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Tips and tricks for an epic photo booth set-up with James Paterson
Photo booths have become hugely popular and you’ll often see professional setups at big events. But with a few simple skills, a DIY booth can yield results that are just as good. If you want to set one up – perhaps for a wedding or family party – you’ll find all you need to know to get started over the following pages.
A photo booth could be as simple as placing a phone in selfie mode on a tripod. But there are ways to make the booth more polished and dynamic. First there’s the lighting, a couple of studio strobes allows for professional, flattering light that can illuminate groups large and small. Then there’s the user experience. A Live View monitor can make it easier for guests to get into the right position, and a large display for viewing the photos afterwards can give them instant gratification.
If you want to give guests access to the photos then, for a simple solution, you could do as we have here and set up a cloud-based image folder and a QR code so they can instantly see photos on their phones (this gives access to all the photos, so it’s best suited to an event where everyone knows one another). Unless you want to be standing there supervising all night, you also need the booth to be simple for people to use – and robust enough to withstand users who might have had a few drinks.
It can be a challenge to set up, but it’s worth it for the fun, laughter and selection of priceless photos you’ll help to create.
HOW TO SET UP PARTY PHOTO BOOTHS
Top camera skills, lighting and tethering tips for the perfect photo booth
We don’t want anybody touching the camera, so a good solution is to make a box that fits over it. We used a cardboard box and cut frontal holes for our external monitor and lens, and a hole in the top for a Speedlite. We taped a tube along one corner of the box so that we could slot it into a light stand.
We tethered the camera to a laptop tucked out of sight, connected to a second screen on a table so that guests could instantly see their photos. To set up for tethering, connect the laptop to camera via USB cable. In Lightroom go to File > Start Tethered Capture and direct it to save to a cloud-based folder (see over page).
When using studio flash here’s a good stock exposure setting. Set the camera to Manual exposure at 1/200 sec, aperture f/11, ISO100. A fairly narrow aperture will
