News PhotoPass at some character locations being replaced by automated cameras

[tissandtully]

No, but I'm not uploading 18 photos of Tink- all but 3 of which are a waste, or 13 photos of Kylo Ren, only one of which is a semi-decent photo- and the only "good" ones are the ones where we posed and waited for the camera to takes it's randomly timed photo. A real photographer would have taken 6-10 shots more than likely, and almost all of them would have been decent to good shots, including several good candid shots that weren't posed- something the box has shown that it can't do it all.

Right, I'm not a fan of this system either, but I feel like we should be open about what it captures and not selectively edit if we're trying to prove a point. You're saying it did capture a good posed photo? I mean, the quality looks pretty good, tbh.

 

[MisterPenguin]

What really gets Disney's attention is a request for a refund...

 

[SirWillow]

Right, I'm not a fan of this system either, but I feel like we should be open about what it captures and not selectively edit if we're trying to prove a point. You're saying it did capture a good posed photo? I mean, the quality looks pretty good, tbh.

This is the one (out of 18) good posed photo:

There is a second almost the same as it.

And lots of photos like this:

That last shot I have over a dozen variations of it, none of which has either of us looking at the camera or doesn't have one of us in some sort of odd position, looking a strange place, arms awkwardly posed, or something strange and off about it.

No matter how you might try to say, "well, you got one or two good photos," the truth is I also got 15 that suck and were a waste of time and digital space, and absolutely no decent candids. And when I worked for photopass, it was the candids and non-posed shots that were the big money makers and the photos that everyone wanted. Any idiot (like a box) can take a posed shot on their camera- and most guests do. But if they want to make money, then you have to get the candids, and the boxes have shown they are completely incapable of that.

 

[SirWillow]

What really gets Disney's attention is a request for a refund...

Yeah, but I'm a passholder (for the next 2 months at least) so they are included with my AP. No refund there. But as these are rolled out, I'm becoming less and less inclined to tell people to get Memory Maker. Which is a really sad thing for a former photopass photographer to say.

 

[tissandtully]

This is the one (out of 18) good posed photo:
View attachment 397031
There is a second almost the same as it.

And lots of photos like this:
View attachment 397032

That last shot I have over a dozen variations of it, none of which has either of us looking at the camera or doesn't have one of us in some sort of odd position, looking a strange place, arms awkwardly posed, or something strange and off about it.

No matter how you might try to say, "well, you got one or two good photos," the truth is I also got 15 that suck and were a waste of time and digital space, and absolutely no decent candids. And when I worked for photopass, it was the candids and non-posed shots that were the big money makers and the photos that everyone wanted. Any idiot (like a box) can take a posed shot on their camera- and most guests do. But if they want to make money, then you have to get the candids, and the boxes have shown they are completely incapable of that.

If they are gonna do this, they really need more than 1 camera around the room. It's definitely not the same, but I can see GR brushing this off since you got a good posed photo.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

This is the one (out of 18) good posed photo:
View attachment 397031
There is a second almost the same as it.

And lots of photos like this:
View attachment 397032

That last shot I have over a dozen variations of it, none of which has either of us looking at the camera or doesn't have one of us in some sort of odd position, looking a strange place, arms awkwardly posed, or something strange and off about it.

No matter how you might try to say, "well, you got one or two good photos," the truth is I also got 15 that suck and were a waste of time and digital space, and absolutely no decent candids. And when I worked for photopass, it was the candids and non-posed shots that were the big money makers and the photos that everyone wanted. Any idiot (like a box) can take a posed shot on their camera- and most guests do. But if they want to make money, then you have to get the candids, and the boxes have shown they are completely incapable of that.

Who cares?

Photographer: 2 good photos and 4 lousy photos
Machine: 2 good photos and 13 lousy photos

How is the second one worse than the first? Just delete them.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Who cares?

Photographer: 2 good photos and 4 lousy photos
Machine: 2 good photos and 13 lousy photos

How is the second one worse than the first? Just delete them.

Machines don't know when there is an emotional moment, or a hug, or a high-five...I could go on and on as to why a machine taking random pictures isn't as good as a living, breathing photographer.

EDIT: The photographer on duty the day my oldest did Jedi Training was PHENOMENAL. I have DOZENS of pictures from that experience and wouldn't give them up for anything. He did close-ups, full area shots during the "battle"...words really can't express how great he was.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Just a few examples...

That photographer was zipping around on a wheeled chair during the entire thing...his timing was just impeccable.

EDIT: I didn't edit these at all - these are the original downloads!

 

[SirWillow]

Just a few examples...

That photographer was zipping around on a wheeled chair during the entire thing...his timing was just impeccable.

EDIT: I didn't edit these at all - these are the original downloads!

And that's the difference between a box and a real photographer. Aren't you happy you didn't get just the one photo like @CaptainAmerica would apparently be satisfied with?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Just a few examples...

View attachment 397041

View attachment 397043

View attachment 397044

View attachment 397045

That photographer was zipping around on a wheeled chair during the entire thing...his timing was just impeccable.

EDIT: I didn't edit these at all - these are the original downloads!

Jedi Training Academy is not a meet-and-greet with a fairly well-defined "this is where you stand" photo spot. It doesn't apply to this situation. At all. Nobody said "every PhotoPass photographer has been replaced with a machine." SOME of them are being replaced.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

And that's the difference between a box and a real photographer. Aren't you happy you didn't get just the one photo like @CaptainAmerica would apparently be satisfied with?

RIGHT?!? Between the photographer zipping around like a maniac and me on the sidelines, I don't think there's even 30 seconds of missed photo ops.

I especially love the facial expressions he captured...my son was SO focused and took the training very seriously!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

RIGHT?!? Between the photographer zipping around like a maniac and me on the sidelines, I don't think there's even 30 seconds of missed photo ops.

I especially love the facial expressions he captured...my son was SO focused and took the training very seriously!

Apples and oranges. Experiences similar to Jedi Training will still have live photographers, and the live photographers in things like the Tinkerbell meet-and-greet were never "zipping around like a maniac" in the first place. So... double irrelevant.

 

[Roakor]

even on the few times we used photopass we still brought our own cameras and took our own pictures. I wouldn't trust that we would get good pictures from another person trained to do so. I sure as hell won't trust a box to give me good picutres.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Jedi Training Academy is not a meet-and-greet with a fairly well-defined "this is where you stand" photo spot. It doesn't apply to this situation. At all. Nobody said "every PhotoPass photographer has been replaced with a machine." SOME of them are being replaced.

We don't usually do very many meet & greets...but here are some of my favorites...

(They really need to work on the lighting at the Town Square Mickey meet!)

 

[DisAl]

Apples and oranges. Experiences similar to Jedi Training will still have live photographers, and the live photographers in things like the Tinkerbell meet-and-greet were never "zipping around like a maniac" in the first place. So... double irrelevant.

CA, I hope you don't take this as a personal attack but you obviously don't know any more about real photography than whatever Pointy Haired Boss (as in Dilbert) made the decision to put this stupid system in. I wish I knew the name of the person who made that decision and his supervisor's name so I could suggest that he be assigned to some role where he couldn't do further damage.

A fixed position automated system will never capture photos like this one made by a real photopass photographer.

 

[drizgirl]

This is the one (out of 18) good posed photo:
View attachment 397031
There is a second almost the same as it.

And lots of photos like this:
View attachment 397032

That last shot I have over a dozen variations of it, none of which has either of us looking at the camera or doesn't have one of us in some sort of odd position, looking a strange place, arms awkwardly posed, or something strange and off about it.

No matter how you might try to say, "well, you got one or two good photos," the truth is I also got 15 that suck and were a waste of time and digital space, and absolutely no decent candids. And when I worked for photopass, it was the candids and non-posed shots that were the big money makers and the photos that everyone wanted. Any idiot (like a box) can take a posed shot on their camera- and most guests do. But if they want to make money, then you have to get the candids, and the boxes have shown they are completely incapable of that.

Even those decent photos lose points from me for being underexposed. In a static photography set like that, there's really no excuse for not at least getting the exposure right.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Even those decent photos lose points from me for being underexposed. In a static photography set like that, there's really no excuse for not at least getting the exposure right.

I find that about ~40% of the time I end up doing post-production editing once we get home due to poor lighting/exposure. The Town Square Mickey pics, especially. There needs to be more contrast between Mickey himself and what's behind him...that was just a really poor color choice for the curtain.

 

[tissandtully]

Even those decent photos lose points from me for being underexposed. In a static photography set like that, there's really no excuse for not at least getting the exposure right.

The only place I've seen them use permanent strobes are at Epcot Character Spot. Not sure why they don't have them everywhere else. The on-camera fill flash is ruining these pics.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Who cares?

Photographer: 2 good photos and 4 lousy photos
Machine: 2 good photos and 13 lousy photos

How is the second one worse than the first? Just delete them.

Obviously quite a few people care, but what a great contribution to the discussion.

Nothing like seeing people breathlessly defend blatant cost-cutting at a resort once known for the literal opposite.

 

[drizgirl]

The only place I've seen them use permanent strobes are at Epcot Character Spot. Not sure why they don't have them everywhere else. The on-camera fill flash is ruining these pics.

I can do much better with an on camera fill flash just by adjusting the flash exposure compensation. Taking the same photo over and over in the same environment, there's really no excuse for at least not getting this part right.