Knowing what you know now would you use Disney for photos?

UnderTheMistletoe

DIS Veteran<br><font color=green>DH calls me "Figg
Joined
Nov 8, 2005
Messages
1,946
UPDATE: I spoke with my EM and we are inside our 30 day window; therefore, we are contracted with Disney. She's doing everything in her power to be sure that we're satisfied with the photos and the photography for our event.

xoxo


I am really starting to get cold feet on this... to the point I've put a contact out for Randy Chapman.

If you could make your decision having the knowledge you have now, what you do?
 
Im the same - im now considering using Randy so any info anyone else has would be so appreciated!
 
I'm also feeling the same way as both of you. Would love to hear any info regarding this.
 
Yep... just put another feeler out to Jeff Hawkins....

Can I even legally back out of our photography package? November 29th was our 30 day/pay in-full mark.... :scared:
 

I would NOT use Disney photography, nor would I ever recommend them based on my experience with them....to me, photography is very important (I'm more of a picture person than a video person), so I want to know exactly who is going to be photographing my wedding months in advance so I can be sure that I like his or her style. I feel like a broken record, but I just can't say enough good things about Randy. He was awesome and totally went above and beyond the call of duty to make our pictures perfect. He even came back 2 days after our wedding and met us at 7 am at the pavilion so we could get outdoor/beach pics there....it had rained on our wedding day and as a result we were unable to get any on that day). I get the warm fuzzies just thinking about it :goodvibes Disney photography would not have done this for us (I even asked them as a hypothetical question just out of curiousity, lol).
 
UnderTheMistletoe said:
Can I even legally back out of our photography package? November 29th was our 30 day/pay in-full mark.... :scared:

Yikes, I don't know--I would defintely call your EM first thing in the AM about this.
 
Disney has photographed quite a few of my events over the past couple of years. I believe I have used five of their photographers now (one of them I have used twice -- my Summerhouse event and my Grand Floridian Marina Party event were both shot by the same photographer). I have been pleased with all of their work. My photographs are lovely.

I used Disney for my custom vow renewal last year. There were two photographers at my event, and the photos that they took all turned out beautifully. One photographer took the standard wedding photographs (click here) while the other photographer took the more journalistic-styled photographs (click here). I was happy with both of their work.

I will definitely use Disney again for a future event.
 
I think the main problems with Disney Photography are that a) you can't choose who actually shoots your wedding; b) sometimes their album packages are expensive and c) on some shoots THEY decide what photos go into your album

Personally speaking I didn't HAVE to use Disney photography because I was having no problem hitting my minimums but having seen so many wonderful wedding photographs by Disney it wouldn't have daunted me.

Obviously if photography is a be all and end all of your wedding day then yup I would recommend using another recommended photographer who you feel totally comfortable with and you like their portfolio's.

However, and I'm not trying to teach my grandmother to suck eggs at all, remember that the shots that most photographers put on their websites will be the best ones out of thousands and thousands that they have taken.

As most of you know I had Randy and yeah the guy did good and he took well over a thousand photos but I only got to see 500 of them because he felt the others weren't even good enough to show me - then I only chose the best of them to put in my albums - in total prolly about only 100 shots were what I would class as worthy maybe not even that many - so less than 10% of the shots made the cut! From what I hear that seems to be the norm from those that had Disney or any other photographer.

Oh forgot to say that we had a great photographer for our Honeymoon Shoot and I also attended a wedding that was shot by Disney in October 2004 and her pics came out great, but yeah I guess maybe that's the main problem it just depends on who you get and I can totally understand why some brides wouldn't want to take that risk.

At the end of the day (and in an ideal world) you only get married the once ;)
 
Knowing what I know now...I would DEFINITELY use Disney again. In fact, I'm considering doing a "private" session the next time we're in Disney...just because!

The pictures our photographer took were wonderful...yes there were one or two that were a bit "off center", but that will happen with ANY photographer as they try to catch those critical moments...and that's why we have editing! :rotfl:

My only regret? That our ceremony didn't last longer so we could get more pictures! In just under two hours, we got nearly 70 pictures...and I guess that doesn't sound like much, but I was very pleased in the "moments" our photographer caught and only wish I had thought to ask for more.

I'm sure if you searched enough, you would find brides who were not happy with this or that photographer, like Sam said, they're not going to show you their "bad" pictures.

Also, when you consider that Disney does THOUSANDS of weddings in a year, and only a very small percentage find this board, my guess is that there are thousands of brides who are very happy with the photography Disney has done for their weddings....we just don't get to talk to them! :)
 
I would consider using Disney again, for the vow renewal I hope to have. But I would also consider other alternatives. My problems were not with the photos taken, it was with the delivery and follow up service.
 
My biggest concern is this whole proof issue and who actually has the master rights? So you have access to your proofs three years later for a minimal fee, I have no problem with that. I also want the Disney photo albumn. I love the idea of not having to do all the work for it... and it will be different than thr other three albumns I have.

But, the follow-up, etc., is what most seem to be griping about... and I think that's what has me most worried. Like you haven't been told the whole truth or everything you need to know. Remember we already had to nix our dessert party because of so many little detials no one mentioned to us.... after we were told we'd be having a comprable event.

Argh... decisions, decisions.
Keep the opinions coming..... PLEASE!
 
is there any websites that shows alot of recent disney wedding pictures? wedding photography will play a good role in our decision making for the venue, so it's good to see both sides of the comparision.
 
UnderTheMistletoe said:
My biggest concern is this whole proof issue and who actually has the master rights? So you have access to your proofs three years later for a minimal fee, I have no problem with that. I also want the Disney photo albumn. I love the idea of not having to do all the work for it... and it will be different than thr other three albumns I have.

But, the follow-up, etc., is what most seem to be griping about... and I think that's what has me most worried. Like you haven't been told the whole truth or everything you need to know. Remember we already had to nix our dessert party because of so many little detials no one mentioned to us.... after we were told we'd be having a comprable event.

Argh... decisions, decisions.
Keep the opinions coming..... PLEASE!

Technically, Disney holds the rights to your photos until you own the high-res CD.

I think Disney does tell you the truth...but I think the trouble starts when "interpretations" and "assumptions" are made, or when something "special/extra magical" was done for one bride, and someone else thinks that happens for every bride, you know? You just have to be very clear about the questions you have and the answers you receive...but if you ask me, that's true for just about any transaction in life.
 
groomtb said:
is there any websites that shows alot of recent disney wedding pictures? wedding photography will play a good role in our decision making for the venue, so it's good to see both sides of the comparision.

The best way to see recent pictures is to review the photos from recent Disney brides. I think there are several in the sticky at the top of the page.

Any that have the web adress of www.collages.net/disneyweddings were taken by Disney Photographers.
 
I feel the same as hiwaygal - my husband and I were looking at our pix the other night (we got the high res pix from our Intimate Wedding) and we wish we had more! We ended up with over 100 pictures in a 2-hour session and honestly there were only 2 that were not excellent (one where I was looking away, so technically I guess that one's my fault!).
I was very happy with Disney photography but I have to admit it was weird meeting my wedding photographer 2 minutes before I walked down the aisle! I also wish I could have had some professional shots of my maid of honor and me, and my groom "getting ready" but they don't offer those for Intimate brides. I assume with an 8 or 9 hour Custom Wedding shoot you could get those?
Photography is very important and VERY expensive. Whether you use Disney or an outside vendor choose carefully. Good luck and happy planning!
 
I understand your hesitation completely. As the others have stated, if photography is Number One on your list and you do not like the idea of not knowing which Disney photographer is going to shoot your wedding, then use another vendor who can guarantee a specific photographer for your event. It is your wedding and you have the right to do whatever it takes to put your mind at ease. No one will fault you for that.

If you choose to stay with Disney photography, I hope you are as pleased with them as I have been. I knew I was pleased with their work when I answered your post late last night; however, I had forgotten just how tickled I actually was until I reviewed my photographs just now in my attempt to give you a small glimpse of what Disney Photography did for me. I laughed and cried when I viewed my photos. The two Disney photographers had truly captured the essence of my vow renewal, including moments that I personally never saw.

For example, my sister helped the males in the wedding party fix their ties. I must have been somewhere else inside the Grand Floridian when this happened because I never saw my sister’s “behind the scenes” handiwork until after I had viewed the photographs. Unbeknownst to me, the photographer who was tasked with taking the "journalistic-style" photos had captured it all. You’ll see those photos when you view my on-line album.

After my ceremony had finished, the "standard-style" photographer gathered everyone together for a group photograph. Once he had snapped the appropriate shots, my Event Manager pulled out Mickey Mouse Ears as a surprise for my guests. The "journalistic-style" photographer began snapping photos while everyone put on their ears. I never saw any of this because my back was towards my guests as I held still while someone placed mouse ears atop my head. You’ll see this when you view my on-line album.

As to my Yahoo on-line photo album, the photos that I have placed in it have been re-sized downwards. The original photos from Disney were 4064 x 2704 pixels in size. When I put them in my Yahoo album, I re-sized them down to 440 x 293 pixels in size. I always re-size my shared photos so that they load quicker for those who view them, and also so they don’t waste too much disk space in my photo account.

You might be wondering how I received electronic images of my photographs. On top of my photography/videography package, I paid an additional fee in order to receive a high-resolution CD that contained my photographs. This was all arranged during my Planning Session. After my event had completed, and once Disney was ready to send me my proofs (in photograph form), they asked me if I would prefer to receive my electronic images on one DVD versus multiple CDs since they had taken so many photographs. I opted for the DVD because it was much easier for me to keep track of one thing than multiple things.

Here is the link to my on-line album: click here. As I mentioned before, I have temporarily placed these photos at the very beginning of that album. At some point in the near future, I will either rearrange those photos or remove them completely from the album (my album is a work in progress and I haven't shared very many photos yet since my Trip Report is still uncompleted).

There is one final comment that I would like to make. In all my dealings with Disney’s photography folks over the past couple of years, they have been nothing but professional and kind. They have also been prompt to answer my questions and to put my mind at ease. I will definitely use them again for my future events.

This is all my humble opinion and others’ opinions might vary.
 












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