Has anyone used a photographer to get family portraits that the would recommend?

[CaoilinnsMom]

We will be visiting Aulani in June and I would love to get some good portraits of daughter and I? Has anyone used someone they would recommend? I would appreciate a referral.

 

[Chy]

The Aulani photography team does a great job and is perfect for portraits. They don’t go on the beach anymore. But they are reasonably priced for the shorter time bookings and you can expect Disney quality.

 

[PoppyJ]

I have never used any of these but this is a list recommended by one of the Aulani Facebook groups I'm in.

I bought the photo pass when we went, and we went to the beach at sunset at least 3 or 4 times. I was not that impressed by the photos we got. I know people love them but I didn't like what the flash did to the lighting and I did not like the poses (think prom poses). I will say I have seen other people post amazing photos from the photo pass photographers so it could just be me and my husband (we need a lot of direction).

 

[drjackal31]

My wedding photographer moved to Oahu, Jennifer Werneth. I thought her and her husband did a great job at our wedding.

 

[EllieBride]

We did a family session with Shannon Melek Photography this past July. I recommend her 1000% She is so talented, and was also very flexible and accommodating. Check out her facebook page to see lots of samples.

We had a tropical storm with some high winds rolling in during our scheduled photo shoot. She offered to reschedule us, but unfortunately, we didn't have any other dates that worked on our end. Instead, we switched the location of our shoot to a different beach in hopes of avoiding the worst of the rain. I'm thrilled with how they turned out,

 

[Sepidpooy]

We did a family session with Shannon Melek Photography this past July. I recommend her 1000% She is so talented, and was also very flexible and accommodating. Check out her facebook page to see lots of samples.

We had a tropical storm with some high winds rolling in during our scheduled photo shoot. She offered to reschedule us, but unfortunately, we didn't have any other dates that worked on our end. Instead, we switched the location of our shoot to a different beach in hopes of avoiding the worst of the rain. I'm thrilled with how they turned out,

Beautiful, I am impressed. May I ask how much you paid ?

 

[EllieBride]

Beautiful, I am impressed. May I ask how much you paid ?

Thank you so much.
She offers a variety of price points, depending on length of session and how many images you desire. Her prices are posted on her website: https://www.shannonmelekphotography.com/pricingpackages

 

[PoppyJ]

We did a family session with Shannon Melek Photography this past July. I recommend her 1000% She is so talented, and was also very flexible and accommodating. Check out her facebook page to see lots of samples.

These photos are stunning and your family is beautiful! Did you do the Mini, Simple or Grand package?

 

[EllieBride]

These photos are stunning and your family is beautiful! Did you do the Mini, Simple or Grand package?

Thank you so much!

I'm pretty sure we had the grand package. She sent us our edited files promptly and there were so many included. I am happy to recommend her.

 

[that1jeff]

We booked the on-site "Private Portrait Session" through Aulani when we went back in December 2023. And I cannot recommend it enough.
It was a 20 minute session for $275. And we got around 140 photos. All available for high-res digital download.
We were a party of 6 and did every combination you can think of within the 20 minutes. Was surprised how many different poses we were able to get done in that time. Cast Member/Photographer was very friendly and wonderful with my 2 year old son. We tried to tip her at the end of the session and she declined. I guess they are not allowed to accept tips. It was a fantastic experience and would absolutely do it again.

Somethings to note...
-They DO NOT offer photo sessions on the beach. All photos are on the resort but with lush green/foliage background. If you want beach photos, this is not for you.
-For some reason the only way to access the photos for digital download is via the DISNEYLAND APP. So if you don't have that already, you'll have to download that app and log in with your normal Disney log in.

Aloha!

 

[ngl]

We booked the on-site "Private Portrait Session" through Aulani when we went back in December 2023. And I cannot recommend it enough.
It was a 20 minute session for $275. And we got around 140 photos. All available for high-res digital download.
We were a party of 6 and did every combination you can think of within the 20 minutes. Was surprised how many different poses we were able to get done in that time. Cast Member/Photographer was very friendly and wonderful with my 2 year old son. We tried to tip her at the end of the session and she declined. I guess they are not allowed to accept tips. It was a fantastic experience and would absolutely do it again.

Somethings to note...
-They DO NOT offer photo sessions on the beach. All photos are on the resort but with lush green/foliage background. If you want beach photos, this is not for you.
-For some reason the only way to access the photos for digital download is via the DISNEYLAND APP. So if you don't have that already, you'll have to download that app and log in with your normal Disney log in.

Aloha!

I just found this post (and not sure why I didn't look before I called Aulani!) but just found out they no longer do the private portrait sessions on the beach. Such a bummer. We went in 2015 and 2018 and had great family photos on the beach at sunset. I am sure they pick a great area now but were hoping to "recreate" those photos. They told me the regular Photo Pass photographers are now on the beach there at sunset and we can just go and get a photo. See the post above they may not be as good Wonder why they changed? Assume due to complaints about taking up the beach for these private shoots? Just was curious if anyone knew the reason!

 

[pixiedust2u]

Photpass photographers just aren’t great. That’s a bummer they don’t offer private sessions anymore. I find PP to overuse the flash, and not know how to capture light properly, which is the whole point of sunset beach photos.

 

[bakofarmgirl]

we did in september with the photopass on the beach and they did a great job! we were not prepared on makeup, hair, poses but i would do it again with them on a future trip

 

[ngl]

Great feedback & photos. Thank you! We will give it a try - and maybe go a few nights and see what we get!

 

[bakofarmgirl]

thanks great idea! they do it every night around sunset and several families were there to get photos or do baby announcements or just family photos matching, and they make it really custom to you without taking too long, so we didnt have to wait long but she was very personal

 

[ngl]

To follow up on this, we just used the Aulani photographers at sunset to get photos about 3 of the 7 nights we were there. They had 3 different photographers set up and we would go to each one to get different views. I think it was 6:15-6:45 nightly and if you were not in line by 6:45pm on the dot they closed the line! We did get some great pics. However, we visited Aulani in 2016 and 2018 prior to this and there were SO many more photopass opportunities. Hardly any during this visit. Disappointed with that.

 

[pixiedust2u]

We hired a photographer we saw on the Aulani Facebook page. I waffled back and forth about spending the money. I’m confident it will be worth it.

The reality is similar to the photos taken by photopass in WDW the photos are way overexposed. Many of the photos I’ve seen posted from PP photographers completely washed out the beautiful background which is the whole point of the photo. I don’t know why they overuse the flash so much

 

[ngl]

We hired a photographer we saw on the Aulani Facebook page. I waffled back and forth about spending the money. I’m confident it will be worth it.

The reality is similar to the photos taken by photopass in WDW the photos are way overexposed. Many of the photos I’ve seen posted from PP photographers completely washed out the beautiful background which is the whole point of the photo. I don’t know why they overuse the flash so much

We lucked out with some amazing photos. But we went a few nights and went to each of the 3 photographers and some were definitely better than others. But there used to be PP in the lobby, up on the lobby view looking down, at the beach, at the pool, etc. They were everywhere in 2016 & 2018. We did not even see PP with the character greetings. I guess everyone is cutting back!