Disney Photo Session PART II

[rjvose17]

Ok so, we are having a hour photo session on our upcoming trip in a month. We booked a hour long session. I know that you need to purchase the cd for 50.00 extra dollars if you want the copyrights to the pics but I just got to thinking ....is the 280.00 (after DVC discount) basically just a sitting fee and includes NO pics? I see that additional prints are available to buy but do we get any at all or is the 280.00 just a "sitting fee"? I guess I was foolish to think that you get all the shots that are taken at the session. This actually may change my mind whether or not we actually keep the appointment or not. I appreciate the feedback. Thanks.

 

[v_misses_epcot]

When using outside photography at a resort, can you have bridal wear on??

 

[3pletprincesses]

Ok so, we are having a hour photo session on our upcoming trip in a month. We booked a hour long session. I know that you need to purchase the cd for 50.00 extra dollars if you want the copyrights to the pics but I just got to thinking ....is the 280.00 (after DVC discount) basically just a sitting fee and includes NO pics? I see that additional prints are available to buy but do we get any at all or is the 280.00 just a "sitting fee"? I guess I was foolish to think that you get all the shots that are taken at the session. This actually may change my mind whether or not we actually keep the appointment or not. I appreciate the feedback. Thanks.

I'm pretty sure that you get a 6X6 proof book with your family name on the cover. I just changed our 20 minutes session of next week to an hour session and was told they would mail me the 6X6 proof book with the best shotsand they asked if it was ok if they wrote xxx Family vacation 2011 on the book. They will be sending me the cd with high res photos which enables you to do up to 8X12 photos (they call that high res ?!? I figure high res would be able to do at least 11x14 ). I should receive it at home 2-3 weeks after the photo session. In the interim, they will give me the site where I can view my pictures. If you want, I will keep you uipdated when I return on September 1st.

ETA found this on their website http://www.disneyeventphotography.com/portraits/index.php
•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 of your final photos
•Disney Creative Portrait Staging •Stylistic Posing
•Studio Lighting
•Clothing Consultation
•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!

 

[rjvose17]

If you want, I will keep you uipdated when I return on September 1st.


I would love to be updated on how your session went!!! We have our session booked for the 16th of Sept. I am thinking that I will just buy the CD and not order any prints from Disney. Is that what most people do? I can't imagine spending another 300.00 on photos after spending 320.00 for the sitting fee and cd. I have read that some people spend over 1000.00 for photos! I have a decent Sony DSLR camera and use lots of my own editing software for my photos at home but have never had a "real" photo shoot done as a family so I am excited. Thanks for the help and the info! Good luck with your session.

 

[mommyrosa2]

If you want, I will keep you uipdated when I return on September 1st.


I would love to be updated on how your session went!!! We have our session booked for the 16th of Sept. I am thinking that I will just buy the CD and not order any prints from Disney. Is that what most people do? I can't imagine spending another 300.00 on photos after spending 320.00 for the sitting fee and cd. I have read that some people spend over 1000.00 for photos! I have a decent Sony DSLR camera and use lots of my own editing software for my photos at home but have never had a "real" photo shoot done as a family so I am excited. Thanks for the help and the info! Good luck with your session.

You'll be better off getting prints somewhere else. We had our family pics taken last November at the GF & the pkg came with a few prints. The color on those were not great. When I returned home, I wanted an 11x14 of our family shot and went to Walmart to enlarge and print and was nervous abt how the coloring would turn out but let me tell you, the picture was so vivid compared to the ones I got from Disney and it only cost me a couple of dollars to get that size. I'd be anxious to hear about your experience when you get back since we're getting our DD's senior pictures taken in October.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

If you want, I will keep you uipdated when I return on September 1st.


I would love to be updated on how your session went!!! We have our session booked for the 16th of Sept. I am thinking that I will just buy the CD and not order any prints from Disney. Is that what most people do? I can't imagine spending another 300.00 on photos after spending 320.00 for the sitting fee and cd. I have read that some people spend over 1000.00 for photos! I have a decent Sony DSLR camera and use lots of my own editing software for my photos at home but have never had a "real" photo shoot done as a family so I am excited. Thanks for the help and the info! Good luck with your session.

We did an hour long family portrait sitting with Disney's Professional Photography Services in the Magic Kingdom in December of '07. The hour-long enhanced sitting is extremely similar to what we did in 2007 in many ways. You could go pretty much anywhere on property including in the parks. The sitting fee was like $265 or something like that. All the images were retouched and edited. The sitting included a 6"x6" proof booklet with our name on it. Very nice. One of the big differences was that you did NOT have the option to purchase any of the images on a cd w/a copyright release. The only way you could get prints from your sitting in 2007 was to order them. That's where the expense really added up. After our sitting and all our prints we spent about $1100. My original family portrait budget before even deciding to do it at WDW back in late 2007 was about $1k. We were okay with what we spent and absolutely love everything we got. Part of the problem was that there were soooo many gorgeous shots it was hard to narrow it down. We ended up ordering like 20 different 8x10's because we wanted to do high-res scans to print at home for family in 5x7 sizes. We ordered 3 mounted 16x20s (1 of each of our boys + 1 of the hubby & me) and 1 26x24 (or some such crazy big size) mounted shot of the family with the castle. The quality is amazing.

All that considered, I think the $400 for the sitting AND the cd w/copyright release is a killer deal! We are booked to do our family portraits again with the hour sitting in World Showcase on 9/11. Can't wait!

Hope that helped ya!

 

[rjvose17]

I finally got a hold of Disney Photography...some times it's hard to get them on the phone!

Anyways I talked to the CM and she said that it's normally 350.00 for the hour. We are DVC members so we get a 20% discount making it 280.00 then we put a 25.00 deposit so ONE WEEK before our photoshoot day we have to pay the remainder which will be 255.00. Also with the DVC membership she said we get 2 FREE 5x7's. The regular package includes the 6X6 book.

We decided to buy the 50.00 copyright CD and print our own prints off after they are edited. I dont know what the max size is that you can print off but I don't typically hang photos bigger than 8 x 10. I also forgot to ask if we get a DVC discount on the 50.00 CD, i'm guessing probably NOT. So a total of 320.00 is reasonable for a photo session and owning the rights. I will like others have posted just take them to Walmart or Staples and have them printed off for a fraction of the price.

I also explained to her that this is our first photo session and would really like a experienced photographer that can really bring something unique to the table. I hope she listens.

I will say the price isn't what's stressing me out the most. It's the fact that I am the one that is normally behind the camera. I dont find myself to be very photogenic. So I've been having my DH and two DD's walking, along with exercising with my DH as much as possible, tanning and teeth whitening like crazy. Along with making my DH do some teeth whitening and trying out different facial hair ideas! We went shopping together and have our coordinating outfits. I have also been playing with different hairstyles for my girls. My DH and DD's are in very good shape and even though I exercise on a normal basis i'm a bit on the bigger size. I think I will be fine as long as I can remember to pack my Spanx!

I look forward to seeing what others have done and how the experience went. Thanks everyone for the support and information!

 

[2Tiggies]

Sweetpea, when do you get back? I am hoping you will be home to post a review of your experience before we leave on September 22nd

And could anyone give me some advice as to whether morning or evening is worse for glare from the sun in early October? I know it depends where you are and the direction you face, but my issue is more with the glare in general that facing into the light of the sun. Many thanks.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I will say the price isn't what's stressing me out the most. It's the fact that I am the one that is normally behind the camera. I dont find myself to be very photogenic. So I've been having my DH and two DD's walking, along with exercising with my DH as much as possible, tanning and teeth whitening like crazy. Along with making my DH do some teeth whitening and trying out different facial hair ideas! We went shopping together and have our coordinating outfits. I have also been playing with different hairstyles for my girls. My DH and DD's are in very good shape and even though I exercise on a normal basis i'm a bit on the bigger size. I think I will be fine as long as I can remember to pack my Spanx!

First of all, I toooootally feel ya on not being that photogenic. I tend to not be either. The thing that bugs me most is the fake smile or the squinty eyes. Ugh! I try to keep things really light-hearted and get the guys to make me laugh when we're doing pics. And natural un-posed shots are my favorites. I don't know if they still do it, but the last time we did the portraits in 2007 our actual photographer called us the day before the sitting to re-confirm the meeting spot and ask if there was anything in particular we were looking to have. Hopefully they still do this.

Oh, and YES! I'm very self-conscious. I work out regularly but I don't look all athletic and there isn't any part of me that's small (other than my memory...LOL). I tan year round because my natural skin color is paper-white (I'm redheaded). I'll be doing my bleaching trays a day or 2 before we leave on the trip. And, yep, I'm doing my aerobics to try & tone up before we leave. I scheduled our portraits for the day after we arrive at WDW so my color will still be good and I won't have had time to pack on any indulgent pounds from all the yummy Disney treats. I've experimented with my hair some to see what I can make it do. I had considered booking a stylist from Beaute Speciale. The girl who does my hair really raved about how I managed my hair & makeup for our last family portraits. When I showed her the proof book the first thing out of her mouth was, "Wow! Who did you get to do your hair?!" Considering the source (this girl is absolutely gorgeous...like out of a magazine gorgeous...but very down-to-earth, doesn't act like she knows she's that beautiful...LOL) I'm thinking a professional won't be able to do a whole lot for me that I can't already do. Ya know? I'll save the money for our anniversary dinner.

Speaking of $$, very cool that they offer some price breaks/perks for DVC! That's awesome! Congrats!

Sweetpea, when do you get back? I am hoping you will be home to post a review of your experience before we leave on September 22nd

And could anyone give me some advice as to whether morning or evening is worse for glare from the sun in early October? I know it depends where you are and the direction you face, but my issue is more with the glare in general that facing into the light of the sun. Many thanks.

This is a long trip for us. LOL! I won't be home until the 25th. If I can remember to do it, I can post my review from my iPhone. I don't know when I'd be able to share any pics from the shoot because the editing takes some time. I think I read like 2 weeks which sounds about right for when I got the link to our last family portraits. I'll keep y'all posted!

I scheduled our sitting for as early in the morning as I could. I'm not a morning person so this is quite a sacrifice to say the very least. Originally we wanted to have the portraits done when we got all gussied-up for our anniversary dinner at the Yachtsman on our actual anniversary (9/18). Considering it's still September and hot as all heck, I didn't think this would make for very nice pictures unless we stayed inside somewhere. Thus, we opted for as early in the morning as they would let us have before it gets so unbearably hot that we'll be drenched after just 10 minutes and my face won't melt off. Literally. Food for thought.

 

[2Tiggies]

I scheduled our sitting for as early in the morning as I could. I'm not a morning person so this is quite a sacrifice to say the very least. Originally we wanted to have the portraits done when we got all gussied-up for our anniversary dinner at the Yachtsman on our actual anniversary (9/18). Considering it's still September and hot as all heck, I didn't think this would make for very nice pictures unless we stayed inside somewhere. Thus, we opted for as early in the morning as they would let us have before it gets so unbearably hot that we'll be drenched after just 10 minutes and my face won't melt off. Literally. Food for thought.

That is incredibly helpful. Not sure I would dare go without my face or risk having it melt off. I wonder what time they do the earliest session .... I need to give them a call I think. Thank you so much for that info

 

[sweetpee_1993]

That is incredibly helpful. Not sure I would dare go without my face or risk having it melt off. I wonder what time they do the earliest session .... I need to give them a call I think. Thank you so much for that info

I think the earliest time slots will largely depend upon where you're shooting. Naturally, DFTW brides are going to have priority for like the MK. I can only speak for the 2 experiences we've had. The first back in 2007 was at the MK after park opening. We met our photographer at the Rose Garden at 9:00 a.m. When I booked it neither Disney or I thought of the Christmas parade filming scheduled for that day. This was another detail we discussed with our photographer when he called us the day before. It was like trying to part the Red Sea getting there but we gave ourselves extra time and we made it. Amazingly, with all those thousands of people on Main Street not 1 other person is in any of our pictures. Not even the 1 shot of us standing in the middle of the Rose Garden with the castle behind us. The angle he shot + the editing truly accomplished the impossible. For our upcoming sitting in World Showcase we are meeting our photographer at the International Gateway at 8:45-ish. That time is based on the park being officially open at 9 but we get the advantage of World Showcase not being open to park guests until 11. That way we'll be clear of the area before guests can come in. Kinda an added perk with World Showcase.

 

[IMACM]

We are doing ours in the morning too just in case its still hot in November!!

I do know that they just hired a bunch of professional photographers...not photopass photographers!!! I cn't wait to see your pics from the sessions!!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

We are doing ours in the morning too just in case its still hot in November!!

I do know that they just hired a bunch of professional photographers...not photopass photographers!!! I cn't wait to see your pics from the sessions!!

Oh! I hope they hired quality! Yay! I'm anxious to see everyone's pics! This is exciting stuff!

I'm shooting for fun candids with DH & me (for our 18th anniversary) and candids with the boys, too. I don't want much posing this go around. Lets walk together, talk, do what we normally would do when we're at WDW having fun but capture it in still shots. I know we won't get the volume of great shots but I'll sacrifice quantity for truly awesome candid. How about y'all?!

And what's everyone wearing? I found a gorgeous, simple white cotton eyelet maxi sundress for me. It's not form-fitting or trendy, more etherial or prairie-ish in style. Very cute. And, yes, that baby is fully lined. Do have any idea how hard it is to find a white eyelet maxi that's lined??? I found the dress on Nordstrom's website but wasn't paying the stupid price they wanted. Then like a week later after I was thinking non-stop about that dress I went to look again and it was on sale for like 50% off. Cha-ching! I'll wear my pretty dress with brown flat sandals. The guys are all wearing white long-sleeve button-up shirts with the sleeves rolled & probably untucked, khaki shorts, all with flip-flops. I got all their shirts & shorts from American Eagle online when things went on sale and I had good discount codes sent to me. I ended up paying like $15 for the shorts and maybe $20 for the shirts. Not bad at all. I love shopping sales. The shorts the guys can wear again thru-out the trip. I'm thinking I might wear my dress again a week later on our actual anniversary for our special dinner. To make it fun I'm thinking we'll bring everyone's sunglasses and maybe even our good Mickey ears hats (we got them before they switched the embroidery to the computerized machines). Also, since I'm wearing white I'll prob'ly bring a white towel in case I sit for anything. I can lay down a white towell and hide it so you don't really see it.

 

[2Tiggies]

We are doing ours in the morning too just in case its still hot in November!!

I do know that they just hired a bunch of professional photographers...not photopass photographers!!! I cn't wait to see your pics from the sessions!!

I know there were mixed reviews of the Photopass Photographers who used to do the resort sessions but we really came out smiling last year with a wonderful photographer. I was so happy with the whole experience and of the 79 shots we got on our CD only 3 of them were meh ... the rest were all worthy of enlarging and printing.

 

[mommyrosa2]

We are doing ours in the morning too just in case its still hot in November!!

I do know that they just hired a bunch of professional photographers...not photopass photographers!!! I cn't wait to see your pics from the sessions!!

We had our pics done last year on November 9th and we actually booked our photoshoot at 4:45 which for us was perfect - we had very little glare as the sun was just starting to go down, the weather was perfect - not hot at all and we ended up with some great shots of the sunset behind us. I booked my DD's upcoming senior pics around the same time in October.

Oh... and we too had our pics taken by a photopass photographer and we only had a couple that were not that great, the rest were beautiful

 

[2Tiggies]

Well I finally caved - I BOOKED!! I will let you all know how it compares to the Photopass one when we get back. Thank you for all your help

 

[Lisa S.]

We had our 20-minute session last week at the Grand Floridian. The photographer was definitely NOT a photopass photographer. We got about 42 shots, most of which are good - a few of them are excellent. I'm very pleased.

 

[2Tiggies]

We had our 20-minute session last week at the Grand Floridian. The photographer was definitely NOT a photopass photographer. We got about 42 shots, most of which are good - a few of them are excellent. I'm very pleased.

Thanks Lisa

We are booked for the GF too. How many people were in your party?

 

[Lisa S.]

Hi 2Tiggies - there were just 2 of us, me and my Mom. They took several poses of us both, as well as individual shots of us in several locations - on the stairs in the lobby, by the piano in the lobby, sitting in a chair in the lobby, on the steps in an alcove, by the fountain outside, and a couple more places outside that I just can't remember right now. Hope this helps!

 

[2Tiggies]

Hi 2Tiggies - there were just 2 of us, me and my Mom. They took several poses of us both, as well as individual shots of us in several locations - on the stairs in the lobby, by the piano in the lobby, sitting in a chair in the lobby, on the steps in an alcove, by the fountain outside, and a couple more places outside that I just can't remember right now. Hope this helps!

Thank you, it does help. This was my daughter's choice of resort for the session this year (she's 9, so who was I to argue ) and I had initially been a bit concerned that it would be very similar in settings to the one we did at the Poly last year. I was also curious as to how many people were in your party as it seems that the fewer you have and the quicker you are able to move, the more pictures you manage to get. I would be happy with 45 to 50 shots. Last year we managed more but my DD loves the camera so the photographer didn't need to issue any instructions to her. Me on the other hand ....