Just back - Not happy with Photopass +

[bumbershoot]

this is good to know. How much training do you get as a photog? I ask because we've generally been pretty happy in the past but this trip has been NOT impressive. Between dark pics and oddly, a bunch of photogs cutting off our FEET in all the shots (this is amateur photog 101, people!?!) to the sort of lack of attention to detail like a serious CM photobomb (like centered between DH and I and above children, staring off in annoyance/boredom about 5 feet behind us, totally messing up the NSSHP castle/costume shot -- the only one we took.... How could the photog have missed that? It is funny...but not, since I really really wanted to use that fam pic for our holiday card this year! Gah

FWIW, feet being in a picture isn't something that would get on my nerves if not done. I mean seriously I would not care. So it's not something that bothers everyone.

I'm going to assume someone as into photography has photoshop. If so, erase those people. I have a friend who erases EVERYONE in pictures other than her and her daughter. She has photoshop (ooh, maybe something else, but she's had it for ages) and uses it on every picture no matter where they are. It "reads" the background in the rest of the picture and sort of makes it up for where the people are.

Only thing that bugged me about people in the background of one of our pictures is that it's his armpit. So I stuck a 2013 "sticker" on it. Yay for the new sticker feature!

But it's not something I feel the photog should have noticed while looking at US. Not at all!

 

[traylorc]

As many folks have mentioned...many of the Photopass Photographers are not professionals. I have talked to a few that are very experienced or use to be professionals, but most are barely trained in photography and their cameras are set in auto mode. One Photopass photographer told me they were not allowed to change the settings on their camera. Given the various and changing lighting conditions that occur throughout any given day...it's no wonder some of the photos are less than acceptable.

Overall I have not been impressed by Photopass...the shots we had taken be experienced folks came out fine. The shots taken by the average Photopass photographer were either out of focus, poorly composed, and/or improperly exposed (under or over exposed). If you are going to pay for Photopass, you simply need to understand you are purchasing acceptable looking "snap shots". And for some folks...that's all they want...and I don't have a problem with that. But don't purchase Photopass or Photopass+ expecting professionally captured, brilliant lit, wonderfully composed, properly exposed, tack sharp, award winning photos.

 

[Love Tink]

As many folks have mentioned...many of the Photopass Photographers are not professionals.

Sigh. Seriously, people. Every single Photopass photographer is - by definition - a professional photographer.

Being a professional means something is your profession, i.e. you do it as a paid occupation (not a hobby). I don't think there are any Photopass photographers doing the job just for fun and kicks. They're paid. Their job is "photographer."

Some of these professional photographers seem untalented and untrained, I agree. But in my opinion, the vast majority are competent and some are very creative.

 

[traylorc]

Sigh. Seriously, people. Every single Photopass photographer is - by definition - a professional photographer.

Being a professional means something is your profession, i.e. you do it as a paid occupation (not a hobby). I don't think there are any Photopass photographers doing the job just for fun and kicks. They're paid. Their job is "photographer."

Some of these professional photographers seem untalented and untrained, I agree. But in my opinion, the vast majority are competent and some are very creative.

We will have to agree to disagree...a few of the Photopass photographers that I have spoken with were essentially college interns. Nothing against these kids, working at Disney would be a great experience. But I would not conclude they are a "professional" photographer. IMHO being a professional photographer requires more than simply getting paid...you need to have professional skills.

I'm not sure how to gauge someone's competency in photography when they take shots in "auto mode". The photographer's ability to adjust to various lighting conditions, selecting the appropriate aperture, ISO, and shutter speed for each shot are all important variables in determining someone's competency with a camera. In auto mode, the camera does all the work...all you do is press the button. In regards to creativity...it's all subjective. But most of these Photopass folks are repetitively taking the same pre-staged shot in front of Cinderalla's castle, entrance to main street, in front of the tree of life, etc.. From a business perspective, these folks cannot be extremely creative because there number one job is to take as many shots as possible, as quickly as possible.

At the end of the day, whether Photopasss is worth it or not is a personal decision.

 

[MichiganKris]

I didn't read through everything, however, I think it is ridiculous to have to remember the times your pictures were taken and what people were wearing. Also if you are paying for for ride photos I don't think it is a guests responsibility to make sure the pictures are added to the account.

 

[DisneyDude71]

I didn't read through everything, however, I think it is ridiculous to have to remember the times your pictures were taken and what people were wearing. Also if you are paying for for ride photos I don't think it is a guests responsibility to make sure the pictures are added to the account.

Without adding it to your own account how are they supposed to know you are on the ride?

 

[Masiri]

Oooh that's great to know - the balloon shots seem to be tricky and most of those for us came out with the balloons not even close to the hands, I'll put in a request to see if they can be fixed (along with my half dozen missing photo requests, ugh!)

Update - the photopass folks were able to fix the magic shots, unfortunately, they lost pretty much all of my missing photographs - all the photos from ETWB (and thanks to the "no flash photography" I have NONE), and all but one picture with goofy (and we forgot to take our own shots of that one, so I also have none of that as well) - the one they did find is a blurry shot of my baby with only goofy's nose in the background

I'm pretty bummed about the missing pictures, now I have to figure out what to put in my kids autograph books.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Update - the photopass folks were able to fix the magic shots, unfortunately, they lost pretty much all of my missing photographs - all the photos from ETWB (and thanks to the "no flash photography" I have NONE), and all but one picture with goofy (and we forgot to take our own shots of that one, so I also have none of that as well) - the one they did find is a blurry shot of my baby with only goofy's nose in the background

I'm pretty bummed about the missing pictures, now I have to figure out what to put in my kids autograph books.

Did you call them or rely on the online form? If you haven't called, then please do. On past trips I got the "Sorry, we couldn't find your photos" response to the online request, but both times when I called a diligent CM was able to track down my photos. The time is really the key...if you can narrow that down to a 5-10 minute span that can really help. After multiple trips with lost Photopass photos, I take my own photos at every Photopass stop just so I'll have an accurate time stamp to give the Photopass people.

 

[scrappinannie]

This. DS has his eyes closed in about half of our pics. Frustrating, but no one's fault but his own. In one of the UK shops at EPCOT, they had a tee shirt that said "Keep calm don't blink". I almost bought it just to make him mad.

I understand it's not the photographer's fault that people blink and move and stand behind someone 7 feet tall so their face is blocked, but all the photographer has to do is take a handful of shots. Some people will blink in every shot (I have a coworker who always has her eyes closed in pics), but by taking 5 or 6 instead of 1 or 2 you really increase your chances of getting a good pic of the group. It's not hard & it doesn't take that long to do.

Just curious, is Disney offering any financial compensation for these awful photos or altogether missing ones? I know Disers don't like to talk about this, but if you pay $150 for photos, you should get a quality product, and at the very least not some other families photos instead of your own. Regardless of new systems and such, if a business other than Disney provide this type of horrible service, it would be short lived. Even my DS school photos allow you to get your money back, if you don't like the two takes. I hope everyone affected will be able to retrieve your lost memories. We have always gotten PP+ at DL and WDW with no issues, but I am 28 days out and seriously considering not getting it for the first year.

Yeah, I agree with this. I know this person isn't my personal photographer but I am paying for their services by purchasing a photopass product. You would think their cameras might be a tad bit higher quality than the average photgrapher's camera and they should be able to get those low light/night time pictures that the average tourist may not be able to get.

Did you call them or rely on the online form? If you haven't called, then please do. On past trips I got the "Sorry, we couldn't find your photos" response to the online request, but both times when I called a diligent CM was able to track down my photos. The time is really the key...if you can narrow that down to a 5-10 minute span that can really help. After multiple trips with lost Photopass photos, I take my own photos at every Photopass stop just so I'll have an accurate time stamp to give the Photopass people.

While I agree calling is best, I don't really think I should have to keep a log of all the pics PP photogs take "just in case." I have paid Disney for this service, a convenience for me and my family. Logging all the photos taken on my vacation is not my idea of a vacation. Just like scheduling my ride times 60 days out with FP+. Oh, wait, that's a whole different thread.......

 

[smitch425]

Update - the photopass folks were able to fix the magic shots, unfortunately, they lost pretty much all of my missing photographs - all the photos from ETWB (and thanks to the "no flash photography" I have NONE), and all but one picture with goofy (and we forgot to take our own shots of that one, so I also have none of that as well) - the one they did find is a blurry shot of my baby with only goofy's nose in the background

I'm pretty bummed about the missing pictures, now I have to figure out what to put in my kids autograph books.

Didn't you have a separate Photopass card for your ETWB photos? It would be really strange to have an entire show's worth of photos be missing. Our ETWB show had about 100 photos taken. Of course our kids were only in about 6-8 pics, though.

 

[Masiri]

Didn't you have a separate Photopass card for your ETWB photos? It would be really strange to have an entire show's worth of photos be missing. Our ETWB show had about 100 photos taken. Of course our kids were only in about 6-8 pics, though.

I did, and when I entered the code, there are no pictures associated - and I submitted a request for them to find the pictures, and they said they searched all day and couldn't find them

 

[smitch425]

I did, and when I entered the code, there are no pictures associated - and I submitted a request for them to find the pictures, and they said they searched all day and couldn't find them

Bummer! Might be a long shot, but maybe you could post a thread with the show date and time and see if anyone here might have them. It's worth a try. Also, try calling Photopass and see if they have better luck over the phone. Good luck!

 

[letsgoreds]

Sorry for other's recent troubles. We used PP+ for the first time in January and had a blast. What worked for me was keeping the receipts for the ride photos (after loaded). Those seemed to take the longest to show up online. Taking the PP card handed out at ETWB and JTA to one of the PP stations that day and asking that they add the correct pictures to our account (delete those of others). I also checked the account periodically during the trip to make sure that I wasn't missing any pictures.

Best of luck with tracking down those missing pictures. Totally bizarre for ALL of the ETWB pictures to be lost. That should be an easy thing to find. I know Disney has the ability to look up by time/session (like for JTA) in addition to the card #, so I wouldn't lose hope.

 

[kfelaco]

I didn't read through everything, however, I think it is ridiculous to have to remember the times your pictures were taken and what people were wearing. Also if you are paying for for ride photos I don't think it is a guests responsibility to make sure the pictures are added to the account.

Totally agree. By purchasing PP+, I am paying for a service. I expect the photo-taking experience to be LESS hassle for me, not MORE. If the burden is on me to have to DOCUMENT every photo taken during my 8 day trip with a date, time and place, and the photos are merely "amateur snapshot quality", and then Disney can't find half my pictures, then forget it! I'm keeping my $150, will suck it up and bring my professional quality Nikon, put it in "Auto" mode and snap away!

 

[AmyB2006]

Yes I feel your pain.

Here now and only 6 of my photos are on my pp+ along with two of another family's :/

None of my other pictures are on there.

 

[carrieayyyn]

I was down about a week ago and did pp+ and had a great experience. We have some messed up magic shots but other than they all of our photos are there. The pp photographers took about 5-6 shots at every location. We had a lot of really attentive photographers as well who spent lots of time with Mutiple shots of Mutiple poses. I guess it's the luck of which photographers you get. But you can always ask for another pose and we never had a photographer refuse a magic shot request.

 

[smitch425]

Yes I feel your pain.

Here now and only 6 of my photos are on my pp+ along with two of another family's :/

None of my other pictures are on there.

Have you tried re-entering your card number onto your account? Also, if you are checking photos on a mobile device, they don't always fully load. Have it checked at a Photopass kiosk to see what is really there. Good luck, and enjoy the rest of your trip!

 

[KiKi Mouse]

I will be calling this week to discuss the very dark photos from one location and the lack of magic shots (MNSSHP--Haunted Mansion). I don't know if they can fix the dark photos. I might be able to if I download them and do something in Photoshop. But I shouldn't have to.

I don't expect Photopass photographers to be my personal "wedding photographers". However, I paid for a service that I am not totally happy with. Some of the photographers were good and others didn't appear to be attentive.

We go to Disney once a year (we are lucky to do so) and some of these are the only photos I have of certain locations and character meets. I can't repeat them. For some, Disney is a once in a lifetime trip and they only have that one visit.

I think they need to understand this and take the time to take multiple shots in case somebody's eyes are closed. Really, how long would it take to take 4-5 shots with a professional camera? They also need to take that few extra seconds to position the shots too.

I'll report back when I have spoken to them.

 

[DisneyDreamingInMI]

Have it checked at a Photopass kiosk to see what is really there.

Can you tell me where the Photopass kiosks are located at each of the parks? Are these kiosks in different locations than where you would go to redeem your Photopass+ card? Just trying to take note of everyone's tips for keeping track of their Photopass photos! Thanks in advance!

 

[smitch425]

Can you tell me where the Photopass kiosks are located at each of the parks? Are these kiosks in different locations than where you would go to redeem your Photopass+ card? Just trying to take note of everyone's tips for keeping track of their Photopass photos! Thanks in advance!

They are at the same places that you can exchange your PP+ voucher.