Wedding Photo booth advice (not a Photo booth)

Hey,

Being in the UK, and married for a while (hadn't heard of it until very recently) I've just noticed that Photo booths are quite popular with weddings.

They all seem to be self contained 'physical' booths with a point and shoot camera, small computer, touch screen and printer.

It all seems a very nice idea but is there a market for a human being taking pictures with a studio-esque set up in the corner of a venue?

i.e. a photographer, two or three lights, a backdrop and some props taking pictures and interacting with the people who are having photos taken.

I understand a booth could be less intrusive, but the idea of someone actually taking pictures rather than a point and shoot taking a picture after the person has pressed the 'ready' button seems more attractive to me personally.

I would not be interested in running a business hiring out booths, but would be with hiring out myself (so to speak)

Any ideas or opinions gratefully received

I started a long thread about this some time ago. (I'm too lazy to dredge it up though).

Around here we treat it as an optional offering at no cost to the couple. One $20 on-the-spot 5x7 print with $10 going to the newly impoverished couple that everyone wants to help out.

Depends on the size of the gig of course.

I was hired to do one of these a few months ago, for a friend's small wedding. I made a giant backdrop out of IKEA fabric, brought three lights but used one (plus a giant window). Also brought a bunch of cheesy props. Shot tethered into Lightroom, and printed 4x6 on site with my Pixma 9000. I didn't have a backup printer, but had plenty of ink and paper, and backups of everything else. The guests seemed to have a lot of fun with it.

The couple paid up front for all the supplies I estimated that I needed, and my "friends and family" hourly rate which is way, way lower than my normal hourly rate. I probably ran off 150 4x6 prints over the course of about a two-hour reception/brunch.

I also made a "watermark" with the date and the couple's name, that printed on each photo. Can't find it any more, I think I cleaned it out.

Setup. The laptop and printer are over behind that stack of hats.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …nathancarter/10​198194045/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …nathancarter/10​198270563/

Wow nice photo!

Them small boxes for a traditional photo booth usually are lower quality, but good enough most clients. I don't like them either. I'd rather do a setup like Nathan's setup, much more fun. I do a few each year. A lot of work though.

Thanks, that's some great info.

At least I know "it is a thing that's done". Having looked at a lot of Photobooth websites I definitely think the pictures are of a poor quality (even with their "studio lighting" and "professional cameras") - but then I suppose a lot of people have them for the gimmick of having them rather than getting good pictures.

The setup picture you posted nathancarter is exactly the sort of thing I was thinking and the shot you produced is very nice - pretty much exactly what I envisioned, thanks.

The only thing I've seen online which is similar the guy charges a set amount for being there, then puts the photos on a website for people to order afterwards (about £3 per print delivered), or there's an option where you can buy a set amount of prints beforehand, say 200. I presume these prints are still then ordered afterwards, but are free.

This seems a good idea from my perspective, but the customer would probably much rather have the prints there and then right? Not really sure how it would be possible to take pictures, get into Lightroom, do some minor tweaks and print whilst keeping up with other people waiting for pictures?

RT McAllister wrote in post #16361559
I started a long thread about this some time ago. (I'm too lazy to dredge it up though).

Around here we treat it as an optional offering at no cost to the couple. One $20 on-the-spot 5x7 print with $10 going to the newly impoverished couple that everyone wants to help out.

Depends on the size of the gig of course.

I've found that thread and am working through it - some good stuff, cheers.

sancho1983 wrote in post #16362482
At least I know "it is a thing that's done". Having looked at a lot of Photobooth websites I definitely think the pictures are of a poor quality (even with their "studio lighting" and "professional cameras") - but then I suppose a lot of people have them for the gimmick of having them rather than getting good pictures.

I don't know if it's "a thing that's done" but it's a thing that I did.

sancho1983 wrote in post #16362482
This seems a good idea from my perspective, but the customer would probably much rather have the prints there and then right? Not really sure how it would be possible to take pictures, get into Lightroom, do some minor tweaks and print whilst keeping up with other people waiting for pictures?

I didn't do any tweaks on the spot. Zero, zed. I had created a custom preset in advance with all the settings that I wanted - including the png-based watermark with the date & couple's name, and the white border (which is just a setting in the "Post-Crop Vignette" sliders in the Effects pane). I tweaked those settings very slightly while setting up my lights and doing a couple of test shots & test prints. After that, as I was shooting tethered directly into Lightroom, all I had to do was tap "Print One" for each one I wanted printed. I didn't print every shot, and I printed multiples of some shots.

I made sure that my saved effects were appropriate for what I wanted. Most notably, the clarity slider is pulled down a little bit, and the tones and saturation/vibrance are tweaked a bit - this was done intentionally to make bright, pleasing-looking skin without having to do any touch-ups on individual shots. I have a tendency to intentionally overexpose skin by half a stop or so, this will reduce the appearance of wrinkles and imperfections ...which will make the casual observer think they look great in their photo.

The printer was the bottleneck. The Pixma 9000 isn't exactly fast. But if I had a backlog, I just told the subjects to come back in five or ten minutes to pick up their prints. If I start doing this more often, I'll either get a faster printer, or a second Pixma 9000 and figure out a way to pool them on my Mac.

If it makes any difference, the bartender and a couple of staff came over to compliment me, and said that they had seen a lot of photobooth setups and mine was the best and most fun that they had seen. So, I guess there's that. Maybe they were just schmoozing me for a free picture, well it worked

I've tried both supervised and unsupervised, and people definitely enjoy unsupervised more. Because nobody is watching, they let loose and act super stupid, and often will take a series of 6 really silly photos. Because nobody is watching. I do bring studio lighting and use a dslr for the photos, so quality is great. I won't bring backgrounds, I just use a wall. But I definitely am offering only unmanned booths from now on.

picturecrazy wrote in post #16363059
I've tried both supervised and unsupervised, and people definitely enjoy unsupervised more. Because nobody is watching, they let loose and act super stupid, and often will take a series of 6 really silly photos. Because nobody is watching. I do bring studio lighting and use a dslr for the photos, so quality is great. I won't bring backgrounds, I just use a wall. But I definitely am offering only unmanned booths from now on.

What software do you use for unmanned? I just got DSLRbooth and will be giving it a test run next weekend at my own Halloween party.

I agree with your assessment of subject behavior in manned vs unmanned booths. My friends have no problem letting loose and acting super stupid even when I'm pointing the camera at them, though...

nathancarter wrote in post #16363073
What software do you use for unmanned? I just got DSLRbooth and will be giving it a test run next weekend at my own Halloween party.

I agree with your assessment of subject behavior in manned vs unmanned booths. My friends have no problem letting loose and acting super stupid even when I'm pointing the camera at them, though...

Of course, FRIENDS are comfortable with YOU. But what about strangers? Let me tell you, the photobooth gets it fair share of ass crack and nipple exposure when unmanned. But NEVER any of that when supervised. People just let loose and have fun when nobody is supervising.

I use no software. I have a remote relase button, use the self timer, and it takes their picture. I do not offer on-site printing. The couple gets all the high res files. Often, the couple uses the photobooth files as the photos to include in their thank you cards. Much more personal than sending everyone a photo of yourselves.

I'm honestly not trying to compete with photobooth companies. It's just a "well, if you want it, I can do it for you" kind of thing I do. I mean, for a grand, I have no problems setting up a camera and lighting. I keep it as simple as possible. No software, no reviewing, no scripts, no printing, and they still love it.

I suppose alcohol will play a part in how 'relaxed' people are, but then ultimately some people just won't relax in front of a camera. (being held by a photographer)

nathancarter wrote in post #16363073
What software do you use for unmanned? I just got DSLRbooth and will be giving it a test run next weekend at my own Halloween party.

I agree with your assessment of subject behavior in manned vs unmanned booths. My friends have no problem letting loose and acting super stupid even when I'm pointing the camera at them, though...

I've used DSLRBooth for 5 events now and have had problems every time. Make sure you turn off all power saving features, if the computer or camera go into sleep mode you will have to restart dslrbooth.

Here's a link to show you how to pool printers in OSX: http://reviews.cnet.co​m …te-printer-pools-in-os-x/

And if you need a faster printer, check back with me, I'm going to be selling a DNP DS40 dye sub printer!