These days many people simply rely on their cell phones to take pictures, leaving their cameras behind. On Disney trips, they also offer the photo service, Disney's PhotoPass, but do visitors use this to replace personal cameras? This week we asked our Parenting Panel: What kind of camera do you bring to Disney theme parks? Do you use PhotoPass?
Sheena also known as Mermaid, teaches first grade in Arizona where she lives with her husband and two children, Matthew (3) and Katie (2). She visits the Disneyland Resort as often as she can and has passed on her love of the parks to her little Mouseketeers. Sheena writes:
When it comes to vacation photos, I love to take a lot and then pare them down later. There is something about looking back at them and reliving those fun times again and again. If there was a not so fun time, well that picture gets deleted! We have a lot of cameras and use most of them to some degree on all of our vacations. We have in our aresenal:
Canon DSLR Rebel T3i: We got this when my second child was born in 2012. We like to say we have a lot more pictures of my oldest, but they are better quality with my youngest. My husband is the one that uses this the most on vacation. He wears a Canon backpack that holds it, and the three lenses, nicely. We also have the red Mickey parts strap that is sold in the photo stores at the Parks. The problem we have found is that strap—while adorable—is too short, so the camera lives in the backpack most of the time. When we are planning for photos, like in line for a character or posing the kids in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle, it gets taken out. The quality is great and we are always happy with the pictures. But, because the backpack is heavy and it is not very convenient, we usually only bring it into the parks one day. My husband, spoiler alert honey, is getting a cross-body camera strap for Christmas. We met some fellow travelers on a Disney Cruise last year who showed us theirs, and I think it will solve a lot of our problems with carrying the DSLR all day, every day. This should make the camera more accessible and easier to carry. Because right now it can be cumbersome, we also travel with a…
Waterproof Point and Shoot: We have the Olympus Stylus, which is the older version of the Olympus Tough. This is a great little camera. It is waterproof and shockproof and pretty small. It fits easily in my husband's pockets. We bring this on days we don't bring the DSLR. The quality is not as good as the Canon T3i, but the price and convenience make it a solid alternative for every day traveling. It is easy to whip out when the kids are doing something cute or for an unexpected Magic Moment. We are also never without our…
iPhone camera: This is fast replacing our point-and-shoot as the easy go-to camera. Add that with the benefit of easy upload to social media and email access, the iPhone is a great option. The pictures are good quality for social media, but I find them to be somewhat grainy when I print them. Because of that, I think we will always bring the DSLR, at least for a day or two. Which brings me to…
PhotoPass: Because we only visit the Parks every year or so, we always buy the PhotoPass and have found it to be a good value for our family. We know we will be buying the CD, so we get our pictures taken as often as my kids can tolerate it. Many photos are taken in the same location, but we don't mind that. With young kids the more opportunities for a good picture the better! The photographers are hit-or-miss with quality, but we have run into some great ones. We love the pictures where they add the characters in later, which is something you can never get with your own camera. I also enjoy adding the borders to the photos at home. It is my way of really interacting with the photos and giving them a personal touch. Some of my favorite PhotoPass photos have been the unposed photos. These usually happen when the photographer isn't too busy and starts snapping shots. To me, the best part of PhotoPass is the ability to get pictures of the whole family. I know these will be treasured for year to come and I am glad we are all in these photos.
So, you can see, we take advantage of all types of photo opportunities. I like the ability to be flexible and decide that morning what is going to work for us. Whatever you decide, take lots of pictures, print them out and enjoy them always!
This photo from Chris Salata's family album reminds us: Sometimes shots are best taken silently. Photo by Chris Salata
Chris Salata, also known as GusMan, is a Disney-inspired author and photographer, and loves to help people get the most out of their Disney vacation. Chris writes:
It is no surprise to my family and friends, but I love to take pictures. When I am on vacation, it is even more so the case. I love to revisit past trips through sorting through a photo album, my electronic picture frame, or my wife's hardcover published scrapbooks. While this was the case since my first Kodak Advantix camera during our first trip to Disney, I think my obsession grew even more so as I went digital.
I am the official family photographer. The proof of this is that I tend to not be in many pictures. Personally, I don't find this to be a problem as I don't think I am the most photogenic person in the world (with the exception of the occasional selfie). I love to capture both formal and candid pictures of my family enjoying the parks. To me, they are in their element and I want the pictures to not intrude into their experience. I think my favorite shots include pictures of my kids not knowing that I have been observing them through a lens from a distance.
If you scroll through Instagram, and you follow the right people, you can see some awesome shots taken with a camera phone. At the same time, I find that there is something to be said about a standalone camera that helps making difficult shots look easy. For this among many reasons, I use a regular camera for my Disney photos. But truth be told, I use two cameras, both with a slightly different purpose.
Chris takes time to test out long shutter times on his camera, as he did in this photo in Walt Disney World's Tomorowland. Photo by Chris Salata
The camera that I use is my Sony CX560 HD video camera. What makes this camera one of my favorites is that I don't have to choose between video and pictures. I can do both at the same time. I can also take pictures by themselves with great results especially in a low light situation. I think I get some of the best fireworks and parade shots by simply repeatedly pressing the photo button while recording video. It does not matter if I end up with 500 pictures to sort through if I end up with the one shot that has eluded me for a long time.
My wife uses my Sony HX20V, which is an 18.2 MP camera that also takes some awesome HD video. In a similar manner to my video camera, it also allows pictures and video to be shot at the same time. However, what makes this a great camera is that it is faster and easier for my wife to use, yet still has some advanced features that can help me create unique shots throughout the park. I love seeing Walt Disney World through her eyes, a la the pictures.
Even with thousands of pictures taken by my wife and I, we still are fans of PhotoPass and MemoryMaker+, if for no other reason that we treat it like our own vacation-long photo shoot. We make it a point to get our picture taken as many times as we can, as long as it doesn't slow us down too much. We also make it a point to tell the photographers that we pre-ordered the CD and, in many cases, they really go out of their way to capture the best shots. These pictures are also incorporated into our coffee table books, which complement my pictures very well.
The only other idea I would like to share is to provide a digital camera to your kids and tell them to take pictures of what interests them. If you are not comfortable with handing over your expensive phone or camera, you can get one through eBay or other sites for $20-$30. Add in a big memory card for another $15 and you have the possibility of really seeing the parks through your child's eyes. (And the camera may be inexpensive enough where it they lose or break it, it's not going to be a huge deal.)
Overall, pictures can really bring home memories that can't be described by any story. Take time to snap some good shots. Capture your family at your finest. Dare to even be a little creative. But, most of all, make sure you print or publish your pictures for all to see and not let them get stuck on a memory card.
Capture candid memories with your cameras and you will remember the times when sometimes you just sit back and smile. Photo by Chris Salata
Capture candid memories with your cameras and you will remember the times when sometimes you just sit back and smile. Photo by Chris SalataMousePlanet columnist Chris Barry, his wife, Diane, Samantha (15), and twins Casey and Alex (12), live on Long Island and are all major Disney and Walt Disney World Resort fans. Chris writes:
I would hardly call myself a big gadget guy. As a matter of fact, despite being in the television business for almost 25 years, I’ve only owned one video camera and I didn’t get that one until my first child was born.
As far as cameras go, while I do have a collection of vintage Brownies and Polaroids, I haven’t upgraded my camera in about six to seven years. I have a Nikon D40 DSLR, which I love, and I don’t feel much of a need to change it out for another. It’s an excellent camera, but it’s not an everyday camera, like some of the point-and-shoot cameras I’ve had over the years.
As far as our trips to Walt Disney World are concerned, pictures are a must, and we have hundreds and hundreds of them. Some of my favorite images of the kids have been taken at Disney and they all evoke memories that I never want to forget. A picture really is worth a thousand words. I started out at Disney with a simple Canon Elph 2.0 megapixel digital point-and-shoot. Some of my best photos came from this old camera. I still have it. It still works, though it’s horrendously slow and the screen is minute compared to modern digital cameras. I used it for many years and then upgraded to newer versions as the years went by and the pixels increased. I much prefer having a smaller camera like this on a Disney type of vacation. It’s easily removable from the backpack or a pocket, and it sits at the waiting at the table during a character meal.
I’ve never even taken the DSLR on vacation. They take up a lot of room in my carry-on. They weigh down my backpack walking around the parks, and most of the in-room safes in the Disney resorts aren’t big enough to hold them if I choose to leave them behind. It’s always been the point-and shoot-in the parks for me. My daughter has a strong interest in photography and now has a Nikon D5100, the modern counterpart to my D40. She chose to take it on our last Disney trip with the understanding that it was solely her responsibility to cart around and protect. She ended up with around 700 amazing photos, mostly of details throughout the parks.
Of course, nowadays, my wife, my daughter and I each have an iPhone and lately the majority of my photos have come from there. My iPhone 4 doesn’t take as good a photo as the iPhone 5 and 5s that my wife and daughter respectively had. They take a nice clear picture day or night. I dropped my last Canon point-and-shoot on the carpeted floor of the Caribbean Beach Club permanently jamming the lens cover closed, so the phone is all I currently have left. Perhaps it’s time to upgrade?
As far as PhotoPass, we’re never too big on using it. We, of course, aren’t going to refuse the card and now the photos are on the Magic Bands. It is nice to be able to look at the photos online when we get home. However, in the last 12 years, I think I’ve purchased five or six photos from PhotoPass. I can’t fault them. They do a nice job. But I do find them a bit too expensive. A good quality print can be had so cheaply online, I can’t justify a PhotoPass shot at their high price unless it’s something I absolutely can’t pass up. However, they sometimes have gotten just the right shot of all of us together as a family that I obviously couldn’t get myself. I am a little tired of always being behind the lens and not in the pictures and so I’ve caved. But for the most part, we are the photographers on our trips, not Disney.
Elizabeth, who posts on our MousePad message board as eabaldwin, has been a Disneyland Annual Passholder since 2010. She and her husband have two daughters, Katie (4) and Josie (2). Elizabeth writes:
When going to the parks, we bring 2 types of cameras, our Nikon D90 DSLR with a lens that zooms and our cell phone cameras.
We bring our DSLR because we have it. We like to take the best pictures that we can and we like the photos that we get with our camera. When we bought it, we decided that we would bring it just about anywhere we would bring a point and shoot, and not save it for special occasions. It is our primary camera. We just make sure to bring it on every ride and we never leave it in the stroller. With a strap, it is fairly easy to throw it over your shoulder and is actually quite easy to get around. My fear initially is that it would be too heavy and bulky, but it really is manageable. We feel that it is worth it to get great photographs of our children in the parks.
With two smaller children, we almost always separate at some point. We have snapped many photos with our cell phones when the other parent has the DSLR. It is also nice to have the cell phone camera so that we can share photos directly to Facebook, or other social media sites.
We have family members who appreciate a photo via text message, and that is easily done with the cell phone camera. Cell phones also have the benefit of being able to fit into a pocket or small purse and are definitely easier to carry around.
Since we usually make day trips to Disneyland, we rarely purchase the PhotoPass photos. We almost always have the PhotoPass photographers take photos with our own camera. Since they usually use a camera similar to ours, our photos usually come out fairly similarly. The benefit of using a PhotoPass photographer to help take photos for your family is that you get photos with all members of your group. We always end up with tons of photos of Mom with the kids and Dad with the kids, so it is really great to have at least a few photos with everyone in them!
When making a bigger or longer trip, for a special occasion or a big event, we will purchase PhotoPass+. For going more than a day trip, we feel that it is worth it since we usually do a character meal and we enjoy having the ride photos. It is fun to be able to add borders to photos, or the year to help commemorate a special trip.
The great part about using a digital camera is that we just snap away and take as many photos as we can. It is easier to go home and delete the ones we don’t want or that didn’t turn out as we had hoped. We try to get as many photos as we can to help document our visit or trip.
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