Happy Photos

I recently met Xuong at a bridal show at the Ocean Institute and loved the pieces he brought to show. I entered the drawing he had and won a free engagement session! He was so good about working around my schedule to find my fiancé and I the perfect time to do the shoot.
We ended up at a beautiful beach in Corona del Mar at sunset to shoot a romantic and moody scene, exactly what I wanted! Not only was he right on time, he even got there early to scout out the best locations to get pictures. Despite the beach being a little crowded, there is not a single person in the background of any of the shots! He perfectly captured the surroundings in a way that highlighted my fiancé and I. And while I’m sure he can’t take credit for the most beautiful sunset, I will certainly attribute his expertise to how well it was captured.
My fiancé and I were both a little nervous to begin with, as we aren’t professional models, but Xuong made it so fun and comfortable and you can definitely tell by the end of the shoot how relaxed and happy we both are. This was a perfect day and I am so happy that we got this experience! The name Happy Photo really does ring true of our experience.
After the shoot he had the photos ready for review in less than a week! The turn around time was so quick. We met at his office near South Coast Plaza to discuss package options and review some of his other work. His portfolio is beautiful and the craftsmanship of the albums he displays is impeccable. The experience he has in the industry (an amazing 13 years!!) is easily seen through the work he displays. It was a no pressure meeting where we discussed how to customize packages to suite exactly what we need.
I’ve met with A LOT of photographers while researching for my wedding, and I would certainly recommend him to anyone.
Thank you Xuong!

I was very happy with Xuong’s photos and his ability to get a group photo that all 65 of us agreed was the best one in our 39 years of conferences. When 2 members were late he was able to photoshop them into the picture.

Xuong is the best! We use Happy Photos for all of our Chamber of Commerce events and our personal events. Beautiful, professional photos and the highest quality service. Adorable family too! Highly recommended!!!

This review is strictly on my interaction with Happy Photos. It is NOT a review on the photos. Photos were great and he has the experience but I was very disgusted with our meeting.
I met with Happy Photos last summer but just opened a Unilocal account and wanted to make sure I warn any brides/​grooms looking for photography. First off, the interactions prior to meeting were great. Margie is great, sweet and personable. She was quick to respond and everything. She wouldn’t provide any pricing information and kept pushing us to meet her husband (Xuong) in person. Living in LA, it was a bit of a push but we went anyways thinking we would have the same good experience. Don’t get me wrong Xuong was nice and has a lot of great experience BUT he was definitely a salesman. No big deal, I know it’s all part of the photography business, so we went with it. Wish they would have just told us from the beginning how much it was to know we had better photographers with better prices. It would have saved us the trip!
This guy kept going on and on about his experience to where it came out to be a little excessively braggy. He tried to act like he’ll «hook you up» and money isn’t a big deal but behind each phrase there was a hidden $$ value in the end. We asked about photo rights, he was vague and wouldn’t give a straight answer. It wasn’t until I straight up asked WILL IT COST US EXTRA FOR THE RIGHTS OF OUR PRINTS. he finally admit it costs an additional 2000 but if we signed with him «he will give it to us for free». He starts to show us packages and offering «free engagement sessions» and «add ons» but in reality his prices were jacked up high to already include these «add ons» and it was just his sales pitch that he was offering «free add ons» to lure you in. total hustler mentality!
He wouldn’t guarantee it would be him the day of the event. Again another vague answer/​hustler act on his part to try and get as much business as he can. He wouldn’t commit to our wedding and said another photographer may be taking his place. Oh give me a break! we are meeting with you and we want you and you can’t even commit whether or not you would come to our wedding? if you have no other event and if we gave you a deposit, you should commit to first come first serve and not put us in a bidding war!
After meeting with him, my fiancé and I were on the same page and were able to see through the hustle. we get it. it’s A sales business but we couldn’t help but feeling deceived and disgusted… he didn’t keep things real and you can tell he was trying to «hook you up» but really he wasn’t. He’s was good at talking. making you feel comfortable. kept asking «don’t you think our work speaks for itself»
I shopped around prior to coming across Happy Photos and their prices were half of Happy Photos and their quality/​experience were just as great. My venue had referred them so I wanted to go with someone referred thinking they have a good working relationship but after I went back and talked to my venue about my concerns and they said they weren’t surprised as they got similar complaints so they were going to remove them from their referral list.
I’m not one to really bash but I was very upset with the way he made us feel after our meeting and want to make sure other brides/​grooms who are in my shoes looking for affordable photography know what you’re dealing with! Money wasn’t really even the problem. it was the sales pitch! I ended up with a photographer and spending more than what Happy Photos had but it was just all the sales pitch that left me grossed out!
I read other reviews now and realized people had similar experiences! Wish I had looked into this before meeting him!

So, I used this photographer a couple years ago now but came across some wedding photos and wanted to shed some light and potentially save another couple from what I went through. The photographer was nice when we met but we had tons of problems afterwards and the worst was on my actual wedding day. When you book a photographer, you are paying for their work and them specifically. What I got was an understudy. I was notified a week prior to my wedding day that he had double booked and was choosing to go to the other wedding. It was too late for me to try to negotiate to get anyone else. The sad thing was his understudy was awful. She didn’t go by my picture list and missed a lot of key photos (I do not have a single picture of my grandmother) and she kept placing us in front of horrible backdrops with rusty pipes or building signs. Of course during the day I was so frazzled that I didn’t notice until it was too late and irreparable. Fortunately, I asked to take some pictures in other areas I had had my eye on. No joke, these were the only pictures that came out well. And she grumbled about doing it. She was irritated that I wanted these pictures. I really felt like I was an inconvenience for them throughout the entire process (which was extremely over-​priced if you ask me) and unfortunately, there’s no redo that you can do. One of the most important memories was lost to me.
Wow! This is a response to the repost I received. I am even more upset now. You did not try to contact me. I have had the same contact information since meeting you. In addition, if you don’t have anyone by my name on file, then what contact information have you been trying to use for two months. I think you are a liar. You lied to me then and you are lying to me now. You are all about money and not truly giving people what they want. If you can cut corners, than you do. Instead of trying to make me feel better during any of this, you made excuses and you are doing that now. Your comment about the whole competitor thing is childish and unprofessional. I hope people will start to realize your business ethics right there. As far as taking all comments with a grain of salt, I agree. We all have our opinions and I’m sure people have had a great experience with you. I just was not one of them and it sounds like others have had a similar experience. That’s why I wanted to give people a heads up. Also, Please read my statement again. I have nothing against your pictures. That’s why I choose you. It’s your understudy’s pictures I had a problem with. And the way I was treated was awful. This is just a continuation of that service. The only suggestion I will make to all of you who may be considering this photographer is to get it in writing. He is big on contracts and will only do what is written plainly. If you like his pictures (which I did) have him actually write in the contract that it will be him and not a replacement. If you want a certain time, setting, price, arrangement, etc. get it in writing. With that, I hope all those who are getting married the best of luck.

We booked Xuong to do our engagement and wedding photos. We did our engagement photos about 2 months ago and we love them! Xuong was great and he directed us on how to pose and came up with really cute posing ideas. He is very creative. He put us at ease and and was very easy to work with. We cannot wait to have our wedding and have Xuong capture those precious moments. :)

Xuong and happy photos have been great! We booked him for our engagement photos and wedding last November. We are still getting tons of compliments on our photos! He and his assistant were very available throughout the entire day and evening, he used the venue to the fullest (we got married at the Franciscan Gardens and utilized the train station as our backdrop for photos). We are currently working on our photo album and can’t wait to see the final results.

Xuong (Song) came highly recommended by our wedding planner Carmen, I appreciate you for making our 1^st consultation so relaxing, we felt so confident and are anxiously awaiting our engagement pics and trust you 100% that you will capture that special «once in a lifetime moment» on camera, as I seen in your work, and I hear great reviews from all the Professionals who recommended you to us! I’m so happy we found you. Cant wait for our wedding!
Thank you again

I would give even more stars if I could! I booked Xuong for my wedding and he was an exceptional photographer. Even my guests commented on how attentive he was the entire night of my wedding, any time a group was taking a photo, there was Xuoug to take one on his camera too. I got comments on how you can tell he genuinely was enjoying his job, working with people, and that shows in the quality of his work. He also had a slideshow of the pre-​wedding/​ceremony photos playing at the reception which was a nice touch, and since I’ve seen those, I know how great the photos are. He really has an eye for detail and creativity, he has great ideas for poses and backgrounds. These pictures are going to be amazing!!! He also helped run the flow of my wedding so that all the important photos would be included, which made the wedding go smoothly. An engagement session was also included and if you knew my husband, not wanting doing cutesy photos is an understatement. Both myself, his family, just everyone who knows my husband were shocked Xuong got him to cooperate so well and the pictures are HEART MELTING. I am so grateful I made the decision to use Happy Photos, I couldn’t be happier with the service and quality of work. Also, my husband’s uncle who has been a photographer all his life was extremely impressed with Xuong. He kept on commenting on how great Xuong was doing, and that says a lot coming from another professional. He was so relieved he didn’t have to do all the hard work Xuong was doing and got to enjoy the wedding. I don’t know where any of the bad reviews are coming from, they must be fake because Happy Photos is by far one of the best choices I made. My special night was captured beautifully! I will always remember and be thankful to Xuong and Happy Photos for being such a big part of my most important day. One more thing is not just the quality of work in photos, he is a great person to work with. Makes you feel comfortable and more like a friend than someone you hired, but always professional. Thumbs up!
Lisa
PS. I’m not one to write reviews, Happy photos inspired me to get on Unilocal because they were so awesome!

I can’t say enough good things about our Wedding photographers from Happy Photos. They were so great to work with! They were both so friendly and shared in the joy of the day. They were terrific with the kids, moving large groups around, and accommodating changes in the timeline on the fly. They really thought on their feet and worked hard to make the night go seamlessly. And like great photographers … they worked quietly and were hardly seen — true photo ninjas! They did an incredible job!

Using Happy Photos for our engagement session was a surprisingly wonderful experience for me and my fiancé. When we met Xuong, he presented himself as jubilent, excited and eager to shoot us. We met him at a local park and although it was windy and freezing, you couldn’t tell from our pictures.
My fiancé isn’t one to smile and be «cutesy» for a photo session but Xuong immediately put him at ease with simple directions and lots of funny comments. We laughed the entire session! Because of this, Xuong was able to capture my fiancé’s personality, a side that not many people get to see.
When he sent us some samples of our pictures… we immediately began to laugh again recall some of the silliness that came out of that session! When we posted them on a public social media site, our friends commented about how beautiful the pictures were. There were some posed photos but because of the love and laughter we shared together, the images that Xuong produced showed exactly that… love and laughter!
Thank you Xuong… what a wonderful experience we had with you! We would most definitely recommend Happy Photos to capture life’s most special moments!

Happy photos is such an amazing photography. Their name says it all. I have been nothing but thrilled with the photos I’ve receive from Xuong. He not only had a great eye, but also a great vision when it comes to photos for my event. Always courteous and always flexible with ideas. Thank you so much for doing such an amazing job!

Happy Photos made me very happy!
I needed to get some photos done of myself and my team of Great Officiants the first person I thought to go to was Happy Photos. I’ve seen him photograph many weddings I’ve been a part of and I’ve seen the results. He can bring people’s emotions to life.
The one thing I like about Happy Photos is the professionalism. I’ve worked with a lot of photographers in the past some are wonderful some are not. Happy photos really knows how to skillfully capture the moments.
The packages are very well priced for the
high quality images and albums they provide.
You can’t do much better than Happy Photos, but you can do a lot worse. Choose professional every time.

Unless you want to waste alot of money and not get anything to show for it, AVOID HAPPY PHOTOS.
When we first met, I made sure that receiving edited versions of all the photos was something that he offered. Which he said he did, but he didnt specifically write that on the contract.
After our engagement session, I ask when I will receive these edited photos. He said that him and his colleagues dont give edited photos to their clients. WHAT!!! Every single photographer I talked to offers photos for their clients. Thats what we are paying you for! So he «made an exception» and gave us «edited» photos on a CD. Well these photos were only formatted for 4×6 and the only editing was removing his giant logo from all the photos. None of them were adjusted for lighting.
So once this happens I wanted to clarify that I would be receiving edited photos from my wedding. He states that we will not get edited photos unless we pay an additional $ 1000! We signed the contract for just under $ 4000, and now I need to pay $ 5000 to get these photos? RIDICULOUS! He states that it was written on our contract, which it wasnt. It was written like this: $ 3899 (Arrow symbol) $ 5000. Thats what that is supposed to mean? It definitely should be spelled on when its on a contract.
During this incidicent, he also states that he wont be in the country for our wedding and that his assistant will be shooting it instead. Um… no? I signed this contract for YOU to shoot my wedding. Not your assistant whos work Ive never seen.
So we discuss this with our family lawyer, who states that this was an anticipatory breach of contract which breaks the contract all together. I let Xuong know this and that we will be finding another photographer, and he says that he will «probably be in the country» and since Im cancelling the contract, I owe all the remaining amount of money. Up to this point, I have only paid a $ 999 deposit. So him and I go back and forth through emails about whos breaking the contract, until I have my lawyer write up a letter spelling out the whole thing. Then I didnt hear from Xuong for about a month.
Later I had a meeting at Black Gold and I told them my experience with their preferred vendor and they were shocked but also said that they have been hearing similar stories like mine recently. They talked to him and told me he would get back to me.
About a week later, Xuong emails me, telling me he has come up with some options for terminating our contract and he wants to call me. I tell him no, we need to email everything so we have something we can reference. Then I didnt hear from him. Its been about 2 months now.
So I lost my deposit, which is fine since he did shoot our engagement session. I feel that is more than worth the time and effort. Especially since I only have a handful of photos my fiancé and I actually like. I still havent even shared the photos with my family and friends. Alot of them were really posey and we just dont like them enough to share.
There are plenty of other photographers that will do a great job, and shoot all kinds of artistic and beautiful shots, and will GIVE YOU YOUR PHOTOS without being charged extra! Seriously dont waste your time or money here!

I have worked with Xuong numerous times on many different events and he is as professional as it gets. I love his photography and am always happy with what I see! He recently did head shots for everyone in my company as well and they photos were great!

As everyone else has noted Xuong takes excellent pictures and his work is very professional. I think it was really great that he had a slide show of the pictures he took at the ceremony looping on his lap top so that we could see them during our reception. It was fun to get a taste of what our pictures would come out looking like. I absolutely love my wedding pictures and really appreciate that he captured many candid moments that turned out to be some of my favorites. I will always remember

I love Xoung’s work! He is incerdible. His photos do indeed make me happy! He helped me shoot my wedding gowns for my new business.
His photos came out so amazing that I use them still for all of my social media and catalogs! He has an artistic touch and knows how to photograph dresses so that every detail shows. He is reliable and will go out of his way to make sure his customer is satisfied.

We used Xuong for our family portraits and LOVED them. He took our pictures at Tewinkle park and they just turned out so great. He is really friendly, great with the kids, and super professional. Our proofs were available quickly and our prints were delivered quickly. Looking forward to using him again this year!

My wife and I used Xuong for our wedding because we fell in love with his work, even though it was a little bit more than we’d wanted to pay for photography. It was worth every penny. He also did a beautiful engagement photoshoot for us before the wedding. We have a large print of one of his photos hanging on the wall of our house and ended up splurging on the larger wedding album because we loved so many of the pictures he took.
Not only does Xuong take amazing photos, he’s very calm and easy to work with. He’s patient, has great suggestions for photographs to take, and just makes the whole process of taking shots easy on what is otherwise a very stressful day.
A few of the other reviewers are correct in that the business side of things isn’t always the most organized, but we got all of our stuff in the end and the quality of the work is so high that I’m more than willing to forgive a bit of disorganization.
Bottom line: if you really want to make sure your wedding pictures are an absolute joy to look at, I would highly recommend Happy Photos.

First off Unilocal is shady… If you’re a small business owner you know.
FIVE STAR REVIEW
It seems that Unilocal is only showing displaying poor reviews to force businesses to advertise and to encourage conflicts.
I chose one star to get my review posted, when in fact it is for FIVE.
My company contracted out Happy Photos along with three other photo companies for our web marketing campaign:
http://purplericesushi…
We have a highly corporate business and extensive hotel/​convention servies client base, and we needed great photos with professionals behind them.
All four teams including Happy Photos needed to collaborate and provide a seamless, structured campaign.

Communication and professionalism were on point.
Yes, it was expensive, but we received great work back.
Review our website to see their work.
Please feel free to contact me as a reference for Happy Photos.