Chyna Darner Photography Blog

Los Gatos Baby Photo Session

2011-03-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

What a cutie pie! Baby sessions are almost always a challenge since they don't follow direction very well and get fussy easy. But the rewards of an image like this first one makes all the work worth it! For privacy I'm leaving out family/child details. :o)

Santa Clara / San Jose Engagement Session

2011-02-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

In my endeavors to keep things exciting I'm always looking for a new location to photograph. After photographing at Santa Clara University I followed Nguyen and Nina to downtown San Jose for our second location. While looking for parking we found the awesome brick building you see in some of these images. I love a good brick wall!

San Jose Wedding

2010-12-28T20:59:00.000-08:00

Brian and Karen had a small quaint wedding on Thanksgiving day at Santa Teresa Park. Twenty of their family members gathered for the ceremony before they all headed over to Brian and Karen's house for dinner. It was simple and sweet. We were all very thankful for the perfect weather!

Road Trip Blog

2010-12-22T15:27:00.001-08:00

Three weeks, no definite plan and lots of phone pics. Follow us at www.darner-road-trip.blogspot.com

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Wedding at The Homestead in Windsor, CA

2010-09-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

Dan and Emily were married on September 5, 2010 at The Homestead in Windsor. The weather was perfect! Emily was super photogenic and I could have photographed her all day! Oh wait I did!

There are so many awesome images from their wedding I had to get assistance to narrow them down for the blog. We captured some great expressions from not only Emily and Dan but from their friends and family too.

I love her shoes!

Pre-ceremony photo session.

This was too funny! Dan was suppose to be just holding the end of the veil, but the wind came along and ouch!

A few vineyard shots after the ceremony.

The best man's speech was a riot! Super funny guy!

Love the spunk of her grandma!

Forget the cake they had a full blown desert table with all kinds of backed goodies!

Bottoms up!

Hula anyone? They provided hula hoops for everyone to play with. The kids loved it and so did the adults!

Thanks to Laena Brandenburg for 2nd shooting!

Oceano Hotel and Resort Half Moon Bay Harbor

2010-08-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

Jamie and Michelle tied the knot on July 4, 2010 at The Oceano Hotel & Spa in Half Moon Bay. A perfectly overcast day created beautiful even light for outdoor images around Half Moon Bay Harbor.

I had so many great images it was difficult to narrow them down for the blog.

Thanks to David Lees for second shooting!

Santa Cruz Wedding at Chaminade Resort & Spa

2010-08-16T12:35:00.000-07:00

Jeff and Susan were married on June 22, 2010 at Chaminade Resort & Spa located in Santa Cruz. It was a gorgeous sunny day and we had tons of fun trekking all over the property in order to capture a diverse set of images.

Susan was refer to me by Jen, the Pilate's teacher at the gym we both attended. It's always nice knowing others in attendance besides the bride and groom.

Thanks to Jennifer Low for second shooting!

Calistoga Springs Golf Club Wedding

2010-08-10T17:22:00.000-07:00

Josh and Elisa tied the knot on June 18, 2010 at The Crystal Springs Golf Club in Burlingame, CA.
It was a morning wedding and although super windy, the puffy clouds were beautifully dramatic. I definitely suggest an up-do or tightly styled hairstyle for brides getting married here! Some of the bridesmaids had hair blowing every which way, but Elisa was all prepared.

Family Session

2010-07-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

I photographed the Kwong family in their backyard this summer. The little guy is super cute! Like most kids his age we only had about 15 minutes to snap the family pictures before we lost his attention and he ran off to play. I had fun chasing him around the yard capturing images of him playing.

Clos LaChance

2010-07-14T15:49:00.000-07:00

I love an all day photo shoot to take the season into full swing. Recently Judy Le of Iridescence Bridal completed her first full line of bridal dresses and called Karl Ko and I to photograph the merchandise for her website and catalog. We were all very excited when Clos La Chance winery invited us to photograph on their property. They have such a gorgeous venue! It turned out to be a fabulous day of shooting!

Thanks to all the participants for making the day so seamless! Monica Kau of Signature Bloom, Tiffany Chiang of Design Her Image, Sophie Lai of Simply Perfect, Van Hsieh of Ocean Blue Video and models - Seema, Sarah, and Kenny.

My favorite shot of the day - below left.

The crew!

Album Design

2010-06-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

Pablo and Sigma's coffee table book online. View it here.

San Francisco Engagement Session at The Presidio

2010-05-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

We photographed Dan and Emily's engagement session a few weeks ago on the first really nice beach day in San Francisco. So of course Baker's beach was insanely crowded, but we found ways to dodge and crop out the crowd. We started at The Presidio where we found a great variety of backdrops and ended in front of their house for a few images of them on the stairs.

Looking forward to the wedding in September!

Josh and Kelly Preview - A Tahoe Wedding

2010-04-20T11:30:00.001-07:00

Josh and Kelly where married this past weekend in Tahoe. Congrats you 2! We had a great weekend!

I was playing around with some Nik processing filters and thought I should share. Sort of fun!

Link to Old Blog

2010-03-05T16:09:00.000-08:00

Want to see more...
Old Blog

Nari Indian Bridal Photo Shoot

2009-10-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

Fun, fun, fun! Vanessa at Beauty Mark Ink asked me to be a part of this great shoot for Nari Bridal wear in Mountain View. Sonya the store owner put together the models and provided her house for the shoot. Thanks everyone for a great day!

Hyderabad, India August 2009

2009-10-15T20:59:00.001-07:00

The roads in India are crazy busy all the time. We didn't attempt driving in Hyderabad, but hired a driver.

Bridesmaids Shoot at Regale Winery Los Gatos, CA

2009-10-09T06:05:00.000-07:00

Regale Winery is perfect Italian villa style venue located in Los Gatos. Thanks to Larry for letting us shoot at the winery even though the landscape was still in process.

Also, thanks to Debra Chin of Bella Bridesmaid (Los Gatos) for bringing everyone together with absolute perfect organization.

Floral by Christine Le of Pink Lincoln Designs
Hair and makeup by Monica at I Do Hair Couture
Jewelry by Giovanna's
Models: Miranda, Nicki, Paloma and Alison

Freedom Hall and Gardens Wedding Santa Clara, CA

2009-09-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

This is one of those posts I started when I first got my new blog and was having trouble putting images up. For the sake of my sanity I am going to leave the original post date on this and pretend it didn't take forever to finish.

Daniel and Jessica were married on July 19, 2009 at Freedom Hall and Gardens. They are one of those sweet couples that you can see at their 50th anniversary talking about all the wonderful times they had together.

The wedding day preparations started at the Marriot that is just a stones throw away. The Marriot even had a golf cart drive them over to the ceremony.

Something blue! Love the shoes!

A little entertainment from a great young hip-hop dancer. Then a few minutes for a night shot.

Photo Shoot at Villa Vizcaya in Santa Cruz

2009-09-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

Villa Vizcaya is a fabulous estate owned by the same family who own Nestledown. What a gorgeous property! So many different locations to shoot around the villa. Once again thanks to Debra Chin at Bella Bridesmaid (Los Gatos) for arranging the shoot for us!

Fabulous hair and makeup by: Monica at iDo Hair in Los Gatos
Model: Jacqueline

Wedding at Villa Montalvo

2009-09-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

Love me a wedding at Villa Montalvo! So much that I photographed this wedding for Dennis Mendez Photography. Micheal and Mary Ann tied the knot on August 22, 2009. Fabulous day! Here are just a few of my favorite images.

Wedding at The Old Whaling House Monterey, CA

2009-08-23T06:05:00.000-07:00

Jeremy and Krista were married at Old Whaling House in Monterey in June. The location is picture perfect with lots of locations to shoot and the weather was fabulous! All day sun in Monterey - unbelievable!

My second shooter Jennifer Low was in the groove and super inspired! Which makes the day a breeze as we feed off each others ideas. Between the two of us we didn't have enough time to photograph all the different ideas popping into our heads! That's what happens when you have an awesome bride and groom and an enchanting venue.

I love the natural light flooding into this hallway!

This ring shot was taken with Jen's 50mm macro. Sweet!

In the mists of all the picture taking we were still able to take a few minutes to eat. Grapes of Wrath did an excellent job on the catering!

After everyone ate we were able to sneak out with Jeremy and Krista to take a few shots at the Wharf.

It was difficult to narrow the images down for the blog. If you want to preview the album I created for The Old Whaling House click here

Dress by: Amy Kushel
Dj: Entertainment Knightly
Catering: Grapes of wrath

Preston Castle Shoot

2009-08-17T10:25:00.000-07:00

Challenge and self growth.

When I heard of Preston Castle in Ion, CA my first thought was where is that! Some photographer friends had done a photo shoot there in March. The pictures were so awesome it made me jealous! The castle opens its doors to photographers a 2-3 times per year. So once I confirmed the next open house date I immediately started putting a group together for a photo shoot.

Now to find models, a dress designer and makeup artists crazy enough to drive over 2 hours to a shoot! Photographers Karl Ko, Jennifer Low and I split the preparation tasks and put together a great group of participants.

Thanks to Iridescence Bridal (custom designs), Christine of Outburst Flowers, MSV video and Vanessa and Jennifer of Beauty Mark Ink for all their hard work. Also thanks to the other photographers (Jojo, Ashley Bates, Laena Brandenburg and Nicole Smith) that joined forces with us to give the event flavor.

Clark's Corner Coffee House was generous to allow us use of their facility for makeup and dress preparation before going to the castle.

The beautiful models are Natasha, Kaycee and Rizza

Engagement Session in Berkley

2009-08-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

Mohammad and Haleh decided to shoot their E-session in Berkley at Tilden Regional Park and around the UC Berkley campus where they spent time strolling the grounds while dating.

Engagement Session at North Beach and Baker's Beach

2009-08-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

Adam and Tiffany met up with me in North Beach - the first location for their engagement session. North Beach has a lot of diverse mini locations for shooting. It's best if you can take your time browsing the scenery as if window shopping for your next prime location.

After a quick stop at Legion of Honor we strolled along Baker's Beach where the fog lightly covered the Golden Gate Bridge.

Adam and Tiffany get married in September at Silver Creek Golf Club in San Jose.

Wente Vineyards Wedding - Livermore, CA

2009-08-12T05:51:00.000-07:00

Brett and Sara were married at Wente Vineyards in May. Wente is one of my favorite wedding venues; not only for their variety of shooting locations but also because their staff is fabulous and easy to work with.

Love this window!

After their first look we had plenty of time for pictures of the two of them and the bridal party before the ceremony. Nice!

More pictures after the ceremony - Yeah! The side of this building and the hidden cellar door are both ultra fabulous! What's in that building anyway? It's always closed up.

Party Time!

Thanks to Jennifer Low for 2nd shooting!

Flowers: Pleasanton Flower Shop
DJ: 21st Century Sounds
Cake: Wente

Engagement Session in San Francisco Part 1

2009-08-12T01:02:00.000-07:00

Matt and Teresa met me at the DeYoung Museum in SF for their engagement session. Unfortunately, about 30 minutes into the session Teresa's knee started hurting and we had to stop shooting. Something had triggered an old injury and she was in terrible pain. Hopefully they will have time for a second session before their wedding in December.

Family

2009-05-20T22:23:00.000-07:00

My sisters kids. They are so cute!

About Me

2000-04-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

Now

Chyna loves to take photographs of happy people celebrating life and love. Intricate wedding details and beautiful brides keep Chyna's eyes observing and her shutter releasing all though out the day. In her own words - "What is not to love about a wedding! Everyone is happy, smiling, looking their best and there to party."

The Past

The first time Chyna took a picture, she was five years old. Not to say that was the beginning of her career!! It just happened that her mother, who loved taking photographs of her two little girls, had enrolled in a college photo class. While her mother was working on assignments Chyna would ask to take pictures too.

As time passed photography remained Chyna's number one hobby. During and after college she worked at photo stores and labs; all the while photographing her friend's weddings and portraits of friend's children. Upon moving to the Bay Area she took a legal admin position, but after a few years her love for photography moved her to start her own photography business and leave the corporate life behind. At that time she attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco to expand her knowledge in studio and location lighting techniques.