Professional Family Photos at Aulani

[herrmannpt]

Our family of 4 is going in early June. We’d like to get professional (and affordable) family pictures taken on the beach. Will Aulani photographers take pictures without masks on if social distancing is maintained? Is it better to go with a local, non-Disney photographer? I would appreciate any recommendations.

 

[smiles5961984]

Disneys policy is Masks are required to be on at all times for photographs with Photopass at Aulani!

 

[Ladybugx87]

Our family of 4 is going in early June. We’d like to get professional (and affordable) family pictures taken on the beach. Will Aulani photographers take pictures without masks on if social distancing is maintained? Is it better to go with a local, non-Disney photographer? I would appreciate any recommendations.

we will also be there in early June - I contacted a few local photographers for availability and price just yesterday. So far, I have heard back from Little Bird Photography but dont yet have availability or rates from her - I am talking to her next week. I am happy to let you know what I find out.

 

[herrmannpt]

Yes! Please do. I will start to do some research too.

 

[corgi_monster]

I hired a photographer to do my daughter's pics and security stopped the shoot because my photographer didn't have a permit to shoot on Ko Olina grounds. The "set" consisted of a blanket, a camera, the photographer, my baby, and me . . . it's not like we had a big setup or anything. This was back in 2017 and policies may have changed, but I highly suggest asking your photographer whether or not they have a permit/permission to shoot on Ko Olina grounds.

 

[Ladybugx87]

I hired a photographer to do my daughter's pics and security stopped the shoot because my photographer didn't have a permit to shoot on Ko Olina grounds. The "set" consisted of a blanket, a camera, the photographer, my baby, and me . . . it's not like we had a big setup or anything. This was back in 2017 and policies may have changed, but I highly suggest asking your photographer whether or not they have a permit/permission to shoot on Ko Olina grounds.

Thank you!!

 

[jkips]

Our family of 4 is going in early June. We’d like to get professional (and affordable) family pictures taken on the beach. Will Aulani photographers take pictures without masks on if social distancing is maintained? Is it better to go with a local, non-Disney photographer? I would appreciate any recommendations.

A couple years ago before COVID we used the photographer through the Aulani and were very happy with the session. We did the half session and I think it was 200 some odd dollars all in. I’ll be there in June as well and was planning on doing it again but hadn’t thought about the mask aspect. I can’t imagine anyone hiring a private photographer if they had to wear masks in all the pictures.

 

[jkips]

I just called - For the private sessions through the hotel they are now at the beach and you do not need to wear masks in the photos. The details are here:

https://www.disneyaulani.com/activities/photography-services/
And the pricing is here:

https://cdn1.parksmedia.wdprapps.di...phy-services/photopass-package-price-list.pdf

 

[Disney_Fan_01]

Thanks for posting this. My wife is super interested in doing family photos during our trip in June. We did that last time in 2017 and absolutely loved the photos. The photo pass photographers won’t be able to get the same quality. I think you get what you pay for. We booked our mini session already. One point worth noting is that you do get $50 off of the photo pass cd for your stay which costs $100 if you have a private session booked.

 

[distravel]

Our family used Kim Ebert Photography during our vacation at Aulani a few years ago. We actually got her name from this forum. See https://www.disboards.com/threads/best-vacation-ever.3520049/ post # 16 . Kim was lovely to work with and will meet with you anywhere on the island. She edits the photos - One of my daughters had a pimple and there was a water spot on a shirt that she edited out of all the photos. She also reformatted the photos that we wanted to enlarge ( 24 in x 36 in) which apparently needs to be done so the photos won't appear pixelated. In 2017 it was $600 for one hour/50 edited photos.
I love the way our portraits came out. Enjoy your trip!!!

 

[cgattis]

The photo pass photographers won’t be able to get the same quality.

That’s not necessarily true. There are a couple of excellent Photopass photographers at Aulani. We have a 24x36 hanging over our bed and a couple of 16x20s on the other walls taken by one. They are fabulous. Of the three “shoots” we did, one was meh, one was perfectly fine, and one was fabulous. If you decide to go with PP, I highly recommend a couple of different tries, just for different lighting condition and different photographers—more chances to get some you really like.

 

[Ladybugx87]

That’s not necessarily true. There are a couple of excellent Photopass photographers at Aulani. We have a 24x36 hanging over our bed and a couple of 16x20s on the other walls taken by one. They are fabulous. Of the three “shoots” we did, one was meh, one was perfectly fine, and one was fabulous. If you decide to go with PP, I highly recommend a couple of different tries, just for different lighting condition and different photographers—more chances to get some you really like.

do I need to pre-book PP? I’m tempted to go this route and if I don’t love them, book private on the next island on the trip.[/QUOTE]

 

[Ladybugx87]

do I need to pre-book PP? I’m tempted to go this route and if I don’t love them, book private on the next island on the trip.

[/QUOTE]
Never mind read through earlier thread - this is still much cheaper (booking private session via Aulani) than private photographers

 

[Ladybugx87]

We booked Aulani at sunset for our June trip.

 

[luvdmouse]

I just booked a mini session at the end of May for graduation photos of my 3 kids through Aulani...everything is virtual for their graduations. Wondering if 20 minutes will be enough for photos of the 3 kids with and without cap and gowns, family photos and individual shots. Any thoughts? Private photographers were more expensive.

 

[Ladybugx87]

I just booked a mini session at the end of May for graduation photos of my 3 kids through Aulani...everything is virtual for their graduations. Wondering if 20 minutes will be enough for photos of the 3 kids with and without cap and gowns, family photos and individual shots. Any thoughts? Private photographers were more expensive.

I booked the longer session (40 minutes) and still found it cheaper than private.

 

[jodybird511]

We used the Aulani photographers during our last trip (2018) and were very happy with the results. Also, if you are a DVC member, you get a discount on the photopass (b/c you buy it in the shop, so you get the shop discount). We did the sunset shoot. Our fav of the whole family is below:

 

[Amommy21]

I always book the sunset shoot at Aulani... but don't tell my husband. A couple of my favorite shots are just from the photopass at sunset.

 

[James Logan]

We just visited Aulani and had our family photos done through carsonjamesphoto.com. For a 45 minute session is cost $250, and we received 150+ images all edited. They turned out fantastic and he was very patient with our family of 9. We walked out past the lagoon and took photos closer to the ocean for sunset. We are very happy we went with him for our family photos.

 

[Budzooka]

Our family used Kim Ebert Photography during our vacation at Aulani a few years ago. We actually got her name from this forum. See https://www.disboards.com/threads/best-vacation-ever.3520049/ post # 16 . Kim was lovely to work with and will meet with you anywhere on the island. She edits the photos - One of my daughters had a pimple and there was a water spot on a shirt that she edited out of all the photos. She also reformatted the photos that we wanted to enlarge ( 24 in x 36 in) which apparently needs to be done so the photos won't appear pixelated. In 2017 it was $600 for one hour/50 edited photos.
I love the way our portraits came out. Enjoy your trip!!!

Thank you for this recommendation. We just got back from Aulani and had pictures taken at sunrise by Kim Ebert. She was great to work with and very patient with our kids. Such good info on this board!