MemoryMaker photos...not so great... :(

[bc7ate9]

Just an observation for anybody on the fence about getting MemoryMaker...

I just downloaded all the photos from our MemoryMaker September 23-27 and I've gotta say that I'm overall pretty disappointed with the photos we got...the best way to describe many (maybe most) of them is just SLOPPY. Our feet or heads are cut off, the camera isn't straight, the lens is dirty, and the lighting is bad.

Also, the "Magic" borders and things they add often don't make any sense...best example is us doing a "Happy Anniversary" pose with our buttons - with an Inside Out border featuring Anger...great.

I'm huge on photos and I've been happy to pay for MemoryMaker/PhotoPass on all our previous Disney trips, but if it hadn't been added as an AP benefit, I think I'd have to give it serious thought before using it again. The photos we had CMs take for us with my iPhone are all much better!

Link to what I think are the best photos, if anybody is interested: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153133980801120.1073741931.504166119&type=1&l=88188e6472

 

[simplyton]

Awesome album of photos
Yes some of them might not be technically terrific but you guys look like you got a lot of great shots out of a 5 day trip

 

[bc7ate9]

Awesome album of photos
Yes some of them might not be technically terrific but you guys look like you got a lot of great shots out of a 5 day trip

Thanks! I'd agree with that. I AM happy to have them, just feeling a little down about the quality. The memories are all good, though - and I really did get a fair amount of decent enough photos for only 3 1/2 park days.

 

[MataHari22]

Aww, that stinks. Sorry you got a lot that aren't good quality. Looks like there's about 100 or so in your album, and they do look like great memories to have, and there really are quite a few really fun and cute ones. Sorry you were disappointed, but I'm glad you got some nice ones. I think that's pretty good for only 3.5 park days. When I went, I had about 250 total, for 7 days, and that was split with my friend, so probably at least a 1/4 of those, were just her alone. I hope we do ok this year with it, we had good luck last year.

 

[Minniekins]

Aww, that stinks. Sorry you got a lot that aren't good quality. Looks like there's about 100 or so in your album, and they do look like great memories to have, and there really are quite a few really fun and cute ones. Sorry you were disappointed, but I'm glad you got some nice ones. I think that's pretty good for only 3.5 park days. When I went, I had about 250 total, for 7 days, and that was split with my friend, so probably at least a 1/4 of those, were just her alone. I hope we do ok this year with it, we had good luck last year.

I don't really understand MM that well. So, for 250 pics over 7 days, other than ride photos, isn't that a lot of stopping a photopass guy to take pics? I don't recall seeing that many everywhere around the park, seems like for as many guests who use this there'd have to be tons of photographers all over the place. I guess I don't get how this works. I take pics with my iphone that are pretty good. How do you get pics of just scenery, like just the castle or a pic down mainstreet, something spontaneous, and not necessarily posed pics, or even posed but sudden in the moment 'quick get that pic' photos? Seems like you'd have to almost have photographer with you all the time.

 

[bc7ate9]

Aww, that stinks. Sorry you got a lot that aren't good quality. Looks like there's about 100 or so in your album, and they do look like great memories to have, and there really are quite a few really fun and cute ones. Sorry you were disappointed, but I'm glad you got some nice ones. I think that's pretty good for only 3.5 park days. When I went, I had about 250 total, for 7 days, and that was split with my friend, so probably at least a 1/4 of those, were just her alone. I hope we do ok this year with it, we had good luck last year.

You're right - I think I just needed to gain some perspective. In 3 1/2 days, we got about 350 photos total, approximately 100 of which are fairly decent. That's not bad. They're not perfect, but they remind me of all the fun we had - and that's what matters, really.

 

[bc7ate9]

I don't really understand MM that well. So, for 250 pics over 7 days, other than ride photos, isn't that a lot of stopping a photopass guy to take pics? I don't recall seeing that many everywhere around the park, seems like for as many guests who use this there'd have to be tons of photographers all over the place. I guess I don't get how this works. I take pics with my iphone that are pretty good. How do you get pics of just scenery, like just the castle or a pic down mainstreet, something spontaneous, and not necessarily posed pics, or even posed but sudden in the moment 'quick get that pic' photos? Seems like you'd have to almost have photographer with you all the time.

We got about 350 MemoryMaker photos - so, pictures of us with characters, in front of park icons, on rides, etc. These photos are why we get MemoryMaker - especially because it is most often just my husband and me. We never have trouble finding photographers - and we never wait if there is more than one family ahead of us (not including characters, of course) so it doesn't really take a lot of extra time. There are more around than you realize till you look for them, I think.

In addition to those photos, we took another 350 on our phones - the scenery photos, candids, food, etc. You do get a lot of very nice stock photos with MemoryMaker - the park icons, fireworks, parades, characters - but we generally prefer our own photos to those very perfect versions!

It just depends on what is important to you.

 

[Chris Samples]

There are more around than you realize till you look for them, I think.

 

[MataHari22]

You're right - I think I just needed to gain some perspective. In 3 1/2 days, we got about 350 photos total, approximately 100 of which are fairly decent. That's not bad. They're not perfect, but they remind me of all the fun we had - and that's what matters, really.

I have to tell you something funny, I have actually posted this story on here on the dis before, so apologies if you've already read it before. I bet even your bad photos that you got from MM are not as bad as what I had to contend with my 2013 trip. I shall explain. When I was booking my 2013 trip, I was booking it for my friend and I, and I was paying for the whole trip, as a thank you to her, and when she saw the price of Memory Maker, she encouraged me not to get it. She thought it was too much to spend, and that we could just take our own photos, and she would take pix of me, and vice versa. Weeeeeeell what I didn't know, was that she could not take a decent photo. I'm not kidding. At one point, I asked her to take a photo of me at Hollywood Studios, on the street that has the NYC drop in the background, and when she took the photo, I was no where in the picture. She didn't just cut off an arm or head or something, nope, I was no where in the photo! It was painful, I finally just didn't even have her try to take a photo. I love her dearly, and we laugh about it now, but I have like a total of 2 photos of myself from my 2013 trip. Needless to say, when we traveled together last year, I bought Memory Maker. Lol. Got it again for this trip.

 

[MataHari22]

I don't really understand MM that well. So, for 250 pics over 7 days, other than ride photos, isn't that a lot of stopping a photopass guy to take pics? I don't recall seeing that many everywhere around the park, seems like for as many guests who use this there'd have to be tons of photographers all over the place. I guess I don't get how this works. I take pics with my iphone that are pretty good. How do you get pics of just scenery, like just the castle or a pic down mainstreet, something spontaneous, and not necessarily posed pics, or even posed but sudden in the moment 'quick get that pic' photos? Seems like you'd have to almost have photographer with you all the time.

Well, each time we stopped, they would often take a close up, a farther away one, and often a magic shot. Plus, when we stopped, I would get a photo alone, then one with my friend, then I would step out, and she would get one alone. So, for each stop, there's a good possibility there would be at least 6 photos there. There are a lot of photopass spots. You can look at where they are on the app. Also, since I had paid for MM, last year was the first time since I went back when I was a little kid the first time, that I decided to do some character meets. Which was out of my comfort zone, because I'm shy, but I'm glad I did it, because it was fun. No, you are not getting a lot of spontaneous pictures. I think people with kids often get more of those during character meets, sometimes the photographer will snap those photos while they are walking up or in line. But yes, most of the photopass photos are posed photos. Since I'm not traveling with someone that is going to take spontaneous shots of me, that is the best I can do. Lol. I always brought my Nikon with me, so I took plenty of shots of the castle, scenery, and Main Street photos. In fact, I may not even bring my camera with me this year. Just be more in the moment. If I feel I must take a photo or quick video, I will have my iPhone.

 

[Lori74]

looks like you had a great time! I love your polka dot dress!!! I can't seem to find anything like this to wear.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We had the opposite experience. We joined a Memory Maker Share Group for our two MNSSHP's this week (it was WAY more cost effective for two parties than the one-day Memory Maker offered by Disney or the full Memory Maker package) and we are thrilled with our photos. The quality is far better than we expected and we are really very pleased. Other than one set of pics that are missing (it will be my mission to track those down once we return home tomorrow) we are exceptionally happy with our purchase. The night time shots....which we worried about.....are even awesome quality and very well done.

Of course, I just looked at your photos.....and I think they are great. A great collection of memories! So maybe our standards are just different .

 

[bc7ate9]

looks like you had a great time! I love your polka dot dress!!! I can't seem to find anything like this to wear.

I get all my dresses at www.modcloth.com. Obsessed with that site.

 

[TeamSy]

After we take a look at our photopass photos, we're always glad we never spend for memory maker. The photos on our camera end up being so much better, and any ride photo we love we either buy or just laugh at with the mark across it. We did a private event and hired a Disney photographer this past trip, and even those photos are just okay. They aren't framed well, and a lot of them ended up over exposed. I just don't think Disney photographers are that great, period.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I just glanced at them but they don't look that bad to me. I see what you are saying about the lighting though.

Maybe if you download them and edit them a bit in a editing program you can make them look more to your liking?

But overall you guys look like you got a lot of cute ones!

 

[Canuck16]

That is too bad that some of your pictures are not as good as you were expecting. From the ones that I have seen they look great and it looks like you had a wonderful trip.

We always get the MM as we like to get a lot of family pictures when we go and this makes it much easier for us to get everyone in our photos.

 

[bc7ate9]

Thanks for the nice comments! I think we are being overly picky. With MemoryMaker, we ended up paying about $1.75 for each of the photos that we like. That's still WAY better than buying them individually!

 

[CodeGoddess]

The photos do have some exposure issues. Any chance these download in raw format so you can fix them in editing software like Photoshop?

We still plan on doing memory maker but I think I may have them also do one with my husbands iPhone just in case. Thanks for posting this.

 

[mom2rtk]

The photos do have some exposure issues. Any chance these download in raw format so you can fix them in editing software like Photoshop?

We still plan on doing memory maker but I think I may have them also do one with my husbands iPhone just in case. Thanks for posting this.

Photopass photos are only available as Jpegs.

 

[lugnut33]

I agree with the OP, the quality of the photos is pretty poor. Just the fact you have the photos is cool though.