Disney Photo Session PART II

[rjvose17]

SWEETPEE! You are amazing!!! That just made my day. Thank you.

[sweetpee_1993]

Originally Posted by rjvose17

SWEETPEE! You are amazing!!! That just made my day. Thank you.

Success!

[3pletprincesses]

Originally Posted by 2Tiggies

It won't let me in. It is asking for email and first name

I think longer sessions are a particular challenge with children as they really do lose interest after a while. My problem is that my DD loves the camera and prefers not to have to share the limelight with me

You did the one hour session didn't you? I know that costs a lot more than the 20 minute one we did and I have to admit, I would expect more from an hour session than I do from our basic 20 minute sessions. The advantage with the basic session is that you get the CD the next day. I purposely booked ours halfway through our stay so I could check the photos and if need be, get back to them BEFORE we left if I wasn't happy. Unfortunately with having to wait that long for the sessions you did, it is not an option

We did a 20 minutes session in May and a 1 hour session in August. My kids are 5 yo and we had way better photos with the 1 hour session. I would say my girls were getting tired of it about the time that our 1 hour session finished. At the end of the session the photographer mentionned that it's easier to get better photos when the 1 hour session is taken because they can go to several locations while with the 20 minutes, they usually only go to 2 locations if time permit and kids cooperate.

[3pletprincesses]

here's our photos from our 1 hour session. It was an interesting photoshot has we were a party of 8.
http://www.collages.net/consumersite...ventgroup.aspx Cunha family password once again being 1971. I guess it's the standard password for everyone LOL Our photos were taken at the Poly on August 26 at 9am. We received our cd and photobook with all the photos yesterday.

[sweetpee_1993]

Originally Posted by 3pletprincesses

here's our photos from our 1 hour session. It was an interesting photoshot has we were a party of 8.
http://www.collages.net/consumersite...ventgroup.aspx Cunha family password once again being 1971. I guess it's the standard password for everyone LOL Our photos were taken at the Poly on August 26 at 9am. We received our cd and photobook with all the photos yesterday.

Great pics! Gorgeous! The little girl without the glasses seems to be your character of the 3. We had fun watching her as the pictures progressed. Loooove the hammock shots! And the 3 girls on the swing were oh-so sweet. Thanks so much for sharing your link!

Your shoot was on 8/26 and you juuuust got your cd & photobook?! Yikes! I'm holding off posting my trip report (on another fan site) for the portrait cd so I can include the pictures. Ugh! Geez! Gonna be a late report! Oh well.

[sweetpee_1993]

Oh! I think I forgot to come back and update here! Duh! I called last week to check on the wherabouts of our cd & proof booklet. I was told that those generally arrive 2-3 weeks after the link. As of yesterday (10/25) neither had arrived yet. Remember, my shoot was on 9/11. I also asked what size the photos on the cd are ideal for producing. I was told that the resolution was optimal for up to 8x12. Not what I was hoping to hear but I'm not surprised and still feel the value of the cd at $50 is there to be able to have prints done up to that size. My problem is that when we did our portraits in 2007 we ordered 3 or 4 that were mounted on foam board: 1 was the signature castle shot in like a 24x30 and the others in I think 16x20. I had a price list for the mounted portraits sent to me. The current prices to order these from Disney are similar to what we paid in 2007:

Portraits*
30" x 40" $400
24" x 30" $275
20" x 24" $225
16" x 20" $165
11" x 14" $120

All portraits are professionally mounted and suitable for framing. Artist’s canvas portraits are an additional 50%.

*Portraits include basic retouching. Basic retouching will diminish the effects of lines, spots, glare on glasses, and minor facial blemishes. Retouching is available for $75 per hour, with a minimum charge of one (1) hour.

Estimates available upon request.

All prices do not include Florida state sales tax and are subject to change.

I know I'm going to order a signature family shot with SSE in the background in the same size as the biggest family shot from 2007. I also think I'll order one of the boys and one of the hubby & me in the 16x20. Now I just gotta figure out how to break it to the old man that I'm gonna spend another $605+tax on portraits.

My friend from Newfoundland said she thinks she was told that there was a higher resolution cd available for another larger amount of moolah but I forgot to ask last time I called. I don't know if that's true or not. I'll go email and ask.

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Originally Posted by 3pletprincesses

here's our photos from our 1 hour session. It was an interesting photoshot has we were a party of 8.
http://www.collages.net/consumersite...ventgroup.aspx Cunha family password once again being 1971. I guess it's the standard password for everyone LOL Our photos were taken at the Poly on August 26 at 9am. We received our cd and photobook with all the photos yesterday.

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing.

[rjvose17]

Thanks for sharing 3pletprincesses! Your family is beautiful! Your little one without the classes really reminds me of my youngest daughter with some of the faces that were made! LOL I think you got some great shots and lots of them. Who was your photographer? I think that's my biggest concern was our photographer was so worried about the heat and didn't want to move around much so we didn't get many shots. Im overall happy with ours so im not going to call and complain but if we do it again, I'd do it totally different. Thanks again!

[sweetpee_1993]

Originally Posted by rjvose17

Thanks for sharing 3pletprincesses! Your family is beautiful! Your little one without the classes really reminds me of my youngest daughter with some of the faces that were made! LOL I think you got some great shots and lots of them. Who was your photographer? I think that's my biggest concern was our photographer was so worried about the heat and didn't want to move around much so we didn't get many shots. Im overall happy with ours so im not going to call and complain but if we do it again, I'd do it totally different. Thanks again!

Both times I've done portrait shoots at WDW (2007 & 2011) before getting started our photographer asked us what we were looking for or wanted in our portraits. The first time I wasn't sure what to ask for. I just said we wanted pictures of the family then different combinations of the 4 of us. I specified I wanted a good family shot with the castle behind us. That's exactly what we got. Posed family shots with attention to the family shot with the castle. This time when I was asked that question I was more detailed in what I wanted. I asked for a few traditional family shots but to mix in candid-type stuff, too. I explained it was our 18th anniversary so we wanted pics of the hubby & I together. I also asked for at least 1 good family shot with SSE included to go with the castle shot from 2007. I thought it was cool that our photographer, Dean, asked me a lot of questions about that castle shot we had. He said he was trying to think how he wanted to set that one up so it would compliment the other picture well. I think knowing how to describe what it is I want helped a lot to improve my overall satisfaction with my photo shoot this time.

Above where you said you'd do it totally different really struck a chord with me. I did do it different this time vs. last time and it made a big difference in getting the kind of portraits I had envisioned. I always look at my first time doing anything as my learning experience; portrait shoots included!

[Scarlett81]

Guys! I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!
I've looked over the photos and most I see are just gorgeous. I think whats holding me back is what if I get that one photg thats just not good...
I had photopass shots done 2 yrs ago, and let me tell you-I'm glad I have the pics, but the quality isn't there. But thats what I'd expect for photopass, so its fine.
But this-no, I don't expect that. If I hire an off site photog, at least I can see his prior work and there's somewhat of a guarantee.
I just keep thinking, perhaps the disney photogs know the resorts better, for good shots...and if we want to we can do a park session...
aagaghhhahhh!

[sweetpee_1993]

Originally Posted by Scarlett81

Guys! I DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!
I've looked over the photos and most I see are just gorgeous. I think whats holding me back is what if I get that one photg thats just not good...
I had photopass shots done 2 yrs ago, and let me tell you-I'm glad I have the pics, but the quality isn't there. But thats what I'd expect for photopass, so its fine.
But this-no, I don't expect that. If I hire an off site photog, at least I can see his prior work and there's somewhat of a guarantee.
I just keep thinking, perhaps the disney photogs know the resorts better, for good shots...and if we want to we can do a park session...
aagaghhhahhh!

You can go look at the links that we've all posted of our sessions to see examples of the quality you should expect from the Fine Art Photography. Also you can look at their example gallery on the website. I don't think any of us had the same photographer. I think what Disney is doing is showing the quality level you should expect no matter which photographer you get vs. examples from each individual photographer. Another key to a happy ending no matter if it's a Disney photographer or an outside photographer is for you to verbalize very specifically what you want to see in your pictures such as combinations of people, backgrounds, and styles (such as candid shots, action shots, etc) to name a few. Be specific! Describe what you like when you look at portraits. Do you like to see a focus on the setting with the people as a small portion of the shot? Do you like the ones where it's not posed and it looks like a private moment was captured? Do you like to see your children playing together? That sort of thing. Does that make sense? You're right, if being inside a park is a priority (as it was for me) then that makes your decision for you. I agree with the notion that Disney's photographers will know their surroundings best. That certainly seemed to be the case with our photographer, Dean. We described what we wanted including specifics. He went to work showing us where to get and what to do which I felt produced a great result.

Ultimately, it's up to you to decide what you're comfortable doing. I don't want to say "Go with Disney!" because it has to be something you are okay with. I can tell you that a certain amount of my choice for my family was literally a leap of faith, that the quality of our portraits would be in-line with the examples I had seen on the website. In the end, I feel like we got exactly what we paid for.

Good luck and feel free to ask any specific questions that might help in your decision process. That's what sharing our experiences is all about, right?

[sweetpee_1993]

OMG! I had to share this with y'all right quick before my oldest pries my fingers from my keyboard here.... LOL! My friend from Newfoundland just got her link to her images from their expanded photo shoot at the Yacht Club last month. Guess what her reaction was??? Yep. Same as the rest of us. She's all "I just don't think my pictures are as good as yours are....I don't like the ones with me in it...." I explained to her that this seems to be a common reaction amoungst us girls. I told her the exact same think I said to rjvose17. I also brought up the fact that I didn't email her my link the moment I got it because I had the exact same reaction. First time thru I looked at myself in every picture more than I looked at anything else and picked apart what I didn't like. Then I spent time going thru the pics and finding all the treasures there, my guys and how much I looooved all the pictures of them and our beautiful surroundings. That's when I fell in love. It wasn't an instantaneous thing by far. When I was okay with the pictures is when I shared the link with her and with y'all. I think it's totally great that we're all sharing this part of the whole photo shoot experience because, to me, it's helpful to acknowledge the emotions we have at that point in the process and understand what's really going on. Knowing that several of us seem to have this reaction/moment and it's not just me is a comfort. Really.

[3pletprincesses]

My friend from Newfoundland said she thinks she was told that there was a higher resolution cd available for another larger amount of moolah but I forgot to ask last time I called. I don't know if that's true or not. I'll go email and ask.

I asked when I booked and when I called later to ask where was our cd and was told that only 1 format was available which is like mentionned a resolution for 8x12 max. I tried to do a 11X14 and the photos wasn't great. I think they are trying to make money but having us order the bigger pictures from them.

[sweetpee_1993]

Originally Posted by 3pletprincesses

I asked when I booked and when I called later to ask where was our cd and was told that only 1 format was available which is like mentionned a resolution for 8x12 max. I tried to do a 11X14 and the photos wasn't great. I think they are trying to make money but having us order the bigger pictures from them.

I think yes and no. I imagine the resolution required to produce the big prints would make for some pretty big files that might not be usable by your average consumer. I'm really not sure. I do think the prices are pretty jacked on the big mounted prints. On Mpix.com (website a lot of professional photographers use to order these things) the prices for the foam board mounted prints I want are $100 or more less than Disney's price. I'm all for Disney making a little off the big prints but there's quite a difference between padding yourself with a little mark-up and sticking it to someone. Eh, it is what it is. Necessary evil and all that jazz....

[sweetpee_1993]

Just wanted to update: our photo cd & proof book arrived via UPS this morning. That took a little over a month and a half since our photo shoot on 9/11. Just for a time reference for others....