Professional pictures at Magic Kingdom?

[Charity913]

I would do a search on the internet for some photo ideas at MK...I bet you will be able to get some really great shots yourself if you have your heart set on MK. Photos with the characters are always great ones too...especially the non-posey kind where you can catch their actual interactions. Another thing to consider is that if you get the mini-session at the Poly and/or Grand Floridian...you can get the castle in some of your shots. I noticed this on the website and thought it was something that gave those resorts an edge over some of the others. I booked an enhanced photo session for my Maternity photos in September. I would have loved MK but since that wasn't offered I chose Epcot. I did ask though about how to "Disney Up" the pictures and they had some great suggestions about getting Mickey balloons, mickey ear hats, etc. I decided to go with the enhanced photo session because I wanted to be in a Disney park and I wanted the extra time for lots of different shots. I also pre-purchased a photo CD with all the images on it for $100 so that I will have copies of all the images and the freedom to print as many as I want. I did get to do a shoot with Disney Event Photography back in 2007 at the MK...but that was when we were there for my parent vow renewal. It was a lot of fun and we got some very special pictures...but honestly I think a lot of what we got is stuff we could have done ourselves if we had one extra person to take those group shots. I'm sure if you just decide to take some photos yourself that you will end up with some wonderful ones. Just make sure you set aside time specifically for taking photos as opposed to trying to fit them in while rushing from one ride to the next. Have a great trip and good luck with the photos!

Yes! I have looked into that, I may book something at a resort (I'm bending lol). I really like Poly with the castle in the background. I know that it is under construction. Does anyone know if you can go out in the beach at all?

 

[taramesu]

We had family portraits taken in December by Kimberly, owner of Potrayable Photography. I highly recommend her. http://www.portrayablephotography.com

She has a FB page too.

 

[lindsgator09]

We spoke to about eight or nine photographers, and of those only two were allowed to in-park shoots. They were both pretty big and well known photographers, and I believe both used to be Disney photographers - maybe that's how they got permission?

But it's definitely not clandestine, they both advertise their shoots publicly and their photos are ALL over their own websites, blogs, social media sites and on Pinterest.

Will PM you with the details now

We spoke to about eight or nine photographers, and of those only two were allowed to in-park shoots. They were both pretty big and well known photographers, and I believe both used to be Disney photographers - maybe that's how they got permission?

But it's definitely not clandestine, they both advertise their shoots publicly and their photos are ALL over their own websites, blogs, social media sites and on Pinterest.

Will PM you with the details now

Could you PM me the information for the photographers allowed into MK?
Thanks!

 

[poohs_hunny]

I actually like the "mini" session that they offer for $150. It would be at one of the listed resorts, but I think those can be more "in the moment" and "artistic"

There are galleries on the website for ideas. Check it out
For a three year old boy, the AoA would be super adorable! He could be playing and interacting with the themeing (nemo/cars)... just so many great possibilities!

I second the mini session! My husband and I had our engagement photos done at the Poly (with the castle in the distance in many photos) in the fall of 2013. The pictures are gorgeous and we immediately got to view all of the pictures on an iPad and got a flash drive (I think?) containing every picture taken. My only complaint is that it was very windy that morning and our hair was blowing everywhere, but they certainly couldn't control that. The best pics were the ones with our bride and groom ear hats since our hair stayed in place!

 

[tinkerbesh]

I think you're looking for something a little bigger / fancier, but I will say that the last 2 times we've gotten Memory Maker, the photographers on Main St have always taken a great set of 6-8 photos that we found just priceless! Here are 2 from last year.

ETA: That's the photographer's hat he's sitting on. He let DS borrow it so that he wouldn't be too hot sitting on the pavement. <3

 

[poohs_hunny]

Here are a few from our engagement mini session.

 

[DeAnna4140]

I took my daughter and 2 friends to Disney in January 2014 for their senior photos. We had so much fun! We did the parks for 5 days and then took 1 day to just do photos. Parks were near empty this time of year.
We went around to the resorts and then spent a few hours in Epcot in the countries.
I am available for travel if anyone is interested. We'll be there again this December.

 

[lindsgator09]

I think you're looking for something a little bigger / fancier, but I will say that the last 2 times we've gotten Memory Maker, the photographers on Main St have always taken a great set of 6-8 photos that we found just priceless! Here are 2 from last year.

How old is your baby in these photos? Adorable!

 

[geek+nerd]

Contact Randy Chapman. He does lots of Disney weddings, and I know that I have seen recent engagement, family and senior picture sessions from MK on his Facebook page. He is tons of fun, an awesome photographer and very reasonably priced.

 

[tinkerbesh]

How old is your baby in these photos? Adorable!

Thank you so much! He was 11 months. We got some cute 23 month pics this year, but still playing around with borders on those.

 

[photo_chick]

I know it is "cliche" but I really want Magic Kingdom pictures. I just feel with his age and what he is into at the moment, that will fit the best I am not sure exactly what to do. I have a DSLR camera - I may just attempt this myself

As a professional photographer myself I usually hesitate to say that someone can do their own shoot. There is a lot more that goes into a successful shoot than just pointing the camera and pushing the button. However, what I've seen the Disney photographers putting out isn't all that professional and many people can in fact recreate that quality work if not better.

Do you know the shots you want? Research that. Look at what's been done, because it's all been done before. Practice with your kiddo in similar light with similar poses and see if you think you might be able to get what you want. You never know. While you might not get results that would make a photo snob like me happy, it's very likely you'll be able to get shots that make YOU happy. And that's what matters.

 

[mousehockey37]

We also did the mini session at Poly, but it was back in 2009. We got it on special for $25 (when the normal price was $75). That was quite the bargain. We loved how our pictures turned out.

Here are a few

I'm glad you only paid $25 for these... I think you still got ripped off, IMHO. 3 of the 4 photos show nothing that relates to you being in Disney or at the Poly. These are very amateur looking photos, like you gave someone your camera or phone and they took the pictures.

 

[Polydweller]

Yes! I have looked into that, I may book something at a resort (I'm bending lol). I really like Poly with the castle in the background. I know that it is under construction. Does anyone know if you can go out in the beach at all?

All construction is over except for the east (quiet ) pool. It should have minimal effect. The main beach is open as is the main pool, the GCH, and the DVC areas. Sunset point has been rebuilt and is now fully landscaped though not quite as nice a view though I'm sure professional photographers can eork around. The Poly is back to its pretty self.

 

[mousehockey37]

As a professional photographer myself I usually hesitate to say that someone can do their own shoot. There is a lot more that goes into a successful shoot than just pointing the camera and pushing the button. However, what I've seen the Disney photographers putting out isn't all that professional and many people can in fact recreate that quality work if not better.

I agree. It's not the price you pay, it's the person you get. I've been stopped by people in the parks and asked if I could take their picture. I'm an amateur, but an amateur with an eye. I took an extra second or 2 with those people that stopped me and they were blown away with what I did for them with their phone or camera.

Anyone can take a picture, but it's finding the right artist to do what you want done.

 

[Ember]

Disney photography just isn't that good, in my opinion. They are amazing at a great many things, but their professional photography is underwhelming, particularly for the price you pay. (Now, I openly own to my bias here. Disney photography delivered out of focus wedding photos for me...). But as a photographer myself, I am rarely impressed with what I see from them. Apart from shooting, Disney also seems to not to any post production work on their photos, something that is standard for any other pro. So I would find one of those rare outside photographers with a spot to fill for shooting inside the parks.

 

[brooke789]

Yeah, definitely look elsewhere. All of these Disney pictures are terrible. If you can't tell the difference just look at those senior pics above and then back to any of the Disney ones. Complete waste of money and effort.

 

[Geoff_M]

This issue came up a while back on the Photography Board. I did a little digging and found that not too long ago Disney lifted their external photographer ban. Now, you can use an outside pro as long as it is cleared with Disney first and the photographer agrees to adhere to Disney's photo policies. I also seem to recall a fee has to be paid to cover a Disney "escort" that will monitor the shoot and insure compliance with the rules.

 

[famy27]

I'm glad you only paid $25 for these... I think you still got ripped off, IMHO. 3 of the 4 photos show nothing that relates to you being in Disney or at the Poly. These are very amateur looking photos, like you gave someone your camera or phone and they took the pictures.

The photographer spent at least an hour with us and took around 75 pictures. He was probably a college student or fairly new to photography, but he was great with DD and took lots of different shots with different backgrounds. All the pictures were loaded onto our Photopass for no extra charge. I'm sure a professional would have taken better quality photos, but it would have cost us significantly more for an hour shoot with a license for unlimited prints. For us, just getting a whole bunch of pictures with the whole family in them was well worth $25. YMMV

 

[Caseheidi]

We did a 60 minute photo shoot at Animal Kingdom Lodge in 2010 and loved it. DD was 18 months at the time. The photographer was very easy to work with. I basically told net that I wanted a lot of natural unposed photos of DD exploring the grounds, and I got that plus more. I would pay to do it again.

One advantage of doing it at a resort vs a park is the size of crowd you are dealing with. Especially with a toddler. We had lots of opportunity with our shoot for good shots. We were able to take great shots at the parks ourselves, but it was difficult to get the iconic shots without a ton of people walking through the picture.

 

[mousehockey37]

The photographer spent at least an hour with us and took around 75 pictures. He was probably a college student or fairly new to photography, but he was great with DD and took lots of different shots with different backgrounds. All the pictures were loaded onto our Photopass for no extra charge. I'm sure a professional would have taken better quality photos, but it would have cost us significantly more for an hour shoot with a license for unlimited prints. For us, just getting a whole bunch of pictures with the whole family in them was well worth $25. YMMV

Did you research this person? Did they have a website or something (I'm interested to know)? Everyone who is in photography had to start somewhere, but I wouldn't think that Disney resort photos that undercut just about everyone else would be the way to do it, especially for the quality they were. Minus the ones you were in, you probably could've done the same thing for free.