Do you "Photo Booth" or "Portrait Station?"

<p>I'm thinking of offering a "Portrait Station" as an add-on for my weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. If anyone is already doing this, I could use a little input. </p>

<p>I already heard from a previous thread that Photo Express is good software for rendering mattes and borders on the fly but now I'm wondering if that's really worth it? How important is it to offer a custom border or text ("Bob and Alice, June 12th, 2010...") vs. just providing a photo?</p>

<p>What about chroma-key? I wonder if the Mitzvah crowd might be more likely to book the setup if you offer a custom key background in the theme of the event? Anyone doing this?</p>

<p>We do it and it helps to sell full event/wedding packages to people who otherwise wouldn't book. It's a great gimmick. We produce a great printed product that people love, but I'm not currently giving information on how to do it. Suffice it to say it's a low cost solution that works better than even very expensive solutions. Maybe in a year or two when the trend is over we'll share details on how to do it--at present, anyone could replicate it and we need to keep our competitive advantage. </p>

<p>Consider pursuing this but try to keep your costs down. It can be a good moneymaker.</p>

<p>We don't do this yet, but seen some who do. They setup a camera with a remote shutter release on a tripod. Be sure to have lighting as well, studio or portable, doesn't matter. Set everything up before hand, verify settings, etc. Most cameras have an output to TV via cable. So setup a TV. People can snap shots and they will display on the TV that you can have facing them. Someone can man the camera, some may not. Mark an area on the floor for them to stay in and any group of people can get into the shot. The camera will just keep shooting away with the remote release. People love it. Be sure to include props. Then do a quick edit on the photos, put them on CD and give them to the couple.<br>

<br /> Don't over think the backgrounds. It could be anywhere against a wall or anything. The people in the photos are what matter most. I don't think a border or anything like that is remotely necessary. The fun within the pictures does it all.</p>

<p>My only costs will be the printer, laptop and software. I already have a mobile studio and can get an asistant to run it. I just have to decide how far I want to take it.</p>

<p>So your actually printing the photos right there...ah. Got it. When we go live with it, the couple will be getting a CD with all the images on it as well as an online gallery. Different delivery.</p>

<p>I'm tossing around the Cd idea myself but thinking that the Bar/Bat Mitzvah crowd is where this will really sell. I have a lot of Mitzvah clients asking where to get a photo booth and they want prints right then and there. </p>

<p>We do on-site prints, plus DVD of images, plus online gallery. It works. I think the biggest part of the "wow" factor for guests comes from the on-site printing, not the online gallery. Guests are happy, then the host(client) is happy.</p>

<p>I do the "Open Air Photobooth", its just a portrait station with either a backdrop or use of existing back environment . I don't print on site since its too cumbersome for our workflow and people don't want to deal with money issues at a wedding. I sell the b/g on purchasing this option and using the pictures for thank you cards. To capture more revenue, I hand out a business card with a password to see the photos in the online proofing gallery. This direccts them to the website where they can see my other work and perhaps they'll order a print of Uncle Joe and Grandma Pat as well as their photo booth picture. You can offer a print discount wherein they get the photobooth pic for free if they buy $XX of pictures. The biggest problem I see is many of today's guests expect to get a copy of the disc from the b/g (at no charge). It's a good idea to have in your bag of tricks, but charge the b/g for setting it up and running it. Delay giving them the pictures from the event until they recieve their album or final product, but make sure the proofs are on the web the day after the wedding.</p>

<p>Forgot the example: Here you go.</p>

<p>I'm not thinking of selling prints at the wedding/Mitzvah but having the prints be a party favor from the host, who purchases a set number before the event. I'm just not sure how far to take it because of the software cost should I want to add custom text or borders on-site and the chromakey (and software) cost should I want to go that route.</p>

<p>All I need is a laptop and portable printer to print on-site. If I want to apply borders/mattes I probably need better software to do it fast. (express digital)</p>

<p>If I want Chroma key I need the setup and software for that.</p>

<p>Just trying to find out how far I should go into it. :)</p>

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<p>Keep it as simple as possible. I attend a lot of charity events where they do this. I've never seen anyone put a lot of effort into it, yet alone chroma key. Use a section of the wall and do a basic shot. At most a soft box or umbrella light. The key is in the presentation, put the pictures into a folio, roughly a buck apiece. Print with a laptop and small dye sub printer, or better yet, upload the pictures to the recipient's email for their social networking site, which is where most of these pics will end up anyway. Really basic and quick unless you want to get more print revenue later. If anything, you can make a basic frame in PS and run an action to apply the frame/border to the pictures before printing. Express Digital works great for this, but isn't required for what you're talking about. </p>

<p>Where I am, the DJs do these booths--chromakey or not, with the sale of items such as keychains, etc., at bar mitzvahs. So I don't bother. I wouldn't even attempt it anyway, since I work alone and like it that way. I got too many other things to photograph.</p>

<p>You can always try simple first, and then work your way into more complex, or rent first.</p>

<p>I would think if you are going to do it, somehow you want it personalized and you want your logo or web address really small on there somewhere, at least those are my thoughts.</p>

<p>Just to be clear, I'm not wanting to sell anything on site. The last 3 Bar Mitzvahs that I shot all had a photo booth that was pre-paid for by the host. The cost was $800-$1200 and in two of the cases I was asked if I provided such a service. It seems to me that I should be able to do something better than an actual photo booth since I already have a full studio lighting setup. Not only could I print "party favor" pictures for the guests but I could easily fill a couple of pages in the album with them.</p>

<p>Today I installed Canon's software and I can remote capture and print with it. So I guess I'm just trying to decide if I want to invest the extra cash into digital express so that I can print in a custom matte or chroma key. I think I'll try it simple first and then go from there.</p>

<p>I think starting out small is a smart way to go. If you decide you need to get a more robust printing solution, then you can do that down the line. We never sell anything, and we give out free prints (the host pays in advance for the service) to the guests as party favors. They really love them and get excited about them.</p>

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