photographer at Aulani

catzle

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
I know they have the photo pass but we are looking to have family pictures done on the beach. Will they do that or do you have to hire someone?
 
We booked a portrait session last summer. The photographer did a fabulous job. We did it early evening, before the sunset cost kicked in, mostly b/c I wanted true daylight. We chose to do it on the beach, and it actually ended up being a great mix of background colors. Some photos have the water/rocks, some mostly beach/rocks, some beach/greenery. We went to the far left side of the cove, so all of that will make more sense if you've been there. She took some "action" shots, with the kids walking or running toward her. We had some great shots where the kids are just shaded dark with light and ocean behind them. She went to a lot of effort to take a mix of kids-only, DH and me only, me w/kids, DH w/kids, and 4 of us, lots of various poses. The cost gets you all the shots, no actual prints though (which was fine with me, so I could take my time at home picking which shots to print and what size).

Book in advance, over the phone. I believe I booked in May for a June date, but it seemed like the "open" dates for booking varied somewhat. I had to shift around some spa and salon appointments that were already booked, in order to accommodate it, so it didn't open for booking as soon as those or Aunty's pre-registration.
 
We have done the mini session at sunset on both of our Aulani trips and will book for our next visit. The photographers both times great and we have loved all the shots we have gotten. You get all shots on a CD, which I thought was great, as soon as I got home it helped with the vacation blues to go thru all the photos and order prints.
 


There seemed to always be photopass photographers along the beach at sunset. We had family portraits made without booking a private session.
 
When we visited we booked a family photo session with Carson James Photography. I finally got photos of my kids looking into the camera and the photos are amazing.
carsonjamesphoto.com
 
Like my pal @poohj80, we just used Photopass photographers and got great sunset pics. We did it more than once just to make sure we got some good ones.
 


They don't just have one Photopass photographer on the beach for sunset, they have a few. You can literally go to the first one and s/he will do your pics. Then get in line for the next photographer for another round of pics. Then go to the next. You will get a variety of angles, different photographers. THEY suggested this to me. We went up to the first one, got our pictures and were walking away. The second photographer suggested that we go and get them from all of them so we have a lot of options. The lines were not long. Then you can go another evening too in different outfits. Choose the ones you like most!

You can definitely arrange a portrait session, but if you think you'd be purchasing the Photopass pics anyhow ($99), this is a very good option.
 
They don't just have one Photopass photographer on the beach for sunset, they have a few. You can literally go to the first one and s/he will do your pics. Then get in line for the next photographer for another round of pics. Then go to the next. You will get a variety of angles, different photographers. THEY suggested this to me. We went up to the first one, got our pictures and were walking away. The second photographer suggested that we go and get them from all of them so we have a lot of options. The lines were not long. Then you can go another evening too in different outfits. Choose the ones you like most!

You can definitely arrange a portrait session, but if you think you'd be purchasing the Photopass pics anyhow ($99), this is a very good option.

This really is the best idea if you want to save money but get a lot of nice photos. And the photos show up so quickly (we did the thing where you load your photopass numbers to the room TV) that if you don't like the photos from that night, you could go back the next night and do it again. Some of the Photopass photographers take more time with each family, doing a variety of poses, etc., while others just take a few photos and are done- so it's definitely worth trying a few! The only potential issue is having to wait around, kids getting antsy, and/or missing the best light while you wait. Or not liking your photos the first time and then having to get dressed nice again to go do it again the next day (but with a photo session you can't re-do it at all anyway).
 
When we visited we booked a family photo session with Carson James Photography. I finally got photos of my kids looking into the camera and the photos are amazing.
carsonjamesphoto.com

Where did you do your photo shoot since I’ve read Aulani doesn’t allow outside photographers on their beach? We would like it to be somewhere nearby, but we do have a car, if needed.

Thanks!
 
There seemed to always be photopass photographers along the beach at sunset. We had family portraits made without booking a private session.

Is the location obvious where the photopass photographers hang out? Also, what time are they out?
 
Is the location obvious where the photopass photographers hang out? Also, what time are they out?

As far as the PP photographers out at the beach, you can't miss them. When we were there, there were usually at least 3. One would be up closer to the resort on the grass, one closer to the surf, and one near the canoe thingy that you can arrange rides on during the day. We had photos taken at various times over a few days in late May, all between 6 and 7:30. As others have said, I definitely recommend visiting as many as you can each night. We just went and got photos before dinner every time we were dressing decently for dinner. We got a lot of nice shots, I have been posting some examples in my TR (link in my signature) if you want to see any examples :)

The only other time we saw photopass we were in bathing suits so I was not interested in being photographed!!! :scared1:
 
We have done the mini session at sunset on both of our Aulani trips and will book for our next visit. The photographers both times great and we have loved all the shots we have gotten. You get all shots on a CD, which I thought was great, as soon as I got home it helped with the vacation blues to go thru all the photos and order prints.
About how many photos did you get? Is this option about 20 min of photographer time? The website is kinda vague. Thanks! Love this idea!
 
About how many photos did you get? Is this option about 20 min of photographer time? The website is kinda vague. Thanks! Love this idea!
Yes, we do the 20 minute option. I need to check my cd for the actual amount of photos, but I will say we got plenty of what we were looking for. Both kids, each kid, mom w/kids, dad w/kids, mom and dad, family shots before sunset, family shots at sunset. I had plenty to chose from to print and have framed, I printed and framed 13 photos. We have never had an issue not getting plenty of photos, the way I look at it, if I’m unhappy with the photos taken for whatever reason, Disney will always make it right, that may be naive on my part, but we’ve always been happy.
 

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