I never said one shouldn't give a crap about their OWN setup, but Rick having a mediocre, but usable setup that fits in his game plan really doesn't rise to a serious sarcasm level.
Upgrading my photobooth setup
- Thread starter rickryan.com
- Start date
I never said one shouldn't give a crap about their OWN setup, but Rick having a mediocre, but usable setup that fits in his game plan really doesn't rise to a serious sarcasm level.
Okay, so I'm making another mod to the mediocre photobooth. Ordered this kiosk stand and ditched the big black metal plate. Just using the acrylic VESA case. Will put bag weights on the footer and have the ring light behind the unit. What do you think?
First impression: It looks like a music stand with a Tablet, and a Computer camera attached to it. It seems like a "no frills" option for a photo booth. It also seems a bit short?
I think you should ditch the ring light and use properly diffused umbrella lighting.
Why? because it just looks more professional and should also keep the light from reflecting off the people's foreheads like in your ring light pics.
You keep talking about wanting to up your game but these reflections look amateurish and your backdrop looks redneck . You've already said this is an add on that you don't really care about but what you are forgetting is, afterthought or not, it still represents Rick Ryan photography and potential clients will be judging you on it. Sorry Rick but the truth is If I saw your photobooth looking like that, there's not a chance in hell I would hire you to shoot my wedding.
I think the PB pic @Steve LeBlanc attached with the Umbrella lighting looks even more professional than the ring lighting units and should yield better results with less reflections. I know we all want to save money but I think you are trying to save money at the expense of your reputation and it will cost you in the long run.
Why? because it just looks more professional and should also keep the light from reflecting off the people's foreheads like in your ring light pics.
You keep talking about wanting to up your game but these reflections look amateurish and your backdrop looks redneck . You've already said this is an add on that you don't really care about but what you are forgetting is, afterthought or not, it still represents Rick Ryan photography and potential clients will be judging you on it. Sorry Rick but the truth is If I saw your photobooth looking like that, there's not a chance in hell I would hire you to shoot my wedding.
I think the PB pic @Steve LeBlanc attached with the Umbrella lighting looks even more professional than the ring lighting units and should yield better results with less reflections. I know we all want to save money but I think you are trying to save money at the expense of your reputation and it will cost you in the long run.
Last edited:
Here's my photo booth, a slight variation of what steve posted, but it does use umbrella lighting. I included a stock photo of the booth as well, but we keep the printer on a table with the props and scrapbook. Also an example of the strips we do... we have a number of different templates, all of which have multiple or custom color options.
Also with proper PB units on proper stands you won't need sandbag weights that you will then have to cover up with scrims to hide the bags which looks even more redneck. Sorry but it's a photo booth, not a speaker stand.
Rick, look at Taso's P&D setup. It's not any more fancy than your backdrop is but it's set at the proper height so that the drape is just touching the ground and not all bunched up at the bottom like yours is.....that's why your setup looks "ghetto". Setting this up properly will not cost you anything but it's attention to small details like that that helps change your appearance from amateur to professional in the clients eye.
Rick, look at Taso's P&D setup. It's not any more fancy than your backdrop is but it's set at the proper height so that the drape is just touching the ground and not all bunched up at the bottom like yours is.....that's why your setup looks "ghetto". Setting this up properly will not cost you anything but it's attention to small details like that that helps change your appearance from amateur to professional in the clients eye.
Last edited:
Taso, I've done the P&D setup and had several times where drunk wedding guests almost pulled the entire rig over. No thank you.
Steve LeBlanc
DJ Extraordinaire
Rick - with respect to the sharing station set up (that's what it is)....
1) Nothing more unflattering than shooting from low to high - ask your photog wife...
2) No backdrop?
3) What about the printer?
4) can't you route the wire inside the pole?
5) you've got no ambient light - you're going to have issues with photo quality
6) as pointed out, this represents you - you offer high quality photo-shoots, yet mediocre photo booth pics - this is going to affect you....
7) with the $1200 kiosk - you can recoup that in two events. You have all the hardware - you can pack that into a pelican case for easy transport
8) Backdrop vs enclosure? - I dumped the enclosure (I have a brand new P&D set up - never used), for "open" ---no push back at all..... To me - it's a better presentation as guests see the fun, also prevents some of the rowdiness and less to take down. ....buy a black set up at Onlineeii - and a silver/fray sequin or mermaid backdrop ($175.00)backdrop - It goes with everything...
9) templates.....For $249 you can buy an entire library of templates from Potoboothtalk.com - 100's no need to design from scratch. Your clients will notice it.
1) Nothing more unflattering than shooting from low to high - ask your photog wife...
2) No backdrop?
3) What about the printer?
4) can't you route the wire inside the pole?
5) you've got no ambient light - you're going to have issues with photo quality
6) as pointed out, this represents you - you offer high quality photo-shoots, yet mediocre photo booth pics - this is going to affect you....
7) with the $1200 kiosk - you can recoup that in two events. You have all the hardware - you can pack that into a pelican case for easy transport
8) Backdrop vs enclosure? - I dumped the enclosure (I have a brand new P&D set up - never used), for "open" ---no push back at all..... To me - it's a better presentation as guests see the fun, also prevents some of the rowdiness and less to take down. ....buy a black set up at Onlineeii - and a silver/fray sequin or mermaid backdrop ($175.00)backdrop - It goes with everything...
9) templates.....For $249 you can buy an entire library of templates from Potoboothtalk.com - 100's no need to design from scratch. Your clients will notice it.
Steve LeBlanc
DJ Extraordinaire
Here's another option: $1200 - you have an RX! - just don't use the printer cover - the two stobes are $70 each...
Photo Booths Archives - ShutterQube
Photo Booths Archives - ShutterQube
Attachments
Do you have attendant(s)? I mean for 3 years now that hasn’t even come close to happening and I have some pretty wild crowds. My attendant would always pay attention before anything bad could happen.
Steve LeBlanc
DJ Extraordinaire
Taso - I think this iteration is un attended???If you read his "prom" post - there were some issues....
Steve LeBlanc
DJ Extraordinaire
It did to me, at multiple weddings. 8-10 people try to jam into a booth sized for 2-4, someone trips and the first thing they grab for is the drape. I will never go back to a closed booth setup.
Do you have attendants though?
Also you mention 8-10ppl in a 2-4 person booth... my booths are 6ft wide on the backdrop end by 7 or 8ft long... we've easily gotten 8+ in there and as much as 13 once. What kinda pipe and drape setup are you using or creating?
Thanks but I'm going to run with this for a while. I have everything I need to go to a strobe/DSLR setup but I like the always-on, ring light. No flash in glasses and no red eye. For backdrop, I use a gold-sequined unit. Didn't use it last week because they made their own backdrop. This one, I'll use mine. I'm ditching the auto-post to facebook thing this week. Might turn it back on down the road but I'm going to simplify this week. I also have a nice custom template from paddee.co for this wedding. BTW, I'll be 2nd shooting this week (using another DJ) so I'll have more ability to babysit this thing. Last week, the biggest problem I had was that some kid jerked the paper and caused some kind of jam that the unit's error mechanism didn't see. That's never happened before. My DNP printer is a rock-solid unit. Thanks for the input guys.
Same P&D as you're showing. BTW, you really should be sand-bagging that P&D. It CAN be easily pulled over and that would be very un-cool for a kid event. As for attendents, I'm trying to get away from that.
That's what Im trying to figure out... mine is actually really sturdy. Not sure if its because I'm using the heavier bases and thicker pipes (I have 2 inch tubing), but a lot of force would be needed to make that budge. And again, seeing as your booth was designed for 2-4ppl I think our dimensions are different which made yours tighter and the poles and drape more within reach. The drapes themselves are free flowing on mine and just touch the ground so they cant really be stepped on or caught on and dragged, so it would only be the corner poles themselves that a guest would have to hit to take the booth down... and those arent really within arms reach with exception of the one near the entranceway... but they're also standing in front of it since thats where the backdrop goes... so theyd have to go out of their way and turn around to touch it.
Either way... I think the key thing is the actual attendant. Events over 250 I actually have 2. They are always watching the behavior of the people to make sure everything is flowing smoothly. Weddings tend to be more open air as opposed to enclosed, but still can't say this has ever been remotely close to being an issue with my booth.
I thought the exact same thing, the drape would slide. I'm telling you, I did virtually the identical same P&D setup and it CAN be pulled over. If you're keeping 2 assistants there, and they stay diligent, perhaps you'll keep doing fine with it.
The tablet with the ring light setup is a winner. Even the height was not an issue and the new pedestal worked out well. I'm not pleased with Sparkbooth software, and will be changing to something else before my next photobooth (6/2). I've also ordered a 21" i5, all-in-one PC (Lenovo) to use in place of the 10" tablet. I'm planning to keep the tablet as a backup but the screen was just too small and that processor is too slow. The 15mp webcam is working like a champ. All it needs it proper lighting and the 18" ring light is fabulous with that. I took some pics of the setup with gold sequined backdrop but these were all on DSLR and I don't have access here at work.
On photobooth software, I'm leaning towards SocialBooth. What are the rest of you guys using?
On photobooth software, I'm leaning towards SocialBooth. What are the rest of you guys using?