Picture-taking tips?

[Bellechin06]

Hi Everyone,

My boyfriend and I are taking our first trip to WDW this May! I know - super exciting as we are both Disney fanatics (We've been on the Disney cruises twice!)

Since it's just going to be him and me, and we really want to take some awesome pictures of us + everything DISNEY...

How do you manage take some awesome photos of yourselves/entire group? Did you guys bring a tripod along with you or did you trust someone else to take your pictures?

We’re both a little shy at asking other people to take our pictures but we will do it anyway just so we both can be in the shot. But any tips you can share with us?

Thank you!

 

[Chip_Dale]

If there is a CM nearby you can ask them. Also where there is a photopass photographer while taking their photo; they will also take a photo with your camera.

 

[kcp1377]

^^ Yup, that. We just have CM take our pictures and they are usually great.

 

[kniquy]

You can ask any of the photo pass people to take your picture. You might want to opt for the memory maker -- if you want ride photos - those are some of the best pictures we have. If you are shy then the memory maker is great -- there are usually photo pass peeps all over the place and their job is to take your picture. Just scan your MB and poof the pictures are in your account.

 

[Parker Clan]

We have done memory maker the last few years because it's just us two as well and we were shy about asking others to take our photo.
We did seem to perfect the art of taking selfies last year though lol a ton of times when people saw us they would offer to take our pic. Or when we saw other couples we offered to take theirs if they would take ours
But I highly recommend Memory Maker... So worth the money

 

[glassslippergirl]

Photo pass photographers will be just about everywhere you want to take pictures. We've never done Memory Maker because our trips are too short to justify the cost, but I've bought PP photos, and they are often quality (sometimes you get a dud). Sometimes they even add some magic. And it's really a better option than lugging around a tripod. If you do decide to take your own photos, I like this article for ideas on unique photos in the parks.

 

[mikegood2]

Having a Photo Pass Photographer take the shot would be your best bet, if you don't want to purchase Memory Maker. They are located thought the parks in all of the "key" locations. Download the My Disney Experience app. and it has a tab that shows all the photo pass locations.

Since it is your first trip to WDW as a couple I would seriously consider purchasing Memory Maker. Yes it costs $150, but we feel that it's one of our best purchase every trip. Since I'm the family photographer, I know for a fact that I'm in a number of great photos that I would not have been in otherwise. Also, since you are paying $150 you are more motivated to take advantage of it and end up with a lot of photos you wouldn't have otherwise.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

For getting pictures of the two of you, I definitely echo the above suggestions of getting the Memory Maker, especially if capturing the two of you together is very important. The Photo Pass photographers are great at their jobs and turn out some amazing shots, plus they sometimes add a little bit of magic!

As far as taking your own pictures, take in the details. There are so many little things that I love to look back on that don't tend to stand out right away. Everyone's got a photo of the castle with the Partners statue in the foreground. Try to find a different angle- maybe with the castle peeking out from behind some balloons or foliage. The possibilities are endless.

Tom Bricker is an amazing photographer who does a lot of shooting in Disney parks. He wrote this post: http://www.disneytouristblog.com/photography-camera-reviews-disney/ on his suggestions. If you don't care about different camera types, just scroll down to where it says Disney Photgraphy Tips and check out the links he has there.

 

[Bellechin06]

Thanks so much everyone for your responses!!!

 

[Tinkerfan2005]

CM and Photopass photographers will take pictures for you with your camera. Look into Memory Maker too.

 

[Kerriowl]

I loved having Memory Maker for our last trip. It is so easy with a magic band, and our kids loved getting to find their ride pictures and add them to their magic bands. I made finding a photographer without a line into a sport and luckily my family went along with it.

 

[bochnikm]

I am one of those people who; if I see a couple trying to take pictures of each other, will offer to take a picture of both of them. I feel obligated to pass it on as so many have offered to take a picture of my wife and I in the past. Hopefully you will run into people like me. This is great when you are in an area without a photopass photographer.

Tip on asking others: I find it great to ask other couples to take a picture, then do the same for them. They really appreciate it.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

I am one of those people who; if I see a couple trying to take pictures of each other, will offer to take a picture of both of them. I feel obligated to pass it on as so many have offered to take a picture of my wife and I in the past. Hopefully you will run into people like me. This is great when you are in an area without a photopass photographer.

Tip on asking others: I find it great to ask other couples to take a picture, then do the same for them. They really appreciate it.

Bless you. As someone with very short arms kind people like you make my day better. We try to do the same and offer pictures of others in return!

 

[halfmonkey]

We just came back from our first trip to WDW. We spent 5 days there. I ended up pre-ordering the memory maker package because I was able to get all 6 of us on the package. One of the best decision for the trip. Since I'm usually the picture taker, I'm usually not in the picture but with memory maker, I was able to get in the pictures. We had almost 900 pictures when it was said and done. Keep in mind that almost 900 pictures included the dups that my family got because they had a magic band on their wrist as we were going through rides and such but still, that's a lot of pictures. I basically told my family that if they saw a photopass person, go take a picture. Some things to keep in mind with memory maker and photopass. You'll get some pictures that you won't get even with your camera such as pictures from rides, videos of the rides, magic shots, not having to ask people to take pictures of you and risk them dropping your camera and taking a bad shot. The photopass people might take a bad shot every now and again but most of our shots were good because they were typically set up in a location and not freely roaming the park whereas when asking someone, you might get someone that has no idea what they're doing and end up taking a bad shot of a once in a lifetime opportunity. I found that the photopass people typically take about 6 pictures but you can always ask them to take more if you'd like. Just be mindful of the people waiting so if there's a large queue, they might want to move you along quicker.