shopping for a photo booth?

There are a lot of things to consider when you're in the market for a photo booth, so we thought we'd offer this helpful (and totally unbiased!) article to help you make a better informed decision.  

Tip #1: If you are starting by comparing prices, you're doing it wrong. 

We have done our homework, and guess what - photo booth companies all cost about the same: it's approximately $900 for 3-hours, give or take a hundred bucks. 

Different companies have different ways of getting there; some have a cheap base price and then make up the difference by charging for every little thing...

• Need a backdrop? Well, um yeah. $100!
• Do you want props? They have photo booths without props? $100!
• Want extra prints so everyone gets a copy? Of course. $100!
• Want copies of your images after the event? Duh!  $50!

We don't do that. Our pricing is easy - you get everything you need for the same price as everyone else is charging. Need more than 3-hours? It's $150/hr extra (or $75/half hour). And guess what everyone else is charging for additional time? You guessed it: $150/hr. 

The real question you need to ask is what you're getting for your money, which brings us to... 

Tip #2: All photo booths were not created equal. 

First, it is important to understand that there are two different types of photo booth: the traditional camera-in-a-box (about 95% of photo booth companies fall into this category) and the open-air setup. 

Comparing the two is actually sort of silly, since an open-air setup completely outshines a box setup in every conceivable way, but they get lumped into the same category since a) there aren't very many open-air companies and, b) both setups produce a print with 4 images (although some companies will charge you extra for the prints...doh!).

Without getting into too many technical details about why the open-air setup is so much better than a box, I will point out two major differences which are immediately apparent:

Quality of Light 

An open-air booth allows for very large lights which can be aimed in different directions, and large, directional lights produce a beautiful, soft, and more flattering quality of light. When you look at our images, you can see the difference - they don't look great because we have a makeup artist on hand, it's because we have professional studio lighting integrated into our booth to make everyone look like a fashion model!

Our clients look like they could be in a fashion magazine advertisement because their photo was taken with the same equipment that was used to shoot several fashion magazine advertisements!

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If you compare our images to a box-style booth, pay attention to the light quality in the images. More often than not, you'll notice that the light in box-style booths is less flattering due to the hard shadows and contrast you get from small, direct light sources.

 Space to Move

The second big benefit of an open setup is that it's, well, an open setup. There's no fixed space to crawl into and no walls obscuring the fun. People in the party can see all the antics inside and you can see their reactions as they're watching you. It's a much more fun and dynamic way to get your picture taken, and it makes the booth an interactive destination for the whole party.

 

The picture below says it all...there are 21 people in the picture and there's plenty of room for more in the back. No walls, no limit. 

 

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Tip #3: For a Fun, Classy Event, Hire Fun, Classy People 

People hire photo booths because they want two things:

1. Nice pictures of their friends & family
2. To have a good time at their event

Since we've already established that a) all of the services basically cost the same to rent and b) open-air photo booths are vastly superior to box-style booths, the only question you really need to ask yourself is: how do I find an open-air booth that's going to add the most enjoyment to my party?  

Fortunately, we've made this decision easy for you with a couple handy questions: 

• Does the company's website look modern, fun, and classy or is it ugly, sloppy and/or difficult to navigate? These are the people that are designing your party experience, so you can expect them to bring the same professionalism and attention-to-detail to your event.  
  
  
• Is their pricing model straightforward or do they force you to contact them for a price?  Do they charge extra for things you obviously need (like double printing, props, digital downloads, etc.)? I think this speaks for itself.
  
  
• Are they local or do they have locations in multiple cities? Just a guess, but big national photo booth companies probably aren't going to go to great lengths to make sure you have a great personalized event.
  
  

Pretty simple stuff, but hopefully it helps! 

We have put a lot of time and effort into being the very best photo booth service around, and we don't even make you pay a premium for it...because that's part of being the best photo service around. :)