About this vendor
*NOW PROVIDING SUPER 8MM WEDDING VIDEOS*
I wholeheartedly believe that your wedding day is one of the most beautiful days that you will ever experience in your life. I try my absolute best to leave your day "untouched" by me as possible. I'll give you a little direction to give you a jump start, after that I'm there to just witness the beauty unfold.
A candid approach is where I thrive the most. You could speculate that it's just an excuse for me to be a people watcher(haha); but honestly, me paying attention to the dynamics of you, your partner, and the love ones you surround yourself is how I'm able to document YOUR day and make these photographs a direct reflection of who you are.
Sure, a posed group photo here and there is totally fine. However, for the majority of the time, I'm looking for genuine, authentic moments that really speak to the character of your wedding day.
Whether that's tears of laughter or tears of joy, I want to capture that.
From silly moments that we'll re-vist over and over to the mundane moments that we might overlook now, but cherish later in life; that's what I'm in search of on your wedding day.
I'm not after trends, I'm not after pinterest-worthy photos, I'm not after likes.
I'm after photos that will be printed and framed in your forever home to be viewed by your children and grand children
I'm after the photos that will be your iPhone lock-screen that you will look at every day.
I'm after the photos that you'll put in an album as your family heirloom.
I want to give you photos that you are going to be proud of.
I'm here to represent YOU; in the most genuine way ever.
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Details
Business Attributes
- Asian-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
Photo Shoot Types
- Bridal Portraits
- Engagement
Photo & Video
- Digital Files
- Film Photography
- Online Proofing
- Photo
- Second Shooter Available
- Social Media Sharing
Photo & Video Styles
- Artistic
- Documentary
- Lifestyle
- Modern
Wedding Activities
- Getting Engaged
- Rehearsals & Parties
- Wedding
Awards and Affiliations
2-Time 'Best of Weddings'
2023.2022.
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
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Reviews
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5
out of 5.036 reviews
Michael was everything we could have hoped for in a wedding photographer and more. From the moment he arrived, he made us feel completely at ease and confident that our day was in ...
great hands. He was calm, organized, and knew exactly how to guide us without ever making things feel forced or rushed. The photos are absolutely stunning—timeless, emotional, and perfectly captured the joy of the day. Michael has an incredible eye for detail and didn’t miss a single important moment. We are so grateful to have these photos forever and cannot recommend him enough.
Michael is absolutely wonderful to work with. The package we chose included the engagement session so we got to meet him before the wedding! His personality and his photography go ...
hand in hand. He doesn't put pressure on couples to do certain poses and is about being in the moment. He made us feel really comfortable taking photos and you can tell how much he loves his craft. Any couple would be extremely lucky to book Michael!
We had such a phenomenal experience with Michael as our wedding photographer! He was so kind, collaborative, professional, and obviously very talented. He made our special day all ...
the more special, and we could not be more grateful.
We couldn't be more thrilled with the phenomenal photography experience provided by Michael on our wedding day. From the get-go, Michael showcased a level of dedication that went b...
eyond mere professionalism.
What truly set Michael apart was the effort put into understanding our personalities, interests, and aesthetic preferences before the wedding. This personal touch made all the difference, ensuring that the resulting photos weren't just snapshots but genuine reflections of who we are.
Michael possesses an incredible ability to capture every requested moment, display, and person, seamlessly integrating into the celebration. The attention to detail was impeccable, resulting in a collection of photos that felt like a natural extension of the joyous atmosphere.
What truly stood out was Michael's skill in capturing emotions, especially the joy, laughter, and dancing. The photos not only showcased how the wedding looked but, more importantly, how it felt—joyful, beautiful, special, and truly one of a kind.
We were delighted that Michael used 35mm film, adding a timeless and authentic quality to the images. The decision to shoot with film perfectly aligned with our vision, and the results exceeded our expectations. The Super 8 video created by Michael is an absolute treasure. It beautifully complements the still photographs, providing a comprehensive and immersive narrative of our wedding day—a keepsake we'll cherish forever.
In summary, Michael is not just a photographer but a stellar storyteller behind the lens. The professionalism, creativity, and genuine passion for the craft shine through in every photograph and video frame. We wholeheartedly recommend Michael to anyone seeking a photographer who can capture the joy and soul of a moment.
Our heartfelt thanks to Michael for contributing to the magic of our wedding day and providing us with a timeless collection of memories.
As soon as we saw Michael's portfolio my husband & I knew our search for the perfect photographer was over. We fell in love with his cinematic style of photography & willingness to...
go for the unexpected. Michael was thorough in asking what we wanted in our photos, getting to know us, & letting us know what to expect. Aside from being incredibly professional, he's also charming & great with giving direction while capturing some of the most important moments on our wedding day.
It was no easy feat corralling our big families for photos, but for him it took no effort at all. I must also confess I'm very timid being in front of a camera, but he has a warm welcoming energy which made us feel at ease.
We cannot speak highly enough about Michael & will forever be grateful for his talents. When the time comes to grow our family, we will seek his services again for announcement photos.
Do yourself a favor & book him to capture your most important life events, you'll be so grateful you did.
In short - Michael is an awesome photographer, and if you're looking for someone who will be an effortless part of your day, look no further. From the first intake meeting, we knew...
that we could be comfortable around Michael, and the photographs from our engagement and wedding show it. He took great family photos that parents and grandparents want to hang on the wall. We really love the photos that truly capture the day - the ones where we're laughing and our eyes are closed, but that make us smile when we look back at them.
Michael is super communicative and up front with pricing. We emailed a few times before the wedding about timelines, paperwork, and the potential for rain, and he typically responded within a day. We got sneak peeks back within 72 hours, and the rest of the photos earlier than the 8 weeks stated in the contract.
Michael was a dream to work with! Easy going, friendly, responsive. His photos are incredible and clearly knew what our vision was. We are extremely happy with the photos from Mich...
ael. They were bright, colorful, carefree, and captured the natural beauty of the venue and real moments between guests. He avoided staged photos, which we really appreciated.
In terms of communication and schedule: Michael had an intake meeting to understand our needs before offering a quote. It was important to him that his style could work for his customers. He checked in with us regularly leading up to the event. He made sure he knew the schedule for the day. The following morning, he delivered 18 amazing photos, with hundreds of additional photos showing up right on time.
We couldn't recommend Michael higher! Thank you Michael.
Michael was a joy to work with! My husband and I booked Michael for our wedding and we could not be happier with our choice. Michael did such an amazing job encapsulating the feeli...
ng of the day and we absolutely love our photos. We could really feel the joy radiating from the faces of our loved ones. We especially loved all of the candid shots and retro-style film photos! We had a great experience with Michael from the booking process through the wedding day. He is great at making everyone feel comfortable in front of the camera and he had us laughing all day. If you're looking for a chill and extremely talented photographer, Michael is your guy!
Michael is an incredible photographer. He is an expert when it comes to photographing in the redwoods. Our photos were the most beautiful wedding photos I've seen, and I know I'm...
biased, but he captured so much more than I could have expected. I'm sure you'll feel the same way about your photos when you choose him. He's kind and patient, all while being efficient. He's professional, communicative, and prompt. It was a pleasure working with him and I highly recommend him.
Aside from being insanely talented, Michael is one of the most genuine and personable people. His response time and friendliness is more than we could have ever asked for in a phot...
ographer. We have now used his services three times: engagement, wedding, and maternity and don’t plan on stopping there. Basically just looking for excuses and occasions to hire him!
Michael's super chill, professional and amazing to work with! We LOVE every photo they captured at our wedding and engagement session. They made our big day a breeze! We cannot tha...
nk you enough, Michael!
I can not say enough compliments about Michael! He is talented and professional and patient and fun and kind and creative!! Not one bad thing to say. We are so happy we chose him t...
o capture our most important day!!!! Highly recommend choosing Michael for any photos! He will not let you down.
Shooting our engagement photos with Michael was an absolute dream. I would highly recommend Michael for any type of photoshoot that you’re considering (engagement, elopement, coupl...
es, wedding day). Michael is a pro and makes you feel super comfortable and relaxed at all times. Thank you again, Michael!!
Michael's photography stands on its own – it’s beautiful and he clearly has talent and skill. What we most appreciated about having Michael as our elopement photographer was the im...
mediate warmth of his personality on our first call, his true passion and love for the art itself, and his lightheartedness and kindness on our special day. He genuinely wanted to get to know us as a couple, brought ideas on location (and was willing to try a couple of our ideas), and helped us stay true to our personalities. Michael is truly a lovely person and we couldn't imagine having anyone else join us for our special day.
Michael was great! We hired him before the pandemic put all weddings to a halt, and he was always communicative and flexible as we changed plans multiple times and then finally pos...
tponed everything by a year.
Day of, Michael helped make everything go smoothly. He was always there but also not there. That is, he was there to capture everything but was never the photographer who was at the center of everything directing. Candidness is the name of the game. Michael also worked great with all of our other vendors.
If you like candid photos and a fast turnaround as promised, hire Michael!
Michael was an amazing photographer for our engagement shoot. He truly went above and beyond to make the experience everything we could have hoped for from start to finish. He was ...
really responsive, laid-back, kind, reasonably priced and just generally amazing to work with. My fiance and I had never done a professional photoshoot, so we were both a bit nervous and worried we would be awkward, but Michael made us feel very comfortable and at ease. We had so much fun and Michael was able to capture some unbelievable photos we'll cherish for a lifetime. The photos came out better than we could have imagined. I'd highly recommend Michael to anyone looking for professional photos!
Honestly, I can't sing Michael's praises enough. My husband and I are not big on photos and having pictures taken of us, but Michael set us completely at ease during our Zoom meet/...
greet. He was professional yet easy-going, laid-back and personable. We expressed our hesitations and unease with posed 'traditional' type photos and wanted something that felt organic and relaxed like we are. He totally accommodated that and focused on a lot of candid photos, which are truly the best because it captures the moment and emotion in the most real, honest way possible. He was so kind and patient with us, leading up to and on the big day. All his communications were well-written and thorough; no details overlooked. By the end of the event, he felt like family! Definitely recommend him to anyone needing a photographer in advance or on the fly - he's awesome!
Michael was a joy to work with - he communicated with us every step of the way and was very supportive throughout the whole process. We are normally pretty camera-shy, but Michael ...
helped us loosen up and made the whole portrait session casual and fun. He captured really beautiful moments throughout the event, and all our family and friends are raving about his photos. We are so thankful we found Michael and had the opportunity to work with him!
We hired Michael to be the photographer for our wedding in Atascadero, CA and could not have been more happy. We found him on Instagram and liked his more "documentary" style photo...
graphy. After meeting with him initially (via Zoom), we knew he was a great fit for us in terms of style, but also personality. He is laid-back, personable, kind, genuine, thoughtful, excitable, and was an overall pleasure to have at our wedding. We never felt awkward or uncomfortable with him taking our pictures (which is something we considered important when searching for a photographer) and rather enjoyed having him around. Although we haven't received our full gallery yet (it's only been a little over a week since the wedding), we are very happy with the quality of the photos in the "sneak peak" gallery. He seemed to really capture the lightheartedness, yet deep love, that was characteristic of our wedding. Michael is an incredible photographer and an even better person. You will not regret hiring him!
Michael did an amazing job on our elopement photos. His friendly and light personality created a calm and comfortable atmosphere. He remained professional throughout the entire pro...
cess and made sure everyone was involved. Even with our mostly camera shy family, he was able to capture how we all interact with one another. He even got some great photos of our 2-year old! (Which isn’t an easy thing to do). I would recommend Michael to anyone I know looking for a photographer.
We hired Michael for our mini-COVID ceremony and he was wonderful and so easy to work with! We loved his work online and from the first email and meeting he was extremely responsiv...
e. One of the things my husband and I were looking for was someone who would get along with our families and not add stress to the day. When we had our Zoom call with him, we both immediately liked him and felt like we'd be comfortable with him on the big day. We had a list of family photos we wanted to make sure we got and he was super open to that. On the day of the wedding, he was exceptionally kind and really flexible. Our families loved him! He was not pushy at all and open to whatever photos we wanted. He also didn't mind when inevitably our families wanted to take some iPhone shots. The sneak peek preview 48 hrs after the wedding, was such a treat to get some photos early and his work was beautiful. Cannot wait to see the final product!
Michael gave his very best photographing for our Special Day. He fit right in to the family making the experience a breeze and so fun and pleasantful! Michael truly has a gift fo...
r capturing meaningful memories that you will enjoy to look at years down the road. Our Wedding gallery was simply beautiful and more than we could ask for! What a talented photographer that continually kept our ideas in mind. Robert and I Thank You sincerly Michael!! Cheers to all the lucky couples that choose you as their photographer because we know they will be overly pleased with your work! Just phenomenal!
We found Michael on The Knot when searching for the right vibe. We loved seeing photos from his other clients, and how they showed a blend of intimacy powered by pure joy. It seeme...
d like he could truly capture an authentic moment, and we couldn't have been more right. We love the photos he took of our intimate family ceremony, the humor he brought to the process, and the enthusiasm he brought to our big day. Michael even stuck with us after a Covid-required reschedule, made a long day trip drive down to our location, and rolled with some of our unique shot requests. We couldn't be happier with the final product, and are so appreciative that we Michael was a part of our event.
Michael was incredible in every way: professional, honest, timely, and super kind. He captured the essence of our wedding and nothing was left out in our photos. His gallery spread...
included everything I could have wanted and even stayed extra time during our engagement shoot just to capture more, and I am a little biased but it could have been because he was having fun hiking with us hahah. Not only is he an incredible photographer, he is a super kind person and he helped to calm me down as I had a couple panic attacks during our shooting lol. Im sure lots of brides are like this but still, he truly is a gift. Hire him, you won't regret it!
Michael exceeded our expectations. We found him by googling photographers in the bay area and were very impressed by his skills (check out his website!) Michael was very helpful th...
roughout the whole process, and had great communication, such as answering promptly and accommodating zoom calls with us. Most importantly he makes you feel comfortable and not like some awkward photoshoot. We honestly couldn't have asked for a better photographer to capture our special day! We will forever treasure the photographs he captured.
We hired Michael to shoot our wedding in Big Sur this year, and I would highly recommend him to anyone looking for photography services. I was nervous about the photos looking too ...
stiff and not capturing our personalities, but Michael put us at ease before we even met him. During both the engagement shoot and the wedding, he gave us great direction and made us feel comfortable and relaxed. Michael is very communicative and collaborative, and he helped us to hammer out a schedule and a plan for photos during the wedding day. Most importantly, the photos are AWESOME - he got a ton of great shots, including some of the details about the day that I was excited about (flowers!). We can't wait to work with him more in the future!
Michael is such an absolute pleasure to work with! He photographed our elopement and from the very beginning he was super professional and communicated with us about all the detail...
s. Due to the fire near Big Sur, we had to change part of our location and Michael was really helpful and easy going with the changes. He instantly made us feel comfortable and it felt like we had known him for years. That level of comfort really shows in the photos and we couldn't be happier with the results! Michael captured our special moment in this crazy year so beautifully, we definitely recommend using him!
My coworker recommended Michael Dadula since he is her family's portrait photographer so I looked up his website to check his style. I reached out to Michael in early 2020 to discu...
ss an engagement + elopement shoot. Due to unforseen Covid-19 circumstances, we had to postpone the shoot until we were able to obtain a marriage license during county shutdown and a new ceremony date. Michael was understanding, flexible, accommodating, and caring in keeping in touch with us. We finally met in June, and the shoot went as smoothly as possible. Michael informed me when he was on the way, arrived on time, and kept a professional cool while he worked. My now-husband isn't good at posing for the camera, and Michael was able to get so many great natural shots of us. Three days after the shoot, he sent us some teaser photos to share with family and friends while we waited for the entire album. We received so many compliments on the teaser photos. Michael is a joy to work with, and we would hire him again for our future photo needs. Thank you!!
We love our pictures so much. They exceeding our expectations and Michael is so nice and helpful!
Michael was our absolute favorite vendor! Seriously are there 10 stars available?! He was prompt, professional and extremely patient. Dealing with my crazy family can be a bit much...
, but he handled it like a champ. I didn’t sense one bit of discomfort. I was a bit concerned about our couple photos because both my husband and I can be pretty awkward in front of the camera. He guided us into the picture perfect not too cheesy poses! We’re so grateful for Michael and recommend you book now before he realizes his prices are too low!
Michael was the perfect fit for our wedding! He had a calming demeanor yet a fun and playful personality that made working with him a breeze. Oh, and the photos turned out amazing!...
He was hands down the best photographer we could've asked for.
Michael was by far one of the best investments we made when coming to our big day. He is professional, punctual, and does such an amazing job capturing the moment. My husband and I...
hired Michael for our destination wedding in Hawaii. We were skeptical about hiring someone from out of the area to photograph our wedding but he made it extremely easy and affordable for us. His quality of work is one of a kind and we are so lucky to have had him as our photographer. If you’re looking for an amazing photographer I can guarantee that he is your guy!
Michael was amazing to work with! He is young and driven to stay on top of the competition by continuing to be creative with everything he does with camera. He absolutely captured ...
each moment as we remembered it. And! He also traveled all the way to Maui for us. We highly recommend him to anyone looking for the best wedding photographer.
Michael and his wife worked with my now fiancé to capture our proposal. He suggested the location near Carmel and it was all honestly perfect. The photos are beautiful and the expe...
rience was wonderful.
I cannot rave enough about the unforgettable experience Michael captured. He suggested the perfect setting, designed an incredible experience and delivered exceptional quality, wit...
hout disturbing the intimacy of the engagement. Outstanding.
I don’t even know where to start with how amazing Michael is at what he does. He and my fiancé coordinated a surprise proposal where he would be taking pictures. He got the most am...
azing photos ever! There were some hidden shots (had no clue he was following us! lol), a few shots as he was proposing (he captured all the excitement) and some shots of us together afterward. They were so beautiful, and his editing skills are amazing! He was also punctual, professional, and so easy going. He knew exactly how to pose us to get good shots. Without a second thought we will be hiring him for our wedding.
Contact
362 Pacific Street #7, Monterey, CA | Monterey-Carmel-Big Sur-Central Coast
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