Private Photographer

[comstocky]

My wife and I are taking our 2.5 year old daughter for her first trip to Walt Disney World at the end of January. We are very excited to see her reactions to everything, so much so that we are thinking about hiring a private photographer to capture her first moments in the Magic Kingdom. We figure that this will free us up to just watch her expressions (outside of a viewfinder) without worrying about documenting the moment. We realize that the Disney photographers can take all of the staged photos for us, and we plan to use their services too, but we wanted a way to get all of the candid pictures that my wife really wants. Can anyone recommend any private photographers for this purpose? Alternatively, is there any way to work with (pay) Disney's photography team to have a photographer assigned to our family for an hour or so? Specifically we want pictures of her first time seeing the main street, the castle, and maybe on a ride or two.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Private professional photographers are explicitly denied access to Disney property.

There are photographers that will do it at a cost and may or may not get caught and removed from the property. We hired Disney Event Photography to do some photos last summer and again at Christmas but are traditional posed images and not the candid type. During our summer session a private photographer was kicked out of the resort by security during a family shoot at the YC/BC resort so they do take it seriously.

Whatever you do, good luck and have fun!

 

[dreamfinder]

Disney will almost definitely work with you to have a "private" photographer, they would most likely be part of Event/Wedding/Fine Art/Creative Media Photography (they go by alot of names), as long as you pony up the cash. Their website is here -> http://disneyfineartphotography.com and if you look at the Senior Portion section, you will see that they have some at DHS and Epcot in there, so they do do in park photography at times. However, I would be prepared to pay ALOT. It starts at $350 for an hour session at a resort, I'd imagine they would charge above and beyond that for anything they did in park.

If you do want to try to go outside the mouse, you can see some possible options here -> http://disneytravelbabble.com/ They have some blog postings/trip reports for instance here -> http://disneytravelbabble.com/disney-weddings/our-wedding/tot-anniversary-party/ where they did have pictures taken by a non Disney photographer. You can dig around and take stabs at calling other photographers that do Disney Weddings, but they may be wary of hurting their relationship with WDW.

 

[CaptainShortty]

Disney Fine Art Photography is the only fool proof way to go. All outside professional photographers that come in with any sizeable photography equipment or are seen taking what looks like professional photographs will either be denied access at the gate or asked to stop and potentially leave property. If you are looking to use a photographer outside Disney you'd have to go through media relations and it requires a media guide to accompany you and your photographer through the parks (even outside photographers that come for weddings/conventions are required to have the guide inside the parks).

Disney fine art photography does a fantastic job albeit they aren't cheap. But, if it's great shots you're looking to get then they'll be able to get them for you and your family.

Good luck and have a great trip!