When PhotoPass Pictures Are Missing....UPDATE 12/25/08

[Sherry E]

I know there have been several PhotoPass threads and many of them addressed what to do when you notice some of your pictures are missing. I have been super busy since I got back from DLR a couple of days ago (which is why I haven't been able to post much on DISboards yet), but I took the time to sit down and go through the PP pictures because I had a strong hunch some of them were missing and wanted to get that cleared up before too much time passed. Instantly I noticed that my 'dueling with Captain Hook' pictures were missing, and I recall reading in some threads here on DIS that sometimes the Hook dueling photos don't come out. Technical difficulties or something. I don't know if mine didn't come out at all (seems like the photographer would have noticed that if he had been paying attention) or if they just didn't get scanned to my account accidentally. In any case, I have to be 100% sure and check with PhotoPass to see if they have them.

I am also almost positive that at least one other photo is missing. I know we did the 'Tinkerbell in the hand' pose at least twice, but it only showed up once in the PP pictures in my account. I tried to send the 'share pictures' e-mail to my friend so she could look through them and help me determine what else is missing before we forget, but the share e-mail didn't go through either time I sent it!!! I think PP was having some trouble with their website. So I can only say for 100% certain that the Hook/duel pictures are missing, and identify when those were taken and where. The other ones that I THINK are missing are harder to pinpoint because I don't recall if they were taken on Saturday or Sunday, and I can't recall where they were taken in DL. We took over 95 photos!!!! So my memory on some of them which are very similar is fuzzy! I can live with missing out on the Tinkerbell poses, but the Hook/duel pictures I want!

So, when those of you who have noticed some pictures were missing had to contact PhotoPass about it, did you use the Contact Us link at the bottom the web page and fill out the form and submit it or did you call a phone number? Is there a phone number to call? And how long did it take PP to get back to you? I just submitted the Contact Us form because I didn't know how else to go about contacting them. Is there a better and faster way??

 

[Canyon girl]

Sherry, why don't you call the guest relations number 714-781-7290. This is the number with a live person. They should be able to transfer you to the right place.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

Sherry if you go to the Photo Pass website, there should be a 'Contact Us' link. Click that and shoot them an email. You'll have to list the number(s) to your Photo Pass card(s) and be specific like what you wearing, what time, day, park, etc. Give as much info as you can in that email so you're not playing email tag with them.

This happened to me before when I was in a share on the Budget Board. I loaded all my pics on the Photo Pass site and then, poof, they were gone. I emailed PP and they helped me get them all back. From what I heard they get "lost in the system".

HTH!!!!!!!

ETA: I didn't try calling. I heard from bumbershoot (Molly) that it's faster to contact them through email instead of phone, so I just emailed them. It didn't take them longer than 24 hours to get back to me.

 

[bumbershoot]

Emailing was faster for me. There was a person on the photography forum with about the same problems as I had, and she called around the same time I emailed. I had to email back and forth, and she played phone tag, and I got my problem solved before she did, because each email, that was being replied to (had all info in the string of emails), had all the info in it, while playing phone tag can be like starting from scratch each time.

I think that the photopass people, NOT the photogs, are actually the ones that manually add in the "magic" in the special shots, so the photog wouldn't have seen if Hook was added or not. That's done later. But if it's the pictures that are gone, not just the addition of Hook...well either way you have to try to figure out when you were at that spot having the picture taken, describe the clothing, give the card ID number, your account email address, etc.... That way they can search for the photograph in their system or find the photo in your account to add Hook to.

 

[Sherry E]

Emailing was faster for me. There was a person on the photography forum with about the same problems as I had, and she called around the same time I emailed. I had to email back and forth, and she played phone tag, and I got my problem solved before she did, because each email, that was being replied to (had all info in the string of emails), had all the info in it, while playing phone tag can be like starting from scratch each time.

I think that the photopass people, NOT the photogs, are actually the ones that manually add in the "magic" in the special shots, so the photog wouldn't have seen if Hook was added or not. That's done later. But if it's the pictures that are gone, not just the addition of Hook...well either way you have to try to figure out when you were at that spot having the picture taken, describe the clothing, give the card ID number, your account email address, etc.... That way they can search for the photograph in their system or find the photo in your account to add Hook to.

Yes, the entire pictures are missing, not just Hook in the photos. So something tells me the guy just didn't scan them or the scanner was acting up, because I would think they would at least have me looking silly holding the sword, even if Hook is not in them!!! Those I can pinpoint exactly where we were and what I was wearing and even the exact time. I already did that - I clicked the Contact Us link and explained yesterday. It is the other couple of random pictures I think may be missing that would be harder to pinpoint because, as I said in the first post, we took over 95 pictures and many of them were very similar. So if one Tinkerbell in the hand picture is missing, I don't recall which day it was from or exactly which location we were in at that time. But I can tell something else is missing - I just can't tell well enough to be able to describe it to the PP people. I remember we had to do certain expressions for certain photographers and not all of them are there. Most of them are but a couple are missing. It's just when you take so many pictures it is hard to deduce when and where they were done. I can only descibe the Hook picture(s) - or me IN the Hook picture. And that is the main one I am concerned with anyway, so it's good that I know that info. As I said earlier, I tried to send the PP share e-mail to my friend twice so she could use her sharp eye to look them over and help me figure out what else is missing, but the e-mail didn't go through either time so she can't even see them to help solve the mystery (unless I want to give her my password, that is, but I don't)!!!

 

[Vala]

Try the contact form, that's definitely faster.

They recovered my missing photos in less than 48 hours. I never got e-mail info about it, they simply put the photos on the account.

Just to warn you though: there was one photo they didn't recover, and that was the shot of me fighting Hook. This was the only enhanced photo missing, so I don't exactly know where the problem was.

 

[bumbershoot]

I just tested sending with mine, and it sent the email to my hotmail (I sent it to hubby's gmail and my hotmail), and said that it sent a copy to my photopass email address (my gmail). They all came through.

Did you get YOUR copy of the email? Can you forward it to your friend?



Sorry it's the whole picture, not just the extra.

 

[Sherry E]

I just tested sending with mine, and it sent the email to my hotmail (I sent it to hubby's gmail and my hotmail), and said that it sent a copy to my photopass email address (my gmail). They all came through.

Did you get YOUR copy of the email? Can you forward it to your friend?

Sorry it's the whole picture, not just the extra.

Yes, I got the confirmation that the e-mail was sent to my friend both times. She claims she didn't see either attempt - not even in her Bulk/Spam/Junk mailbox. I guess I can try forwarding my confirmation and see if she can open that.

Yep, I think the PP photographer took two Hook/duel shots, and I remembered in the back of my mind reading some posts from people on DIS (Vala, yours was probably one of them!!) whose Hook photos didn't show up. Some sort of technical issue. I can see where the Hook overlay wouldn't appear due to a technical crisis, but I can't see where they wouldn't at least have me/us looking silly, reacting to and dueling with....an empty space!!! I do recall one other PP photographer on Main Street telling me that my card was either being stubborn with her scanner or her scanner was being stubborn with my card. If it was my card that was the problem, then perhaps the Hook pictures just didn't scan the little sensor properly and they can still find them in their system. I will cross my fingers!

It's odd - when I did the Contact Us thing on the PP site yesterday, and went through the options of describing when and where the pictures were taken, they didn't have the Hook/New Orleans Square/Riverfront locale in their drop down menu! They had Main Street and the Castle and all those choices, but not the NOS spot. So in the box where you give as many details as possible, I stated exactly where it was. I remember specifically it was just before 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. I like how they also have the option to attach one of your own photos of the people in the missing photo so they can ID you easily if they find your pictures! With all of that info, it should not be hard to find us. The other pictures taken (without the sword) in that same spot all came out. It is the specific sword/Hook ones which are missing.

Otherwise, I was surprised that we took over 95 pictures!! Last time, we took 58, and it was hard to tell if we were doing more or less this time! Frankly, not all of the photos are great quality - the lighting is bad on some. We are either too dark or too light or we are too far away or the shot is kind of blurry. But somewhere or another I read in fine print that the PP photgraphers are not necessarily professionals and may not have any background in photography, so I guess that is what comes with the territory!!! I liked the idea of a PP photographer being in front of IASW when it is lit up at night, BUT it is an ill-conceived location. The poor PP people are positioned in front of the massive line that forms for the nighttime IASW Holiday, so you get IASW in the background, but you also get a ton of people in your picture. It is not a clean shot of the facade. Some people who were also waiting to get their PP pictures taken at IASW were asking the photographer why there was not a better location set-up for the IASW photos - one that is less obstructed by people. The PP photographer made a cryptic comment about how he 'thinks' there is some conflict between PhotoPass and Disney about the IASW location, and they don't really want the IASW facade in the PP pictures so they don't allow a really prime location for photos. Also, on nights when they are 'short' some PP photographers, they will send the ones that are on duty everywhere BUT to IASW. IASW is at the bottom of the totem pole in PP priority!!! Isn't that peculiar?

So, needless to say, my pictures in front of nighttime IASW are crowded with people and very 'busy.'

 

[Vala]

Yep, I think the PP photographer took two Hook/duel shots, and I remembered in the back of my mind reading some posts from people on DIS (Vala, yours was probably one of them!!) whose Hook photos didn't show up. Some sort of technical issue. I can see where the Hook overlay wouldn't appear due to a technical crisis, but I can't see where they wouldn't at least have me/us looking silly, reacting to and dueling with....an empty space!!! I do recall one other PP photographer on Main Street telling me that my card was either being stubborn with her scanner or her scanner was being stubborn with my card. If it was my card that was the problem, then perhaps the Hook pictures just didn't scan the little sensor properly and they can still find them in their system. I will cross my fingers!

Yes, I posted about this before. Very likely you've seen me mentioning it.

I'm keeping fingers crossed that it really was only a card problem for you. Unfortunately that wasn't the problem for me as it seems. The PP guy took a test photo of me with the Mark Twain in the background, and that shot showed up on the account. So looks like the card scanned right if at least one picture was transferred?

 

[Sherry E]

Well, I heard back from the WDW PhotoPass people via e-mail today (I guess everything has to go through Florida, even though these were DLR pictures?). As suspected, the person who replied said that some glitch caused the photo not to take properly and they could not be recovered. I am not sure if that means that they couldn't find my friend and me in the shots at all, or just no Hook. In any case, I gave the specific info once again and asked them to check one more time just to see if they can find us posing without the Hook overlay since the other pictures form that same 'session' came out fine, but I think it is probably a lost cause. One of the photographers in DCA told us that they have to dial in a code for the various overlays before taking the pictures, and then, of course, after the pictures are taken, they try to scan the little sensor on your card/account to tell the account that they took the Hook or Stitch or Tinkerbell picture or whatever. So anything could have gone wrong in that process. Since it seems that other people have trouble with their Hook pictures as well, something could be wrong with that particular 'code.'

So I don't hold out any hope for them finding the pictures with just us in them (sans Hook) but I have read on DIS before that sometimes their effects pictures will come out but without the effects, so we shall see!!

 

[Sherry E]

Aha!!! Just as soon as I posted the above update ^ about my e-mail from WDW Photo Imaging, and how I asked them to check again for the pictures that supposedly "could not be recovered", I went back to my e-mail and lo and behold, there was another reply from the same gentleman at WDW Photo Imaging who had written the first time. This time he offered a more detailed explanation. See, their pat reply up front is to tell you that the pictures could not be recovered. That is not true in my case, and I bet it is not true in other cases as well. What happened was that my two Hook-less pictures DID come out after all, BUT, according to this WDW guy, the quality was not up to their standards and they decided it was not worthy of the Hook overlay. So it is not that there were any technical difficulties. It was basically bad photography. He said that "because of the way this particular photographer took the pictures," the QA team didn't feel the photos were up to the level required for the added Captain Hook effects, and they are speaking to the supervisor of that particular PP photographer to make sure, basically, that he doesn't take bad pictures again!!!

So my shots DID indeed appear on my account. This WDW guy said that they typically do not release pictures deemed as being of bad quality, but if I want them they will make an exception and release them to my account - but without Hook! That's fine! I think my other friends will actually get a hoot out of seeing us looking silly, posing with a plastic sword and dueling with an empty space!!! It might actually be funnier without Hook!

So, it just goes to show - never accept the first answer these PP give you about your lost photos! I knew something had to have come out, because all the other photos from that same session came out fine!!!

 

[bumbershoot]

Interesting!

I wish they'd put Hook in there anyway, it might be funny. Our Stitch picture that didn't come through automatically, the PP people had to add him after I asked about it by email, was put in the wrong spot. I'm looking in the right place, but I'm pointing wrong, and DS is looking and pointing in two different (slightly) directions, neither of which is exactly towards Stitch, LOL.

Would be funny to see where Hook ended up!

 

[Sherry E]

Interesting!

I wish they'd put Hook in there anyway, it might be funny. Our Stitch picture that didn't come through automatically, the PP people had to add him after I asked about it by email, was put in the wrong spot. I'm looking in the right place, but I'm pointing wrong, and DS is looking and pointing in two different (slightly) directions, neither of which is exactly towards Stitch, LOL.

Would be funny to see where Hook ended up!

This could be one of those typical DLR cases where one CM/PhotoPass person will tell you one thing and another CM will tell you something different. Perhaps if a different PP person in Florida had replied to my e-mail, he/she would have agreed to add in Hook, bad quality or not! I received the two missing pictures in my PP account a little while ago, and they are perfectly clear. Nothing is blurry or overly dark/light. I can't tell what the problem is as to why the quality is bad enough to prohibit the Hook overlay, unless maybe I am positioned slightly wrong or the photographer didn't allow for enough space on the left hand side of the shot for Hook to be added? I can't tell. But this guy who corresponded with me made it sound like he was breaking the cardinal rules by even releasing these Hook-less shots to me, and he said they "cannot add Hook to these photos because that would be compromising the integrity of the character." Huh? I wouldn't have minded if he was off center or if I was in the wrong spot, but I guess PP has their standards!

 

[bumbershoot]

Write back again! See what happens!

 

[Krissy Marissy]

Glad they at least gave you the photo! But sucky about being hookless. I didn't even get to try pp because of the weather so I am super bummed Hopefully it'll be nicer when we go in April.

 

[Vala]

Photos not released because of bad quality? It's a shame nobody told the photographer who took my photo at the waterfall in DCA.

I've only seen the small version online (CD is stuck in the mail), but the contrast and everything looked horrible even then. Out of 6 photos 1 looked acceptable.

 

[pixiewings71]

So Sherry, your photo with Hook is gone? Hmmm, yet another reason for you to pop on over to DLR on the 4th.......LOL