WDW private photographer?

[disneyvoice]

We are super excited that our older adult son and his girlfriend can join us on our trip in January. We are so rarely together as a whole family so I was thinking about doing the WDW private photographer to get family photos. If anyone has done this would you mind explaining how this works and what the approximate cost is to book the photographer? Thank you!

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

I assume you're referring to Disney Fine Art Photography. They have 2 main options 1. Mini Session which is $191.70 with tax - it's a 20 minute session with a professional photographer and assistant at a resort location of your choice. You get all the images (to print on your own) on a flash drive. The resolution is good up to an 8x10. Option 2 - Enhance session is $399 - it's a one hour session with a professional photographer and assistant at a resort of park (except MK). The images are lightly corrected as needed, some enhancements are added ie. black and white. You receive the images on a CD in a few weeks and the resolution is up to 30 x 40. There is a mini session at MK on some dates for $195 for 15 minutes but it's not always available.

You don't receive any prints but you can have them printed anywhere yourself.

We did the enhanced photo session twice at Epcot for my daughter's senior photos and family pictures. We were very pleased with them. Let me know if you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to help. Epcot is nice because you can go to the countries prior to park opening, so no strangers in your photos plus you get fabulous backgrounds.

 

[disneyvoice]

Thank you @scrappingbuckeye!!

 

[friedela]

I am super super new to this Disney stuff, we are taking our first trip in February. But I am a professional photographer and was interested in this idea as well and googled Disney Fine Art Photography and honestly their work isn't anything I personally find that impressive... have you checked local photographers in the area as another option? There are tons of photographers who are also annual pass holders who will take (IMO) waaaaaay better pictures. Just a thought

 

[Malestrom Troll]

Technically having outside photographers is not allowed inside the parks, especially MK. If you are making it obvious you are doing a photo shoot, you will be escorted out of the park. At MK they have a list of known photographers that they keep their eye on if they enter the park.

 

[hllb]

I agree with friedela. We hired a private photographer and had pictures taken at our resort. As far as I know, that is still allowed (it isn't allowed in the parks). I highly recommend Regina Hyman.

 

[Drusilla]

I booked the enhanced portrait session for my dd's senior pictures. We are doing them at Epcot in August - really looking forward to this!!!

Edited to add: Do you know if the photographers provide grad props (like a cap) or if we should bring our own?

 

[Surgie2]

I agree with friedela. We hired a private photographer and had pictures taken at our resort. As far as I know, that is still allowed (it isn't allowed in the parks). I highly recommend Regina Hyman.

I'm glad to see this - we booked Regina to take our family pics at the Poly in May. I had thought about a parks photographer but kept reading mixed things about Disney Fine Arts...so dependent on who you end up with from what I read. I'm sure some are great though. But in the end we decided we'd rather do pics at the resort and have the castle in the (way back) background.

 

[hllb]

I'm glad to see this - we booked Regina to take our family pics at the Poly in May. I had thought about a parks photographer but kept reading mixed things about Disney Fine Arts...so dependent on who you end up with from what I read. I'm sure some are great though. But in the end we decided we'd rather do pics at the resort and have the castle in the (way back) background.

She does amazing pictures! Have you checked out her wedding photography?

 

[Tigerlulu]

I booked the enhanced portrait session for my dd's senior pictures. We are doing them at Epcot in August - really looking forward to this!!!

Edited to add: Do you know if the photographers provide grad props (like a cap) or if we should bring our own?

I would ask them to make sure but I would not count on it. They are not dedicated senior photography specialists and they would have to keep current every color robe and hat to provide such a service, along with tassels and the charms to hang on them would need to be updated yearly. So my guess is no you'll need to provide your own.

 

[Tigerlulu]

I agree with friedela. We hired a private photographer and had pictures taken at our resort. As far as I know, that is still allowed (it isn't allowed in the parks). I highly recommend Regina Hyman.

I'm glad to see this - we booked Regina to take our family pics at the Poly in May. I had thought about a parks photographer but kept reading mixed things about Disney Fine Arts...so dependent on who you end up with from what I read. I'm sure some are great though. But in the end we decided we'd rather do pics at the resort and have the castle in the (way back) background.

She does beautiful work! About how much did she charge you and did you get digitals?
My husband and I are going for an anniversary trip. I'm wanting pics, he is not, so trying to decide how much to push. Lol

 

[hllb]

She does beautiful work! About how much did she charge you and did you get digitals?
My husband and I are going for an anniversary trip. I'm wanting pics, he is not, so trying to decide how much to push. Lol

Yes on the digitals. I don’t remember price. It was a while ago so it’s probably changed anyway.

 

[Surgie2]

She does beautiful work! About how much did she charge you and did you get digitals?
My husband and I are going for an anniversary trip. I'm wanting pics, he is not, so trying to decide how much to push. Lol

I believe the package we chose (which was the shortest and the least expensive) is $500 for a 45 minute session. The images are edited and enhanced and you get a CD of the enhanced digital images to print on your own. She requires 50% down at the time of booking and the remainder paid a week in advance of the session. She only takes bookings 4 months or less in advance (or least that was the deal for family photos...maybe weddings she would book further out?) But her website has a lot of examples of her work and she was very helpful when I contacted her by email. She got back to me at exactly 4 months to see if I was interested in booking.

 

[Tigerlulu]

Yes on the digitals. I don’t remember price. It was a while ago so it’s probably changed anyway.

I believe the package we chose (which was the shortest and the least expensive) is $500 for a 45 minute session. The images are edited and enhanced and you get a CD of the enhanced digital images to print on your own. She requires 50% down at the time of booking and the remainder paid a week in advance of the session. She only takes bookings 4 months or less in advance (or least that was the deal for family photos...maybe weddings she would book further out?) But her website has a lot of examples of her work and she was very helpful when I contacted her by email. She got back to me at exactly 4 months to see if I was interested in booking.

Thanks so much! This helps a lot!

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I found it I hit all the photo pass locations to be sufficient but hey I wanna know how this turns out please share the photos!

 

[monorailmom]

I assume you're referring to Disney Fine Art Photography. They have 2 main options 1. Mini Session which is $191.70 with tax - it's a 20 minute session with a professional photographer and assistant at a resort location of your choice. You get all the images (to print on your own) on a flash drive. The resolution is good up to an 8x10. Option 2 - Enhance session is $399 - it's a one hour session with a professional photographer and assistant at a resort of park (except MK). The images are lightly corrected as needed, some enhancements are added ie. black and white. You receive the images on a CD in a few weeks and the resolution is up to 30 x 40. There is a mini session at MK on some dates for $195 for 15 minutes but it's not always available.

You don't receive any prints but you can have them printed anywhere yourself.

We did the enhanced photo session twice at Epcot for my daughter's senior photos and family pictures. We were very pleased with them. Let me know if you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to help. Epcot is nice because you can go to the countries prior to park opening, so no strangers in your photos plus you get fabulous backgrounds.

We are doing my son's senior pictures at the Beach Club in August. Did Disney photography provide the size picture required for the yearbook, or were you easily able to resize yourself? The woman I spoke to at Disney Fine Photography said it's very simple to size them on your own, but since I'm not necessarily tech savvy, it makes me a little nervous!

 

[scrappingbuckeye]

We are doing my son's senior pictures at the Beach Club in August. Did Disney photography provide the size picture required for the yearbook, or were you easily able to resize yourself? The woman I spoke to at Disney Fine Photography said it's very simple to size them on your own, but since I'm not necessarily tech savvy, it makes me a little nervous!

No they did not, the file is high res so it would be easy to do in a photo editing program. You may be able to google it and get some instructions or ask the teacher in charge of the yearbook for help. Our school has a recommended photographer and we went to him just for the yearbook photo - it was only $40 I think. You just showed up during open hours for just that one photo. That was easier than trying to edit the file, in addition at our school the seniors wear a certain type of outfit for just the yearbook photo so they all look fairly similar. I used the disney photo for the senior ad in the back. Hopefully all that makes sense, message me if you have any more questions. I'm happy to help! We were very pleased with Disney Fine Art Photography - I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

 

[JoanneDL]

I am super super new to this Disney stuff, we are taking our first trip in February. But I am a professional photographer and was interested in this idea as well and googled Disney Fine Art Photography and honestly their work isn't anything I personally find that impressive... have you checked local photographers in the area as another option? There are tons of photographers who are also annual pass holders who will take (IMO) waaaaaay better pictures. Just a thought

I saw some that people posted and I couldn’t believe them. For that price they should of gotten better. The posing was awkward, just not what I would call “fine art”