Anyone ever hire a professional photographer in the parks?

[Finally08]

Yes! That is exactly what I want!
Can you tell me more about your experience with Robyn?
How much did she charge for how many hours?
Would you mind sharing some pictures?
Thank you

I *think* I ended up paying about $250...I am pretty sure I paid $100 deposit down, then $150 the day of the session...and I bought extra time. The normal session covered like 2 hours and we had her for 3 1/2 or so. I did get a disc of photos....not ALL of them I'm sure as she gets rid of outtakes, but there are a lot (over 100). Like I said, many are snapshottish....as a pro I look at things like gear and what a person is shooting on (camera settings) and that part seemed a little less than pro. But she was very nice, and had some fun ideas, and was very open to what I wanted to do too. I explained before the trip what I wanted and then we just wandered around for a few hours and did those things.

Here's a few of my faves. My husband could have taken these same shots himself or better with my gear, but he never would if he were there so I hired a pro, lol. This trip was just me and my dd. It was extremely hot, and my dd was not in the best mood, which is odd because she is such an agreeable child...I think the combination of the heat and making her wander around without riding many rides or getting AC breaks wore on her. Her face was also swollen from a bad sunscreen reaction.
The photos seemed to have a very basic editing - no retouching. As a pro I am really strict about what my images that go to clients look like and I make everyone flawless. Needless to say...I needed to work on us myself for these photos, lol.

 

[GadgetRick]

How many professional photographers would be willing to only earn $8/hr? Disney would have to up wages, therefore cutting # of photographers. In addition, if they were that fantastic, everybody would be asking to get photos from their own camera. Although this already happens, there would significantly more that would want to use this free opportunity, thus making a horrendous line at each photographer.

I don't know a perfect solution, and I don't see Disney paying a premium salary.

Exactly the point.

If they're not going to have photographers, then please don't call them such. It gives those of us who DO know what we're doing a bad name...

 

[GadgetRick]

They do offer real professional photographers - it just costs a lot more than the Photopass system.
http://www.disneyeventphotography.com/portraits/

(just noticed a PP already linked this - sorry about that!)

*cough* *cough* $350 to start for an hour!!?? *cough* *cough*

And this, my friends, is the problem with Disney these days.

I'm sorry, this is ridiculous for what you get. How about making it a normal price. You're already paying a small fortune to be there and get into the parks. Sheesh!

And I have to say, the photos in their galleries aren't all that good for a pro. Certainly not worth $350!

 

[Finally08]

*cough* *cough* $350 to start for an hour!!?? *cough* *cough*

And this, my friends, is the problem with Disney these days.

I'm sorry, this is ridiculous for what you get. How about making it a normal price. You're already paying a small fortune to be there and get into the parks. Sheesh!

And I have to say, the photos in their galleries aren't all that good for a pro. Certainly not worth $350!

I did not read the link, but does $350 an hour include anything, like a disc of photos? if it does, that is COMPLETELY reasonable for a pro. I charge $149 for an outdoor session on a weekend and that doesn't include anything but my time and skills for an hour and a half of shooting (and editing, etc). My clients on average spend $600-800 on their prints.

 

[GadgetRick]

I did not read the link, but does $350 an hour include anything, like a disc of photos? if it does, that is COMPLETELY reasonable for a pro. I charge $149 for an outdoor session on a weekend and that doesn't include anything but my time and skills for an hour and a half of shooting (and editing, etc). My clients on average spend $600-800 on their prints.

I'm also a pro so I have an idea of what a good photographer should cost.

Here's what it includes:

A one-hour Portrait Session with a Professional Photographer and Assistant
Choice of locations around the Walt Disney World® Resort
Image retouching and artistic enhancements
Disney Creative Portrait Staging
Stylistic Posing
Studio Lighting
Image Enhancements
Individual Attention to Every Final Image
Artistic Enhancements by Disney Retouch Artist
Website posting of images with slide show
A soft cover 6"x 6" proof book customized with your family name!

Sorry, nothing there makes this worth that much. I charge a similar amount for my time--$150 per hour. I include a disc with images for that but no prints. $350 for that is just ridiculous. Also, please do take a look at the galleries. Not all that great photography when you realize you're paying someone and paying them more than you'd pay a normal photographer.

 

[Finally08]

I'm also a pro so I have an idea of what a good photographer should cost.

Here's what it includes:

A one-hour Portrait Session with a Professional Photographer and Assistant
Choice of locations around the Walt Disney World® Resort
Image retouching and artistic enhancements
Disney Creative Portrait Staging
Stylistic Posing
Studio Lighting
Image Enhancements
Individual Attention to Every Final Image
Artistic Enhancements by Disney Retouch Artist
Website posting of images with slide show
A soft cover 6"x 6" proof book customized with your family name!

Sorry, nothing there makes this worth that much. I charge a similar amount for my time--$150 per hour. I include a disc with images for that but no prints. $350 for that is just ridiculous. Also, please do take a look at the galleries. Not all that great photography when you realize you're paying someone and paying them more than you'd pay a normal photographer.

Seeing that their comes with only a proof book for that isn't great...but giving away the farm for that amount isn't good business either. For $350, a client can book a digital MINI session with me. They get a half hour and only 10 final images on a disc. If they want more images than that (I show about 15-20 for a mini) they pay extra. If you charge $150 for a session AND a disc with the images, how do you get your sales to be OVER that amount? Once they have a disc, that's all they need.
My full session disc is a LOT more than $350. But I own a studio, I have overhead, this is my full time job. Doing all that for $150 when broken down hourly would pay me less than minimum wage. The job stress isn't worth it, I'd rather check groceries, lol.

 

[GreenCntryGirl]

i am a family photographer. but my dream job would be to follow people around on their Disney vacations, photographing their family. i've said this for years, but i can't convince DH to move to Orlando. since his job pays most of the bills, his career takes priority.

anyway, the Photopass photographers are NOT professional. yes, some of them are decent with the camera. some of them may be photographers outside of the parks too. but most of them are not professional by any stretch of the imagination. out-of-focus, incorrectly-exposed images are not the work of a true professional. (sorry. pet peeve.)

i honestly don't know how Disney could prevent families from hiring a photographer to follow them around on vacation.

I take better photos with my "point and shoot over 5 years old" digital camera than some professionals I've seen.

ETA: I'm not trying to be snotty with this comment. It's just that I've seen "professionals" in lots of jobs who are anything but.

 

[rachdd]

You might want to contact fellow diser: lurkyloo she also has a website http://disneytravelbabble.com/
I have seen that she has had photos made in the park BUT, I think she is also friends with the photographer. In any case, she could probably offer some suggestions.

 

[Skylarr29]

Professional photographers taking photos of people in the parks is against policy, I know this for a fact as I was married there. With that having been said, we did it anyway. No one said a word to us or questioned us (even with two photographers following us and a duffel sized bag of additional lenses in hand), we just went around and did our thing. Our photographers were not local though and any local photographer who does a lot of Disney weddings, and who are aware of Disney policies, will probably not agree to such a session because they wouldn't want to jeopardize their business. Got some awesome photos though!

 

[GadgetRick]

Seeing that their comes with only a proof book for that isn't great...but giving away the farm for that amount isn't good business either. For $350, a client can book a digital MINI session with me. They get a half hour and only 10 final images on a disc. If they want more images than that (I show about 15-20 for a mini) they pay extra. If you charge $150 for a session AND a disc with the images, how do you get your sales to be OVER that amount? Once they have a disc, that's all they need.
My full session disc is a LOT more than $350. But I own a studio, I have overhead, this is my full time job. Doing all that for $150 when broken down hourly would pay me less than minimum wage. The job stress isn't worth it, I'd rather check groceries, lol.

First, I've never seen your work but I'm guessing your photos are much better than the crap in the galleries.

Second, I'm not a photographer who pushes a lot of prints. Mainly, people don't want nor need prints any longer (for the most part) as they want to email, post on FB, etc. Besides, people are smarter about photographs and realize they can print them all over the place (and get decent results if not quite as good as from the lab I use). I don't begrudge other photogs from doing business this way, I just won't do it and my customers are quite happy and ALWAYS complain about other photogs who do business that way and praise what I'm doing.

I don't own a studio either, which changes things a bit. I also tend to do more real estate-related stuff than anything these days and have spun off a side business to address that alone. I continue to do portraits, weddings, etc. Just not as much as I used to. On top of that I do sports photography--again, a totally different beast.

My whole reasoning is, too many photogs over-value what they do (not talking about you as I don't know you or your work). Photography is a luxury, not a necessity. We don't need portraits of our kids or even professional photos of our wedding--we want them. I keep all of this in mind when selling my services.

It's just the way I do it, that's all.

 

[GadgetRick]

I take better photos with my "point and shoot over 5 years old" digital camera than some professionals I've seen.

ETA: I'm not trying to be snotty with this comment. It's just that I've seen "professionals" in lots of jobs who are anything but.

Come to Jacksonville if you want to see some bad photographers! We have LOTS of them!

 

[DisneyDreamer2325]

I think your pictures look fantastic. Thank you!

 

[a_sailor's_wife]

We use a photographer every year we go. However, she'll only shoot at the resorts since that is what Disney asks of her. However we have a great shot with the monorail overhead, castle in the background, and mickey mouse ice cream.

Our photographer is Kimberley with Portrayable Photography. Here's our shoot at the Polynesian.

http://www.portrayablephotography.com/blog/?p=1038

If you use her, please let her know that Katie sent you over!

 

[BoardWalkBelle]

fyi Disney pays more than 8.00 an hr for photpass CMs

 

[fairestoneofall]

And those shots were gorgeous, something you'll treasure always.

But you know.... I would have taken them for free. All you would have had to do is buy my plane ticket, hotel, food and park ticket!

times two. yep.

 

[fairestoneofall]

OMG. i know YOU! and i KNOW that your images would be amazing, but you're right. those images are so much better than you'd get with photopass. (ask mathmom who i am. )

to a different poster, i would work as a photopass photographer if it meant i could work at Disney. and yes, i'd do it for $8/hour. i could still run my business on my own time. we had one really great photopass photographer. he was shooting at Jedi Training, obviously knew what he was doing and loved his job. my DH wasn't on that trip, so i ended up video-taping it for him. i was so thankful to have decent pictures from the photopass guy. of course, i wasn't planning to buy the CD, and i only did for his images.