Photo booth setup

Eigengrau · 08-12-2009, 11:29 AM

So, I have a potential client for a wedding several months out, and she's interested in having a "photo-booth" kind of setup at the reception. I think the idea is that guests would step off into a side-room and we'd provide basically a camera setup on a tripod with a remote trigger.

However, I'm trying to figure out what else would be good to add. I'm going to be using (probably) an extra K100D I have with the kit lens, a basic generic tripod, and at least one wirelessly triggered flash with an umbrella. However, I'm not sure whether it would be worth it to purchase a backdrop, extra flash, and some kind of monitor so the guests could have some ongoing feedback on posing themselves, etc.

Here are some purchases I'm considering for this:

Portable Backdrop
Poor Man's Monitor
Remote Release Cable

I'm trying to decide on gear, and also set-up - I don't trust the metering to get it right every time, so I'm inclined to set everything manually and then just let people push the button - although I'm concerned that if something gets bumped/the light changes that something could go awry while I'm out shooting the reception. Also a concern is whether any of the guests might try to take a souvenir with them from an isolated room/corner. For these reasons I'm wondering if it would be worth it to hire an assistant to supervise things.

I'm going to experiment some, but it looks to me like the k100 will only output to red/white/yellow RCA jacks for a monitor - has anyone messed with this function? There's also a possibility that I would use a Sony A100 instead.

Anybody have any experience with this or tips? I'm definitely more of an on-location guy than a studio photographer, so any suggestions are welcome to help me get started.

Also - what would you charge to add this service to a wedding? I probably won't be charging much to add it to this wedding as I've explained that it will be a new thing for us, but I'm curious what something like this would be worth to people if we make it a pay-for option in the future.

Thanks in advance!

*maxwell1295* · 08-13-2009, 05:53 PM

I plan on doing something similar at tomorrow's wedding, only there won't be a remote. My assistant/wife will be manning it and I may pop in every now and then to see how it's going. I think the remote idea would work best because you'll get better reacttions when there's no photographer.

For lighting, I think I'm going to go with a gridded Alien Bees B800, probably go with a 30* grid.

Ben_Edict · 08-18-2009, 02:47 PM

I just did a wedding shoot and the couple had a similar set-up on their wishlist. All guests had to be photographed while looking (or stepping though or whatever) through an antique picture frame (golden of course...).

I set up two flashes with umbrellas (white as bouncers) for that, one high up to the left (seen from the camera) and a second on the right and nearer to the camera to fill in the shadows and give some direct frontal light (I would have liked a beauty dish for that, but that does not work for group shots).

To avoid having too much paraphernalia around, I used a white wall in a adjecant hotel room as a backdrop. With directing some more light from the left-side strobe on the wall, that got nicely overexposed and shows no structure (who wants visible wall structures behind their heads...). That was necessary, as the room did not allow a big shooting distance and even a wider aperture would not have thrown the wall into blurrs.

All images where then taken with the old FA 28-70/2.8 at 5.6 to get everybody in focus, when people attended in small groups. White balance was set to flash, which saves time in post processing.

I can't show samples, as firstly I had no time for post-processing (tomorrow, hopefully) and also I need permission from the client and the people, I photographed, to do so.

Ben

*maxwell1295* · 08-19-2009, 08:11 AM

Did you do the shooting for the photo booth or did you have an assistant handle it?

I didn't do it at my wedding because the guests weren't as lively a group as I expected. I have a 2010 booking where it was requested. I may just post a camera there and come up with a wireless remote solution so the guests can take their own photos. I think there would be more natural (uninhibited) images if done that way.

Ben_Edict · 08-19-2009, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by maxwell1295

Did you do the shooting for the photo booth or did you have an assistant handle it?

I didn't do it at my wedding because the guests weren't as lively a group as I expected. I have a 2010 booking where it was requested. I may just post a camera there and come up with a wireless remote solution so the guests can take their own photos. I think there would be more natural (uninhibited) images if done that way.

I took the photos myself during the pauses of the menue (table by table). There wasn't much other photo opportunity at this phase of the event... Using a remote and let the guests take their own images is sure a possible way to go. The results may look more spontaneous.
On the other hand, if the photog takes the photos, the shy people can be talked into a working pose or better expression. Also the whole series has a more consistent look.
Another problem was light in the limited space. Being at the camera gave me the opportunity to direct the guests at the position where the light was best, whereas, if they had done that themselves, I bet half of them would be outside the optimum place and have had shadows in their faces etc. (a bit critical when using a prop like the picture frame). In a wider space, where I could have set-up broader lighting, a self-shooting booth would be better (or you use a chair or something to give a fixed position).

Ben