance to get to know them and their family a little better.

The wedding day was perfect. The decor and flowers by Karen Tran Florals was amazing! Deborah had seen the wedding photos I shot of Karen Tran’s wedding and wanted a similar design. Of course, Emily Smiley- Wedding Consultant was running the show and she did another great job in spite of being just about ready to have her baby any minute! I felt sorry for her having to walk all over the Del being 9 months pregnant.

As often as I shoot weddings at the Del, I never get tired of it. The hotel has so many great options for photographs.

Click here to view their slideshow.

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Jul

molly + adam

By Darin 0 Comments

Categories: weddings

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Molly and Adam, both attorneys, “negotiated” an incredible wedding day at the La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla. I have photographed many weddings there, but they made their wedding different than others. First, Molly and her bridesmaids got ready in the Garden Suite, a room that I never knew existed at the La Valencia. It is a beautiful suite next to the Verandah Room reception area. It is always great to have a big room to shoot the getting ready shots.

During the ceremony, they had the Ray Gospel Choir as the music for the ceremony. They are the resident choir at the House of Blues Gospel Brunch. It was an amazing sight to see the look on the guests’ faces when they heard the gospel music echoing through the gardens of the hotel.

Thanks to Emily Smiley- Wedding Consultant, for making sure everything ran smoothly. And the decor and flowers from Botanica were lovely as always.

I have to give huge props to the videographers, modern 8 films, for the engagement video they produced for the reception. They shoot on super 8mm film for a really different look. I have seen many engagement videos, and their work is stands out! The best part was that Adam surprised Molly with the videographers at the wedding. Of course, they were very easy to work with which always makes my job a lot easier.

Click here to view Molly and Adam’s wedding slideshow.

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Jun

yeon kyeong + stephen

By Darin 0 Comments

Categories: weddings

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Yeon Kyeong and Stephen happened to have their wedding on one of the hottest days of the year. Not to mention the fact that they had a wedding ceremony at the First United Methodist Church of San Diego, an Asian tea ceremony at a private home in Rancho Santa Fe, and then a reception at Pearl Chinese Cuisine in Rancho Bernardo.

Needless to say, it was a long, hot day. But nevertheless, every event throughout the day was amazing. Yeon Kyeong and Stephen did a great job despite the heat.

Thanks to Liz Beck of Liz Beck Weddings & Events, the entire day was on schedule and ran very smoothly. Thank you Liz! And thank you to Brad at White Wedding Day Events for all the amazing flowers and decor at all three locations.

Click here to view their slideshow.

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Jun

jan’s maternity portraits

By Darin 0 Comments

Categories: portraits

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Jan was a bride’s maid in Julie and William’s wedding I shot a couple years ago. Now she’s expecting her first child. She called me to find out about scheduling newborn portraits and I mentioned to her that she should do some maternity portraits.

Thankfully she and her husband decided that having photos of Jan during this amazing time in their lives would be a great idea.

Many times, expectant mothers don’t usually feel the most photogenic or looking their best when they are pregnant, but once they see the photos, they are so thankful for capturing their beautiful belly!

Jan was a perfect maternity model. She was very relaxed and looked great. Maybe it was because she’s been lucky enough to have an easy pregnancy.

If you are interested in getting maternity photos done or aren’t sure if you should do it, please give me a call. You will be glad you did.

Here’s a few shots from her session:

(click on the thumbnails below for a larger view.)

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Jun

homecoming

By Darin 9 Comments

Categories: parties and events and portraits

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Where do I start…I have to say today’s shoot at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corp Base was such an amazing experience, I don’t think I can really explain it all in a short blog post.

A month or so ago I was contacted by Annie, the wife of a Marine who was on his way home from a 7 month deployment. He was also coming home to see his 5 month old son for the first time. When she asked me to be there to photograph her husband’s arrival, I was honored and thrilled for the opportunity.

I have the utmost respect for anyone serving in the military and the very least I could ever do is to take some photographs for a family who has sacrificed so much on our behalf. So I offered to do the shoot for free.

Annie, her kids, her brother, her parents, and her grandparents were all there and I was amazed that they were constantly thanking ME for taking the photos. Them thanking me? I should be the one thanking them! They were all SO nice it was a pleasure photographing their family.

Anyway, I could go on all day about the excitement, the emotion, the amazing photo ops, etc. It was quite the experience for me. Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to get home and go through the photos.

Thank you to the Bull family for such a great experience!

Click here to see their slideshow.

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Jennifer Remelius posted the following on June 13, 2008 at 4:48 pm.
Hi Darin,

I’ve known Annie since before she even started dating Barry. What you did is amazing. Annie is one of the strongest people I have ever met and living right down the street from her during the time Barry was gone, I know this is not something I could ever have done. They truely are amazing people. Thank you so much for capturing their love for each other and strenth as a family. Beautifly done, it left me in tears.

Jennifer
Donna posted the following on June 10, 2008 at 7:34 am.
I am a long-time friend of the family and I was deeply touched by this slideshow. It captured intimate moments that would have been confined to the limits of memory - now the family can relive this precious experience again and again. You did an amazing job, and I’m grateful the family shared this with me.
Kathyjo McCloskey posted the following on June 6, 2008 at 10:17 pm.
Dear Darin,

I am Annie’s Aunt that lives in Thousand Oaks, CA. I work for the Hallmark Corporation. Can I submit this to our Corporation? This is the best Hallmark Commercial I have ever cried to. Thank you for your kindness with our little family.

Many Blessings,

Kathyjo McCloskey
Deidre (Annie's mom) posted the following on June 4, 2008 at 11:12 am.
Darin,

What an immense and burgeoning blessing your contribution has been to our family and friends! Barry’s homecoming to his precious family and meeting his son, Christian, for the very first time, was a most special time for us.

Your beautiful documentation of the occasion is allowing loved ones who could not be there to enjoy it with us.

As I looked at some of the expressions you caught on Barry’s face, it gave me great joy to know that the moment he had awaited and longed for, for months, had at last come, and his cup was full.

These photos powerfully swept into the background of time the long months that both Barry and Annie endured apart, each with their own challenges. . .and brought to the fore the fruits of a job well done by both of them, and the proof of God’s faithfulness to them.

Thank you for capturing these high moments and giving us a visual reminder of this very special day for our family.

You have done a very generous thing, and we are grateful.

Sincerely,
Deidre
Janet posted the following on June 3, 2008 at 9:34 pm.
Hi Darin,
What a beautiful thing you did today.
My sentiments are the same as yours about anyone serving our country. We can never do enough for their sacrifices.
Your emotional slide show brought me tears of joy to see the loving family united again.
These preciious captured moments will be a constant reminder of their love and devotion to ecahother forever.
Tim Mulligan posted the following on June 3, 2008 at 7:41 pm.
This is a great contribution yet humbling when you compare what they have sacrificed. Darin turned me on to oplove.org last year and they help connect photographers and military families to enjoy the gift that keeps on giving.
Dawn posted the following on June 3, 2008 at 7:26 pm.
I don’t know the family and I wasn’t at the homecoming. I saw your post on the UT news article about the homecoming and wanted to see the slideshow. It made me cry. You did an absolutely amazing job. My husband is leaving and I know if I ever wanted to do what this family did in capturing those special moments, I would definitely call you. Thank you for sharing this beautiful slide show.
Mom posted the following on June 3, 2008 at 2:56 pm.
Everytime i watch the video or look at the pictures I get teary eyed. All i can say is “Wow!”. I am so glad you were part of it, Darin.
Annie posted the following on June 2, 2008 at 5:49 pm.
Darin, we are amazed at how the pictures have turned out! Thank you so much for being a part of our experience, your photos are not only unique but some of the best we have ever seen. It will be an adventure to see and go through the rest, which we look forward to.

From Barry :

Darin, today was my first day meeting you but your professionalism is top notch. My wife asked if this would be a good idea and I was more than willing to do it. The sacrifice I have made truly was a great one, one that will stick with me for a lifetime, but you have helped me to capture my own first moments with my new son and the rest of my family. I am in your debt.

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May

mindy + cameron engagement

By Darin 2 Comments

Categories: engagement

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Mindy and Cameron booked me for their wedding over the phone from Chicago so I never had a chance to meet them until today. Although I’ve always wanted to visit Chicago but never had a chance, I was fortunate that they flew out to San Diego to meet with all the vendors for their wedding at the Hotel Del Coronado later this year.

While they were both here, we managed to schedule an engagement portrait session in the Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego.

We had a great time taking advantage of the endless possibilities downtown. Mindy and Cameron did great and I can’t wait until their wedding this fall.

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Jane Robinson posted the following on June 2, 2008 at 4:17 am.
Dear Darin,
WHAT FUN!! These are so light-hearted and creative and really capture Mindy and Cameron just enjoying each other. Thank you so much for sending us a few so soon–we really appreciate your time and work with them. They are really great photos and I have a feeling it’ll be hard to make choices when we get to see all of them:):) It sure makes us even more excited for their wedding in September!
God bless,
Jane (for Dave, too)
Mindy Robinson posted the following on June 1, 2008 at 5:14 pm.
Darin!!!! oh my goodness i am so excited!!!! i LOVE THEM! thank you for posting so quickly! cameron and i had a BALL with you and are so thrilled you are shooting our wedding day! you are so creative and really capture a great sense of who we are! we had so much fun and it’s truly reflected in your gorgeous photos. thank you again and can’t wait!!! just a couple more months!

fondly
mindy (for cameron too)

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May

vanessa + michelle

By Darin 2 Comments

Categories: weddings

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This was the first time I had the opportunity to photograph a commitment ceremony and I have to say it was amazing.

Vanessa and Michelle have been together for 15 years and decided to share their commitment ceremony with friends and family. The story of their lives together is very compelling. It was great to see how much their family has accepted them.

The event took place at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. In spite of the stormy, rainy weather before the day of the ceremony, the weather that day was perfect. There was no shortage of beautiful locations in the Friendship Garden and the Organ Pavilion. We got lucky that it had been raining earlier since a graduation ceremony at the Organ Pavilion was canceled so we had the place almost to ourselves. How convenient!

Here’s a link to their slideshow.

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Vicki posted the following on June 11, 2008 at 9:48 am.
Your photograpy is incredible! Although I was not at the ceremony, I was able to feel the emotion through your extraordinary photographs. Amazing!!
MsB posted the following on May 26, 2008 at 8:05 pm.
Oh, I just love that sepia photo of the couple on the walkway — AWESOME!!!

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May

cabo

By Darin 1 Comment

Categories: personal

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Every year, our family takes a vacation down to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Although it can be tricky scheduling a vacation amongst all my weddings, we seem to manage to make it down there in May most years. It’s great going back to the same place each year at the same time since it’s something our whole family looks forward to each year.

So if you’re getting married in Cabo, schedule it for May and I can shoot it without any additional travel fees!

This was the first year with three kids so it was a little different. Surprisingly travel with three kids and two weeks worth of luggage was easier than expected.

We basically went swimming every day and spent many mornings building sand castles on the beach.

Fortunately I had wireless internet access so I was still able to do my e-mails and even make phone calls via Skype. As much as this is supposed to be a vacation, I can’t be away form my computer!

We always try to get a few family portraits done while we’re in Cabo. I just LOVE shooting photos at the Westin Regina Hotel:

Here’s our villa in Cabo:

Just kidding! The villa above is the owner’s house. They are the architects and owners of Club Cascadas. You can stay there for only $3500/night!

Hair braiding is a must in Cabo:

And so is swimming, even for Jackie (please excuse the point-and-shoot camera):

But at least the point-and-shoot camera is waterproof:

Although we won’t win any sand castle competitions, I think we did pretty good this year with our limited tools:

This sea serpent was our favorite:

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MsB posted the following on June 1, 2008 at 7:33 pm.
Such a beautiful family, Darin! You are so blessed. Say, are you a Nikon or Canon shooter? I’m getting ready to buy my Nikon D300 but, of course, Canon shooters tell me to get the 5D. Decisions, decisions, decisions. haha!

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Apr

jacky + clarence engagement

By Darin 0 Comments

Categories: engagement

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Jacky and Clarence are getting married in San Francisco later this year. Since I had a trip up to Sacramento, they were kind enough to drive to Sacramento to have me take their engagement portraits. We decided to go to downtown Sacramento. Although I grew up in Sacramento, I have never shot portraits downtown. It’s always fun to try out a new location and as it turns out, there was no shortage of great spots within a couple block radius. I will definitely be looking forward to shooting more around that location again.