DIY photo booth?

[sirsloop]

Hi folks... I'll start off by telling you all that I am not a wedding photographer. I'm a sports shooter and have hired pros to shoot photo & video at my wedding and reception, 9/1/07. They are aware of my desires to have a booth - and we all understand that this is something that I would do. They have no obligations towards this.

As you can imagine I've been out to visit a ton of local wedding photographers and have liked some things, disliked some things, and thought some of the stuff I could pull off by myself - such as a photo booth. Does anyone have any tips they could give me on setup for this? It needs to be stupid drunk proof and completely maintanence free. Now the wedding and reception is going to be at my fiance's horse farm, so I can setup this up any time from now until then and get the settings down. This can be setup days before the wedding and taken down days after if need be. I would set it up, but I would show my best man how it works and how to take it down so I dont need to deal during the reception.

I was thinking...

- Place the camera up on a tripod, or possibly attach a small tripod to a desk/frame so I have a place to secure wires (from people yanking on it).
- Rebel XTi with either the ef10-22 or ef35/2 on there depending on available space. I like the idea of the 10-22 as it looks crazy when the subjects get close to the camera.
- Canon RS-60E3 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=70561&is=REG&addedTroughType=search) Remote Cable release w/ extension cable secured to the desk. I have the wireless remote but I figure some drunk person would take by accident. Are there any other releases that are longer w/out having to source an extension? Its just a 1/8" jack right?
- AC power adapter attached to the camera
- A pair of light boxes on each side of the table portrait style - possibly hook my 580 up to a stand w/ an umbrella. Sandbag/tape on the tripod feet to keep them upright.
- Background is up in the air... may just use a simple white backdrop attached to a wall. Probably cloth for durability. I like the idea of putting up some sort of draping around the entire booth so people cannot see whats going on inside. If its out in the open then you are less likely to get crazy insane photos. :)

as far as camera setting.-

If I use flash I can simply set it to manual mode and dial it on via the histogram when there are a couple people standing there. If flash is used, the camera will be 1/200th manual - lens probably at f/11 or so. I'm thinking I should leave AF on incase anyone wants to get crazy w/ closeups... AF on w/ all points enabled.

How does this sound? Does anyone here use one of these booths or have any suggestions on how I can pull this off while making it drunk party animal proof? Any of these ideas off, or is this pretty sound?

Thanks! :)

[sirsloop]

anybody seen this done at a wedding?

[Phil V]

I think the reason you have no answers is simple. You're asking for advice for photographer-free photo's. As people who attend weddings to take photo's, we're probably not the best people to ask (I appreciate that you've hired a pro also).

Seriously you'll probably get better answers in the flash forum. Personally I can think of nothing I'd least like to do at a wedding than set up a booth (even a manned booth), since I'm trying to document what's happening and the genuine personalities of the participants. A booth would just be a distraction.

However I can appreciate your aim, good luck with your research.

[sirsloop]

I can appreciate that response... I'll give that forum a try. :D

[Event Photography]

Hey everyone,
I’d really appreciate any help/testing/feedback that you could provide. The app is designed as an add-on for Photo Booths and Green Screen setups.
The concept is called Photo Party Upload and it allows photos to be instantly transferred wirelessly from the Photo Booth or Green Screen computer to an iPad(s). Then, guests can directly interact with the photos by uploading them to Facebook, Twitter, Email or Print live from the iPads. There are tons of marketing/branding features built in to this App, including graphic overlays, custom Tweet message, custom Facebook album, data capture, surveys, etc.

If you are interested in helping, and potentially writing a review , I would be happy to get you setup for a trial run. Feel free to contact me directly: Brian@photopartyupload.com

Thanks in advance for all your help!

[jackies35]

Hi Brian
I heard about this software. I think there is someone name Rocco who used it for a photobooth he built for a wedding.

Is this app available in iTunes? I will go and try it out. I have been using Eye Fi and wireless have all my images from my Nikon automatically load right before my eyes.

Then, I would just transmit the images to facebook, Twitter, or email to the client and friends.