About Michael Darden
On the Big Island of Hawaii and throughout the state, Michael Darden Photography specializes in commercial, advertising, editorial, sports, wedding and portrait photography and cinematography.
Darden has numerous editorial, news and sports photography awards to his credit throughout his more than 35 year career.
Darden’s editorial photography has been published by leading print and digital news organizations and magazines around the world. His commercial photographic and cinematography work has been featured predominantly by numerous companies and corporations.
My photographic career began in San Diego, CA. as the photo editor for my high school newspaper in the mid 1970’s. I continued to develop my passion and photographic skills as a U.S. Navy photographer before leaving the military in the mid 1980's with an Honorable Discharge to pursue a photojournalism career. After 7 years of military service I joined the staff of a small San Diego area community daily newspaper and quickly rose to the position of chief photographer before gaining a staff photography position at the metropolitan daily newspaper San Diego Union Tribune.
As an experienced photojournalist I’ve covered many major news and professional sporting events including NFL football, Major League Baseball, NBA basketball, NHL hockey, professional golf, professional motocross and the Big Island’s Ironman Triathlon World Championship. As an experienced commercial photographer and cinematographer I'm considered by my peers as one of the best and most versatile photographer / cinematographers in the state. The scope of my work ranges from high end architectural and advertising photography and cinematography to wedding, portrait, landscape and aerial photography and cinematography
With the recent explosion in digital cinematography my peers have distinguished me as a proficient and skilled cinematographer, video editor and field audio engineer.
Of Hawaiian descent, the Big Island has been home since 1992.