The purpose of these articles is not
to sell our products. Rather, they were written to give ideas, details and
other useful information to those looking to build their own photo booths.
PLEASE NOTE! What you about to read is only our opinion (based on our
own experience) of what we feel is the best approach when building and
designing a photo booth for party rentals.
Remember that the choice of structure design, components used and software is
ultimately up to you.
Building a photo booth
requires the following components:
Photobooth Computer
Photo Booth Software
Photobooth Camera
Photo Booth Printer
Photobooth Monitor
Photobooth Lighting
Photo Booth Enclosure
Photobooth Lighting
Photo Booth Accessories
Photo Booth Software
Photobooth Camera
Photo Booth Printer
Photobooth Monitor
Photobooth Lighting
Photo Booth Enclosure
Photobooth Lighting
Photo Booth Accessories
Photo
Booth Accessories
What Accessories are needed in the photo booth?
In order to determine what Accessories will be useful it is
best to try and think of what risk factors you may face when using your photo
booth during actual events. Many of these factors will depend on the particular
photo booth design and situation. For
example, is the photo booth stationary or mobile? Where will it be located at the event? etc.
The following is a list of the major risk factors that we experienced after our photo booth was built.
- The power source stability
- Camera power stability
- Consistent Pictures Quality
- Cords reliability
- Transportation
Let’s look at these major factors and what solutions we have
implemented to reduce/eliminate these risks by adding some necessary Accessories.
The power
source stability
When we started operating our photo booth in 2008 we can
definitely say that the preventive thinking we used from the start has saved
the day numerous times.
During actual events, your Photo Booth components will be
utilizing electricity (amps, watts, volts) at certain levels. The manufacturer
of each component has provided the minimum safe values of amps, watts,
volts required to operate those devices.
The problem is that some situations during events are less
than ideal and unless you are prepared your equipment may not function properly
or even at all.
The first Accessory that we added to our photo booth was the
UPS battery backup. Battery
Backups provide an uninterruptible power supply – (UPS).
Trust us when we say that the UPS battery backup will
be worth every penny.
The UPS battery backup
will save your equipment from failure should there be a sudden loss of power. It
will also compensate for the low voltage depending on your UPS model.
What to look
for when choosing the UPS battery
backup.
It is important that you are aware of the combined values of
amps, watts, volts that your equipment will require to operate.
For example: Our Printer is the Sony UPDR 200. This printer has a large power demand and requires 110V and 5A to operate. By using the Volts / Watts / Amps Converter we have determined that the printer will require 550 watts (Watts = Amps x Volts) in order to operate. Based on the calculations we needed the UPS with the minimum of 550 watts capacity.
DOWNLOAD PAGE: http://www.ptbooth.com/photobooth-software-download.html
Keep in mind that we are not talking about power generator.
We are talking about the power source that will save your operation if a sudden
power outage occurs or electricity values are not stable.
Always remember that it is a good idea to test your UPS battery backup at home before the events to
make sure it is operational.
Take some time to do some research
on the internet for the UPS battery backup that suits your needs best.
The Camera power
stability
Depending on what camera you are using in your photo booth
you will need to know the following:
- While the photo booth is operating the camera must stay ON at all times. (No power saving shutdowns)
- When a camera loses its power it triggers errors and makes the photo booth software unresponsive.
- The camera battery has a time limit. How long your camera battery will last depends on the battery type, age and capacity. Eventually it will not be able to provide sufficient power to operate the camera.
- Some cameras drain battery power
faster when they are used while plugged into a computer.
As you can see, it is very important that your camera stays
ON at all times. To ensure this you can buy a camera power adaptor
(recommended) or a camera battery of large capacity.
For us it was no-brainer, our second Accessory that we added
was the camera power adapter. We use the Canon Powershot S5 IS and this camera was
designed to be used with both the 4AA batteries and the camera power
adapter.
What to look
for when choosing the camera power adapter.
Make sure you get the right power adapter that meets the
requirements of the camera manufacturer.
We recommend getting the original camera power adapter and
not the aftermarket. For us, the original Canon camera power adapter was more
expensive but we were not willing to take a chance on quality. We have learned that in the hard way.
Consistency of
the Pictures Quality
You may be wondering how obtaining Consistent Pictures
Quality has anything to do with the Accessories.
It’s actually the Accessory that makes consistent picture
quality possible every time. The particular accessory we are talking about is
an External Camera Flash.
Why get an external camera flash? The camera flash is responsible for
eliminating the blur caused by the movement of people/subjects that are being
photographed. So the natural question is why not just use the built-in camera
flash?
During the experiments that we have conducted we have
determined the following:
- In some cameras the built-in flash is not powerful enough for particular situations.
- The built-in camera flash in most cameras does not have the ability to recharge to full capacity in the short time between the photo booth sequence shots.
- Should the built-in camera flash stop functioning there is no replacement that could be immediately used.
This is why the most practical solution is to use an
External Camera Flash. Note: In order to
accommodate an external flash your camera must have a “Hot Shoe” adapter.
What to look for
when choosing an External Camera Flash.
Ideally you will want to use an external flash that is the
same brand as your camera. For example we recommend using a Canon External
Flash if you are using a Canon camera.
We also recommend getting an External Flash that has its own
AC power adapter. There is only one brand that offers the AC power supply in addition
to the standard battery power.
If you are getting a standard battery operated External
Flash, We recommend getting the External Flash that uses 4 batteries.
Do some research on the internet to determine what External
Flash will be appropriate to use in your particular case. The factors to
consider are the distance to the photographed subject and how much light you
have before taking the photo (dark scenes will require a more powerful flash
opposed to well-lit scenes).
We have found that rechargeable batteries are the best to
use in an External Flash. We currently use the Canon Speedlite 220 EX that uses
4 AA batteries.
When we are using regular batteries we get approximately
100-150 flashes as opposed to 350 using the rechargeable batteries.
The Cords
reliability
It almost goes without saying how important it is to
maintain reliable connectivity of all your devices with your computer. In our
photo booth we have three USB cords and one VGA cable that we use. These cords are used to connect our camera,
printer and touchscreen monitor to our laptop. We also have a laptop power adapter, monitor
power adapter, camera power adapter and two power cords for the power adapters.
We often take these cords for granted because they are so
small and seem to be insignificant in the grand scheme of the photo booth
structure. Make no mistake! The cords are very important, they are like a veins
in your body. The worst thing about the cords is that most of the time when
they malfunction there are no visible signs of damage. As a result it will
appear that you have everything connected but you getting no response.
Fortunately the solution is cheap and effective. As part of
our Accessories we carry with us two backup sets of all cables, power cords and
power adapters as well.
Since 2008 we have had three instances in which we have had
to replace faulty cords while setting up for an event. Bottom line, always have backups.
Transportation
If your photo booth is the mobile type and designed to be
transported to the events the mode of transportation will be critical.
Whatever mode of transportation you choose, the objective is
to ensure that your photo booth arrives to its destination undamaged and in
perfect working condition.
We have added the following Accessories to protect our
equipment:
- Protective foam padded shipping case for the Printer
- Protective foam padded shipping case for the Panels with the monitor
- Protective foam padded shipping case for the laptop
- Protective foam padded case for the camera
- Protective foam padded shipping case for the printer media
- Protective case for the cables and the UPS power battery
The investments we have made in protecting the equipment has
paid off many times.
Protecting your equipment can be an expensive investment. Some cases could cost as much as $700.00 per
case.
The investment you have made in your photo booth equipment
is too important to let it go out unprotected.
We can’t recommend enough that you purchase cases or other type of
protection for all of your photo booth equipment.
In closing, we hope this article
will help you to make sound decisions when it comes to buying and using Accessories
for your Photo Booth.
How To Build A Photo Booth: Part 1 -
Computer for the Photo Booth
How To Build A Photo Booth: Part 2 -
Photo Booth Software
How To Build A Photo Booth: Part 3 -
Photo booth Camera
How To Build A Photo Booth: Part 4 -
Photo Booth Printer
How To Build A Photo Booth: Part 5 -
Photobooth Monitor
How To Build A Photo Booth: Part 6 -
Photobooth Lighting
How To Build A Photo Booth: Part 7 -
Photo Booth Enclosure
How To Build A Photo Booth: Part 8 -
Photo Booth Accessories
