Weddings, birthday parties, corporate events, a school ball, or even a simple get together party, having a photobooth surely fires up some frenzy. Before you get one, though, to add some fanciful treat for your guests, make sure you have everything in good order. Some booth setup need tables while some more organized booths are practically stand-alone. Be sure to coordinate with your venue as booths will need electrical power. Some venues charge a fee, some don't. So make sure these things are clarified before your event.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
1.) Paper quality
Many advertise their photo booth services to be the cheapest in the market. Keep a distance, and check the paper they use. They may be cheap in price, but may most likely also be cheap in paper quality. You want photos printed in good quality photo paper to make sure that the memory of the event lasts at least a lifetime.
2.) Printer
Check the printer to be used. There many portable printers available in the market now and be sure they are not using consumer grade printers. Consumer grade portable printers print good quality photos but lab-grade photo printers offer far better quality. They are larger in size and often can print in bigger sizes (5R, 8R, A4 sizes). A good combination of lab-quality printer and good paper will be more expensive but is a sure value for money.
3.) Lighting
See how the light will be controlled and not just if the booth is using studio lights. The subject of lighting is something that can be discussed in one book but for the purposes of describing a good setup for your photo booth here's some things to check with the service provider:
- control: party venues often involve dynamic lighting, can the light be controlled easily?
- area of coverage: a good strobe packs power
- softened light: employs modifiers to minimize harsh lighting like a soft-box
4.) Materials & Props
It's a party and there are a lot of ways that a booth can be "spiced" up. Party hats, masks, eyewear, stick-notes, moustache, flowers, and the like are common materials for a photobooth.
5.) Run-time Flexibility
Since this operate on a given run-time, make sure you are allowed to stop the booth to allow all guests to stay or participate in the program. You don't want them to miss the special ceremonies and program segments.
It would also benefit you, and your guests, if you can have it start before the program. This will allow the early birds to counter their boredom
6.) Manpower
Aside from print quality, another reason a photo booth is more expensive is because of manpower. Having enough people to to man the booth allows better response time in serving your guests. Having at least two personnel will allow one to attend to other necessary things. A photo booth is technically a technical stuff and things can jam, fail, or who knows what. We can cross our fingers hard but if the equipment fails, it's best to have another technician, if not to have things fixed, to run and get replacement if one is not already available.
For example, the printer fails, the other can continue taking photos and saving them on the computer while the other fixes it. The saved digital files can then be printed later on.
On one hand, two personnel will let other attend to the call of nature, get something to eat, or attend to guests while the other curates and processes prints. Some booths who focus on service quality even have 3 to 4 personnel.
7.) Printing Flexibility
A good service package will also allow you flexibility. Especially when you plan on giving the photo prints away as souvenirs to your guests, it will be wise to choose a provider that allows you to print multiple prints. It will be more expensive, but having that flexibility assures you that the provider is customer-centric. Most are limited to one print per round of guests who line up to the booth. One print will not cut it for a round with 5 guests. Allowing you multiple prints per round is something that you should look for when renting a photo booth.