Well it’s back, kicking and screaming from the darkest depths of the studio after a few winter months. THE photo booth as I like to call it. Although, more of a portable studio in it’s truest form (because it takes up some space).
This time it was for the Chilston Hotel’s staff Christmas bash last Sunday. For those working in the hospitality trade Christmas is a no go for parties and they usually get put forward to January instead.
Photo Booth Bookings
I get asked about the booth a lot and usually for weekends but unfortunately I’m usually covering weddings at those times. But, I can supply wedding photography and the photo booth as a package.
This particular booth needs a floor area of 3×3 metres and the resulting images are professional looking, high resolution and studio quality which can be printed up to A3 in size.
I cannot unfortunately do prints on the day but it’s one less thing to carry around!
I often get asked about Photo Booth Hire and what it involves. *Update* Please read the end of this post regarding availability.
Over the weekend I was asked to supply the photo booth for a 21st Birthday Party so will cover it as part of a blog post.
This always goes down well with everyone, hiring a photobooth is one of the better ways to fill time and entertain guests during the day with the added extra that they get a very high end, high quality photo of themselves that otherwise they may not of had.
Photo Booth Hire – Choosing well
Photo booth hire can be a bit of a minefield. There’s lots of types. I use the Lastolite Hilite for mine as well as 4 x Bowens 500R Pro lights, along with the 1DS3 (Canon) and a couple of softboxes.
Plus you get the attendance of a professional photographer (that’s me!) to make sure every picture taken is perfect.
In short, when hiring a photo booth from me you’ll get the best there is. Some just put a sheet on the wall and use an on camera flash which isn’t very good at all. Last weekend at the party there were lots of oo’s and aa’s because it looks so professional.
Photo Booth Hire Prices
Pricing starts from £200 for anyone hiring a photobooth from me. Sometimes I will be asked to supply the Photo Booth as an extra to a wedding I may photograph (A lot of my work is as a Sussex Wedding Photographer).
The amount of time to setup and take down the photobooth is 45-60 minutes each way dependant on the size of the venue and the type of booth used (I have a few types).
I find that during weddings I use the wedding breakfast as the ideal time to set it up ready for that quiet time before the first dance.
The images are all supplied professionally finished on CD in High Resolution and where applicable retouched to bring out the best in the photo.
For those that take up photobooth hire I will send a link to a private gallery for viewing the images. This also has the facility to order prints if anyone want to (but you get them all on CD regardless).
For those interested in Photo Booth Hire I cover the whole of the South East and have a few different sizes available.
Photo Booth Availability
Since I published this blog post last year I’ve had a lot of calls and emails asking about booking the booth.
Because I’m a full time wedding photographer I can only supply the Photo Booth on it’s own Between Monday and Thursday.
Any other days of the week I can only supply the booth if I’m also going to be the wedding photographer as well. (I have to give priority to my main source of income).
But, if you did take the Photo Booth as part of a wedding booking it would be much cheaper than it would be on it’s own.
Friday the 28th of January is the joint birthday of married couple Adrian and Lucy.
They had a hollywood sparkle 30th birthday party at Clair Hall in Haywards heath.
I was there to take shots throughout the night. It was very dark in the main area away from the bar and whilst I consider myself to be a ‘low light photography god’, I still struggled due to the size of the venue. I couldn’t get away with flash as it killed the ambient light.
But saying that, over the course of two hours I ended up with 186 finished images, so not too shabby. The background they pinned up came in good use for some group shots and comedy moments as well!
Everyone love a dancing nan, especially when the song is 'Your sex is on fi-re'
This was another great outing with the portable studio
Photo Booth Hire
Photo Booth Hire is increasingly common with portable studio demand rising. Whilst these setups are simple to do, they are very difficult to do right.
The trouble is space, there’s rarely enough at most events for a full setup and even then, fitting it into a car is impractical to near impossible without a van.
The Lastolite Hi-Lite gets around this by being pop-up in design. Very similar to those tents you see at festivals….only much bigger.
You still need to bring lighting equipment, you still need to fiddle with lighting the floor for that high hey look but it’s well worth the effort in the end.
The general footprint needed to operate the 8 x 7 ft version is about 3 x 2 metres.
For wedding receptions, corporate parties and events this is an absolute blessing because it gets the image right pretty much first time, every time, so you can print on-site almost straight away.
Photo Booth hire is a very cool thing to have at any event.
Because the lighting is preset guests don't have to wait around
Professional photos are done quickly
You can fit 3-4 people in the frame on the 7 x 8 foot version
