Breaking NEWS PHOTO SESSIONS!!!!!! :-)

[parkers*momma]

ok....I give up on WL and I really really REALLY wanted WL....we loved the country/rustic setting.

Soooo upon recommendation...I called BC and got right in without any problems. Now to rethink our outfits...lol

BTW...it was for the $25 rate so that works too.

 

[DiznEeyore]

Ok I have a poly photo session scheduled. How do I order the CD in advance when I don't have a photopass number?

You don't need a number. Do you have the preorder link from earlier in this thread? If you go through that, just don't fill in the blank where it asks for the number. You obviously won't have that yet.

The form asks the same kinds of questions as if you were ordering PhotoPass products after your trip. Just go through and place the order for the CD (99.95) and it will give you a receipt (and send you an email) for the preorder. Just make sure to take that with you to WDW.

They'll then send you a second email with the code you need to enter when you do finally order your CD. Do not delete that email!

When you get home from your trip, you'll go to the PhotoPass site, enter your card number(s), and go from there. At the end when it's time to order, you'll enter the code that gets sent to you in the email and it will take care of the cost of the CD.

HTH!

 

[grumpysmrs]

You don't need a number. Do you have the preorder link from earlier in this thread? If you go through that, just don't fill in the blank where it asks for the number. You obviously won't have that yet.

The form asks the same kinds of questions as if you were ordering PhotoPass products after your trip. Just go through and place the order for the CD (99.95) and it will give you a receipt (and send you an email) for the preorder. Just make sure to take that with you to WDW.

They'll then send you a second email with the code you need to enter when you do finally order your CD. Do not delete that email!

When you get home from your trip, you'll go to the PhotoPass site, enter your card number(s), and go from there. At the end when it's time to order, you'll enter the code that gets sent to you in the email and it will take care of the cost of the CD.

HTH!

I must not be searching right....I can't find the link.....

 

[DiznEeyore]

I must not be searching right....I can't find the link.....

Here you go:

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx

 

[mainstreet1997]

Is this the same as the Disney "Family Portrait Package" that DVC members get 10 percent off of in the "portable perks book"?

 

[Cheesehead66]

We just got back today, here's one of the pics from our Poly shoot. Didn't order the CD yet so we don't have more photos. We were able to get this one printed when our Visa meet & greet photos didn't come through by the time we left Epcot.

We were happy overall with the session, it was at 6 PM. The only thing I wasn't happy about was we didn't get a shot with the castle in the background. It's really my fault for not requesting it, I didn't realize it until later, so if you have a session coming up there be sure to request it.

 

[zurgswife]

ToyotaKitten, I really appreciate your perspective on this and I thank you for taking the time to post here.

For many of us, our objection to the higher price comes in the non-professional quality of so many of the photos. In fact, the samples you posted yesterday (that you obviously didn't take because you were in them ) had many shadows and sunspots that a truly trained professional photographer would have/should have noticed and compensated for, either with fill flash or by simply moving the subjects to a slightly different location. It would also be nice to not see random strangers in the backgrounds of the photos or trees, fountains, lighthouses, etc. appearing to "grow" out of people's heads. Again, those are things a professional should notice when posing his or her subjects.

I say that not to insult you or with any disrespect to you or your colleagues, but rather to communicate where the dissatisfaction comes from. My husband is a professional photographer and I've worked with him for over a decade, so I feel very comfortable in my assessments of the photos.

I have to say that the ones zurgswife posted a couple of days ago from the BC were fantastic, and well worth a $75 fee. Some of the others -- a lot of the others -- not so much. The value just isn't there when you look at the quality.

I hope I haven't offended you ... I just wanted to let you see things from a customer's point of view.

I have to agree with your assessment. I have seen many of the photo posted and had very low non professional expectation but it was a fun thing to do and get photos of both hubbie and myself.

We were very fortunate that we got a semi professional photographer - she has her own business and gave us a card to see her own work and it was very comparable to the pics she took at Disney. She works for Disney to get the perks. Her husband makes the money but loves to play golf and she has a mother that loves Disney. She works part time two days a week to be able to give her Hubby great golf courses and her mom lots of Disney time. Her hourly rate is laughable compared to what she bills for her private work.

My hubby is a hobbiest with regards to photograph. He knew right off the bat she new what she was doing. She even admitted that though the screen seemed tough to get the job, there was a wide variety of skill levels among the photoshoot photographers.

 

[DiznEeyore]

Cheesehead66, what a great shot!

 

[bear74]

SO I booked my Poly shoot yesterday. I have a shoot scheduled Sept. 23 at 9:30 am

 

[pinkerbell]

ToyotaKitten, I really appreciate your perspective on this and I thank you for taking the time to post here.

For many of us, our objection to the higher price comes in the non-professional quality of so many of the photos. In fact, the samples you posted yesterday (that you obviously didn't take because you were in them ) had many shadows and sunspots that a truly trained professional photographer would have/should have noticed and compensated for, either with fill flash or by simply moving the subjects to a slightly different location. It would also be nice to not see random strangers in the backgrounds of the photos or trees, fountains, lighthouses, etc. appearing to "grow" out of people's heads. Again, those are things a professional should notice when posing his or her subjects.

I say that not to insult you or with any disrespect to you or your colleagues, but rather to communicate where the dissatisfaction comes from. My husband is a professional photographer and I've worked with him for over a decade, so I feel very comfortable in my assessments of the photos.

I have to say that the ones zurgswife posted a couple of days ago from the BC were fantastic, and well worth a $75 fee. Some of the others -- a lot of the others -- not so much. The value just isn't there when you look at the quality.

I hope I haven't offended you ... I just wanted to let you see things from a customer's point of view.

Toyota Kitten - Thanks for posting, I am sure I would be more than satisified if u were to be our photographer. It is obvious you take great pride in your work/profession and I am glad Disney has you as an employee.. truly someone who adds Magic to any diseny experience.

DizneEyore - You really expressed many points very well. $25 was a reasonable price for the photos that we had taken last yr but not a penny more, many were so dark you could barely make us out. We had a late appointment and it was getting dark, they were also running late. We were also rushed around so fast we could barely keep up, Our photographer wouldnt even wait until we could all fit in the same elevator and we lost her .. thus rushing us even more. We were certianly not relaxed. Knowing this now we would have made an earlier appt, but for $75.00 it is just not worth the gamble. Along with the higher price comes higher expectations of which I do not feel the majority of photographers can meet. So yesterday, the photoshoot was deleted from our itinerary.
Most digital cameras have a timer now and u can by a mini tripod for 3.99 at the local Big Lots, we got some very nice pics from our last beach vacation using the timer even without the tripod, beach pails and benches worked just fine.

 

[cel_disney]

I just booked my shoot at BC for Sept. 24th. When I called this afternoon originally, the main photopass desk told me that I could book for any time during my stay even though it wasnt in the 30 day range (I wanted the 27th). Of course, when I called the direct line to book this - they could only book to the 24th.

SOOOOO, I booked for an appointment on the 24th (which could work plan wise so its not a total loss), but the CM told me that it was marked in 'yellow' and that I should be able to call back and reschedule and retain the reduced rate price! We'll see what happens! I definitely dont need to do this with the increased price, but if we can still do it for 25$, it could make for a nice Christmas gift for my in-laws because all of the kids will be together!

 

[brunette8706]

Originally Posted by princessreilly
I thought that I had posted pictures on here, but not seeing them. Here are a few from GF. I can't wait to see some from the Poly. Please share when you get them!


**
Those shots are very classic! Love the clothing choices! It reminds me of what you see in upscale photography studios.

 

[brunette8706]

How beautiful! I hate to take time away from the parks to do this, but I think I will! I just love your clothing choices! I think we might have to copy that I certainly hope you have that family shot up and framed somewhere in your home, its just beautiful! BTW, we also have a boy and a girl, the dd is older, so maybe I can see in your pics what I want mine to be like

Just GORGEOUS!

 

[LilGMom]

hmmmmmm to shed soem light on this subject that WE KNEW might have guests getting upset at us....

well like i explained to one person already. our guests were getting the photo sessions basically free before, b/c they were taking advantage of the idea that if they are getting the park cd anyway - they might as well get the photosession since its included in the price of the park CD (we fulfil more PURCHASE AT PARK CDs, than pre-ordered CDs) - so they got our photos free.

therefore our portrait photographers had no value compared to regular park photographers. PLUS we are wayyyyy cheaper than most professional studios. and any that are cheaper you don't get the copywrite NOR CD, you pay a session fee then you are only able to pick out a few photos for a package deal. AND places like walmart, glamour shots, school pix, use the cheesey backdrops (some of our photographers used to work for studios like that). But we use our surround DISNEY ENVIRONMENT that the IMAGINEERS CREATED. we use REAL flowers, REAL setting, REAL rocks, REAl bridges, CINDERELLAS CASTLE CAN BE IN THE BACK OF YOUR PHOTO IF YOU DO IT AT POLY. things like that.

you are not paying a studio for a basic portrait. you are paying Disney for a potrait in a Natural setting, with Disney flair. if you don't care much for Disney - don't do it. but if you are that passionate about Disney, its well worth it. We are still cheaper than most studios. so we are trying to bring us up to a market value.

and if you get your photos and they are not good....tell us. but our portrait photographers are the best and are HAND PICKED BY A GROUP OF MANAGERS and are trained to USE different settings than what they use in the parks. i am one of the new cast members for the PORTRAITS CREW... i was transferred in JUNE to PORTRAITS... and trust me these prices have made me want to make sure i am at the top of my game. however these higher prices are giving US - the Photographers - more value than the park photographers... which is well earned for what we are required to do in this new role.

I wouldn't say that the Resort Photographers had no more value than the Photopass ones before the price increase, our photographer was great to work with but there were still pictures that someone with a bit more experience, or maybe just more alloted time, would have staged differently. There is one pretty good picture of all of us near a banister and it looks like there is a lightpost growing out of my head. In some of the pictures the sun was so bad in our eyes that we had to keep them shut, she counted to three and we'd open them while she snapped the picture before we all sneezed.

We live in a beach community and once paid a photographer $100 to meet us at the beach to take pictures of our four families together. We got all of the proofs from that and he spent about an hour with us. The pictures were pretty good, not great but good, and we didn't feel rushed since we had him for an hour. If I'm paying someone (WDW or a private photographer) $175 (which is the cost if I preorder the cd and get the photosession) I would like to have more than 30 minutes with them, not feel rushed and know that I'm getting someone that is going to give us well staged pictures. When you are paying anywhere between $75 or $175 for a 30 minute photosession I think that is a bit much.

 

[wendylovesdisney]

So is it 75.00 if you want it on your cd? Or just for the photosession? If I prepurchase the cd how much am I paying, because I am getting it confused.

 

[HALEYSMOMMOM]

So is it 75.00 if you want it on your cd? Or just for the photosession? If I prepurchase the cd how much am I paying, because I am getting it confused.

99 for preordering the cd+75 for the photo session at resort=175.00

 

[HALEYSMOMMOM]

Maybe I misssed this on here, but BradK has some interesting things on his site with regard to the new changes. For one, you won't be able to have both park photos and photo session photos on your cd (Ithink) and the enhancements for the sesions will not be available. I hope this hasn't already started..... We are going for our session on 9-7 and of course got the $25 price, but I would like to be able to add enhancements....

Also, how much now for more than one session? it has been $50 after your first session, is it $100 now?

 

[Kiki Lime]

Yep, called this morning to book my session for 9/24 and it is indeed now $75, regardless of whether you preorder the cd. I'm really bummed. I went ahead and booked the session, but I might cancel instead. I think DH and I are just going to bring a mini tripod instead and save some moolah.

 

[wendylovesdisney]

I called GF and they told me it will be 75.00 to add the pics to my photopass and the Poly desk said it would cost me another 150.00 "because they were 2 discs" - I don't think they know what they are talking about...

Can't beleive I missed ordering this for Sept 23rd - 1 day late after the increase!

 

[Ducky4Disney]

I also want to say thanks to ToyotaKitten for sticking her neck out on this thread - I really appreciate seeing the other side to this. I think most of us are in agreement that $75 would be worthwhile for 30 minutes *IF* the pictures taken were of a higher caliber - but they just aren't. OR - $75 might me reasonable for 45 minutes with the current pic quality; you'd be less rushed and get more pics which increases the chances of getting good ones instead of mediocre ones.

I am not a professional photographer but I'll go out on a limb and say that I know more about photography than many WDW patrons. Take a look back at some of the photos posted here - backlit pics with no fill flash, washed out colors with improper white balance, placing subjects outdoors in shadows, blurry pics! Do I want to gamble $75 that I'll a Photog like you who has a clue and will do a good job? Would you?

The fact that people were getting the Resort Photos as a benefit with the PP CD doesn't make you less valued - and the fact that they were basically free probably wasn't impacting your salary. Raising the prices isn't going to boost your wages either - Disney is just going to make more profit from your work. They *may* start hiring more experienced photographers, incerase the time spent, or start looking at the quality of the experience at these higher rates when people stop booking the sessions and complain about the quality of the service provided.

I'm back and forth about the whole thing. One second I want to try, another second I'm tempted to setup my D200 on a tripod, and yet another second I'm thinking maybe I can get GDad to take some for me! In the end I think I wll do this - even for $75 - but I plan to review my pics carefully and if they're not good enough I will let Disney know.

D4D