private photo session at sunset

halfmonkey

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 25, 2011
Hi. I'm trying to get some info about booking a private photo session for a family of 7 during our stay at Aulani. I found some info online but there wasn't really much of a description and I still have some questions about the pricing. It looks like it costs $350 with an additional $50 charge for sunset photos.

First off, I'm wondering if anybody has done this at Aulani and if so, can you provide your opinion on your experience? It looks like it lasts for about 20-40 minutes. Do they take the picture on the beach with the sunset in the back ground? Are there people in the background of your pictures or do they somehow block off the area for you?

Did you like the pictures and was the photographer a professional photographer or did it seem like it was just one of the photo pass people that was available that they grabbed to do the photoshoot. As I'm sure you all know who have had experience using the photo pass photographer, some are better than others where some will take the time to help you get some good pictures whereas other will just say ready, snap your picture and usher you away so the next group can come in.

If you didn't like your pictures, did you hire a 3rd party to come in and take pictures or did you go off Aulani property to somewhere on the island to take some pictures. If you used a 3rd party and likes them, would you mind sharing the name of the company that you used?

Thanks.
 
I don't have experience with photographers on Oahu, but I wanted to mention that for our trip to Paris this past summer, we used Flytographer. It's basically a consortium of photographers and you choose which one you want to work with. Everything is done through the website. You can look on their website for portfolios. I know they have a bunch of Oahu photographers. You could reach out to them and see if they will work with you if the Disney ones don't work out for you.

If you end up booking with Flytographer, I have a referral code that will give us both $25 off our next session (your first, my next.) PM me if you're interested.

I am not affiliated with them, just a happy customers. I've had vacation photo sessions in the past and find the right photographer was always a pain. Flytography makes the process a whole lot easier now.
 
I don't have experience with photographers on Oahu, but I wanted to mention that for our trip to Paris this past summer, we used Flytographer. It's basically a consortium of photographers and you choose which one you want to work with. Everything is done through the website. You can look on their website for portfolios. I know they have a bunch of Oahu photographers. You could reach out to them and see if they will work with you if the Disney ones don't work out for you.

If you end up booking with Flytographer, I have a referral code that will give us both $25 off our next session (your first, my next.) PM me if you're interested.

I am not affiliated with them, just a happy customers. I've had vacation photo sessions in the past and find the right photographer was always a pain. Flytography makes the process a whole lot easier now.

We've used Flytographer once before when we were in Las Vegas. They turned out great. I was just curious to see if others have used other options that they were happy with. If nothing else, I might just have to stick with Flytogrpaher.
 
The private photographer sessions are with pro photographers that are much better than the normal photo pass photographers at aulani. There are several locations on the “beach” that aulani and the sheraton share that 99% of the time will have no people in the background, there are some other locations right next to the lagoon that also can have the ocean/sunset in the background without any people in the background (without any need to block space off)

Most of the waikiki hotels, and the koolina ones aren’t particularly friendly to pro photographers shooting on property...and there are several locations where even local residents will call the cops to come check if a photographer has the proper licenses to shoot in well most beaches, etc. even fully licensed wedding photographers are only allowed to shoot in a few very specific places in/around waikiki...(sometimes you can even see a line of wedding photographers and the couples waiting to use the 1 spot in an entire park where they’re allowed to shoot)

That being said all the beaches (but not the koolina lagoons) are public (the public “beach” part just outside aulani is past some bushes and is basically just a rocky cliff of sorts), so the most hotels can/will do is harass pro photographers on the way to a shoot (mostly forcing them to walk the longer way and potentially across some less than safe rocky paths depending on the surf conditions.) if you want sunset photos pros are likely to bring enough gear that they’d be easily ID’d by hotel staff, and if you want shots on aulani property the best option is to book through aulani.

Its mostly due to cities seeing the big bucks film companies can/will pay to shoot on location, and mistakingly thinking that regular photographers have even a small fraction of the cash flow a studio like warner bros. has.
 


We have booked the private photo session twice before and have it booked again for our upcoming trip. We have always been very happy with our photos and the photographers. We have done the 20 minute session at sunset and always have plenty of pictures to print and frame at home. They have always been great about not having people behind us. I’d be happy to share some photos if you’d like.
 
The private photographer sessions are with pro photographers that are much better than the normal photo pass photographers at aulani. There are several locations on the “beach” that aulani and the sheraton share that 99% of the time will have no people in the background, there are some other locations right next to the lagoon that also can have the ocean/sunset in the background without any people in the background (without any need to block space off)

Most of the waikiki hotels, and the koolina ones aren’t particularly friendly to pro photographers shooting on property...and there are several locations where even local residents will call the cops to come check if a photographer has the proper licenses to shoot in well most beaches, etc. even fully licensed wedding photographers are only allowed to shoot in a few very specific places in/around waikiki...(sometimes you can even see a line of wedding photographers and the couples waiting to use the 1 spot in an entire park where they’re allowed to shoot)

That being said all the beaches (but not the koolina lagoons) are public (the public “beach” part just outside aulani is past some bushes and is basically just a rocky cliff of sorts), so the most hotels can/will do is harass pro photographers on the way to a shoot (mostly forcing them to walk the longer way and potentially across some less than safe rocky paths depending on the surf conditions.) if you want sunset photos pros are likely to bring enough gear that they’d be easily ID’d by hotel staff, and if you want shots on aulani property the best option is to book through aulani.

Its mostly due to cities seeing the big bucks film companies can/will pay to shoot on location, and mistakingly thinking that regular photographers have even a small fraction of the cash flow a studio like warner bros. has.

I didn't realize that some places required permits to take pictures. We'd be looking to take pictures out of the Waikiki area. We don't mind the usual Hawaii beach photos but we prefer to have our photos taken at a "hidden gem" that still "feels" like it's Hawaii, just not the usual beach shots.

We have booked the private photo session twice before and have it booked again for our upcoming trip. We have always been very happy with our photos and the photographers. We have done the 20 minute session at sunset and always have plenty of pictures to print and frame at home. They have always been great about not having people behind us. I’d be happy to share some photos if you’d like.

I've looked into some options and one came back to be way too expensive and the other didn't have available dates, I think because it's too far out for them to confirm on the calendar. I guess if I don't find anything to my liking as we get closer, we have the Aulani photo session to fall back on. I don't mind paying the fee. It's not terribly expensive and if they can get some great sunset shots within the 20-40 minutes without people in the background, I would be happy.

It sounds like Loveallthingsmouse had a great photo shoot and was happy enough with them to have used them a few times. Can you tell me if they go right out to the edge of the property for the sunset photos with the open sea in the background or do they take the pictures a little more inland with some palm trees, beach, sand, and open water in the background? Can you also tell me if they just move around to avoid having people in the background or do they set up some sort of barrier? Lastly, at the times that you stayed at Aulani and took the photos, was it a slow time of travel and so it was just coincidental that people weren't in the background or was it a busy time and the photographer made every effort to not have people in the background?

I ask about having in the background because it's a real sticking point for me because if we're going to take these photo session pictures, I definitely don't want background people loitering in my pictures. :)
 
I would highly recommend Julia Klink.. we did a mini session with her at the 'secret' beach near Aulani and love the photos, she's great to work with and very affordable. On previous trips we just used the Aulani photographers who were out on the beach at sunset.. never did a private session w/Aulani though. Also we looked into Blinnk photography at the Marriott Ko Olina (free session but photos like $78 each or something like that) but didn't use them. Have a great trip!
 


I would highly recommend Julia Klink.. we did a mini session with her at the 'secret' beach near Aulani and love the photos, she's great to work with and very affordable. On previous trips we just used the Aulani photographers who were out on the beach at sunset.. never did a private session w/Aulani though. Also we looked into Blinnk photography at the Marriott Ko Olina (free session but photos like $78 each or something like that) but didn't use them. Have a great trip!
Do you remember or mind sharing the general cost from Julia Link and what that included?
We are considering a photo session but cost is a big factor for us. Thanks!!
 
The permits only pertain to pros who charge (i.e. commercial usage, etc.) its not hard to distinguish between most pros and tourists, so theres no need to worry about taking pics even if you have a pro level dslr (just don’t bring c-stands, strobes, reflectors, etc.) technically all beaches/parks require permits for commercial usage, its mostly just enforced around waikiki, downtown, kailua/kaneohe, and anywhere right around a hotel. A lot of “pros” in hawaii other than the wedding photographers don’t have or even realize they technically need permits, others flat out ignore it and simply don’t bring gear that would ID them as a pro (or they set up shoot, and pack up very quickly)...the permits are more intended to bring in revenue from the big film studios (and magazines like sports illustrated)...but to prevent them from complaining or using loopholes...its an all commercial usage thing (you might be surprised as to how many cities/states are like this now)...often times it can also come down to what park official, secruity guard, etc. is on duty...some harass anyone, others will let it go if its not bothering anyone.

I haven’t used the aulani private session before, but I do know one of the pros they use (and that person would charge more if you booked them directly...they just want the additional disney benefits so they shoot for them part time). I don’t wanna say their name as its entirely possible all of the private session photographers are equally as good (or better). I have seen how they set up and operate, and the locations they tend to choose are ones where its not possible or likely to have other people in the background (pretty sure that if you ask them for shots in a particular spot they’d find some way to make it work). The only shot that you seem to want that the aulani session wouldn’t really be able to do is sand + open water (the only places with sand nearby are in coves, so lots of rocks mixed in with the water.)

Also fyi the “secret beach” between the sheraton and paradise cove...right around sunset if theres a wedding reception at paradise cove (happens frequently), they shoot a bunch of wedding pics there and the wedding photographers that shoot there are notorious for not caring about anyone else there...it can get crowded very quickly if there is a wedding, or if theres a lot of vog the landscape photographers will often set up there...most other places the local photographers will do their best not to walk into each others shots. Other times you might not see anyone else there.

If you want hidden gem...there really aren’t many/any spots like that left on oahu, probably the closest things left are the beaches near the north shore end of where you would start the hike to kaena point, or maybe some of the beaches near kualoa ranch/polynesian cultural center. There’s tons of spots like that on every other island...just not so much on oahu.
 
I didn't realize that some places required permits to take pictures. We'd be looking to take pictures out of the Waikiki area. We don't mind the usual Hawaii beach photos but we prefer to have our photos taken at a "hidden gem" that still "feels" like it's Hawaii, just not the usual beach shots.



I've looked into some options and one came back to be way too expensive and the other didn't have available dates, I think because it's too far out for them to confirm on the calendar. I guess if I don't find anything to my liking as we get closer, we have the Aulani photo session to fall back on. I don't mind paying the fee. It's not terribly expensive and if they can get some great sunset shots within the 20-40 minutes without people in the background, I would be happy.

It sounds like Loveallthingsmouse had a great photo shoot and was happy enough with them to have used them a few times. Can you tell me if they go right out to the edge of the property for the sunset photos with the open sea in the background or do they take the pictures a little more inland with some palm trees, beach, sand, and open water in the background? Can you also tell me if they just move around to avoid having people in the background or do they set up some sort of barrier? Lastly, at the times that you stayed at Aulani and took the photos, was it a slow time of travel and so it was just coincidental that people weren't in the background or was it a busy time and the photographer made every effort to not have people in the background?

I ask about having in the background because it's a real sticking point for me because if we're going to take these photo session pictures, I definitely don't want background people loitering in my pictures. :)

The photographers I think just have a knack about how they take the pictures. When we did ours we walked away from the resort towards the Marriott, so away from the resort crowd. A few of our pictures have the resort as the backdrop, some have the lush greenery that is over there but most have the beautiful setting sun over the ocean right along the shoreline.
 
Here are a few photos from our last shoot. Hopefully this gives you an idea. When I booked for our May trip, they said they have the schedule for the entire year.
 

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we prefer to have our photos taken at a "hidden gem" that still "feels" like it's Hawaii, just not the usual beach shots
I remember seeing some gorgeous pics from a DIS'er made at Yokohama Bay; you might check that out. They were the only ones there that day.

But WRT background people, most every photographer is going to be post-processing your images anyway; they can "remove" interlopers if needed ;)
 
Do you remember or mind sharing the general cost from Julia Link and what that included?
We are considering a photo session but cost is a big factor for us. Thanks!!

I think $200 for a 25-min session including five edited images of your choice (from a proofing gallery), $12/each if you want more, but I'm not positive and she seems to run specials sometimes so I'd reach out if interested!
 

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