Photobooth Guestbooks

 I came across an article on using a photo booth at a wedding reception or party. The article follows below. It    also might be a great reference for those that really want a photo booth, but are on a pretty tight budget. 

 

 

 Photo booths are a great way to entertain guests and capture priceless memories at your event or wedding reception. You’ll get great pictures that will give you a cool behind-the-scenes look at your own event or wedding, or you can use the photos as favors that your guests can take home. You can either rent a photo booth from a rental company, hire a photographer to man one for you, or set up an easy DIY photo booth that your guests can operate themselves.  If you choose to do it the less expensive route, these are…..

Things you’ll need:

• Photo booth rental
• Large sheet or tapestry
• Clothesline
• Curtain clips
• Camera
• Tripod
• Remote shutter release

                    Step 1:

Decide whether you’d like to just rent a photo booth from a local rental company, or set one up yourself. Photo booths available for rent are the easiest solution, and allow the guests to print out their pictures instantly and take them home. They can be expensive, so you may want to consider setting up your own photo booth as described in Steps 4 through 8 below.                

                    Step 2:

Find out about any limitations to the photo booth rental. Many companies have a limit for the amount of pictures that can be taken or the number of hours you can have the booth on site. Ask about the delivery and pick-up details.

                    Step 3:

Place the photo booth in an area of the reception where it will not interfere with other events. For example, you may not want it in the background while you and your new spouse are being photographed cutting the cake or dancing. It should be easily accessible, but out of the way of the way of most of the action and the service staff.

                    Step 4:

Set up your own photo booth by stringing a clothesline between nearby trees or poles. Attach curtain clips to the top of a large piece of fabric in a color that complements your wedding color scheme, and string the clip loops onto the clothesline. If there’s a free wall available, you could just nail the cloth onto the wall.

                    Step 5:

Set up a tripod 8 to 10 feet in front of the fabric background and attach the camera to it. Test the angle to make sure the subjects and fabric background are the only things that appear in the viewfinder. You may need to move the tripod closer or further away from the subjects.

                   Step 6:

Choose a high quality camera with a flash. If it’s in your budget, you may want to hire a photographer to set up the equipment and man the camera. Even if you choose to do this, however, you should make the photo booth as self-serve as possible so your guests will feel uninhibited to pose as they wish. A photographer can also hook a printer up to the camera so the guests can take their pictures home.

                   Step 7:

Attach a remote cord or shutter release to the camera so guests can take the photos themselves without actually touching the camera.

 

Photo:  Spencer Gordon Photography