This past Friday we had the privilege of providing a photo experience for the 5P – Society Family Conference in Des Moines, Iowa.
When the organizers of the conference called us to discuss being part of this conference they said they were interested in having a photo booth experience for families and attendees to use throughout the afternoon.
As we discussed their vision for the photo booth they mentioned that the conference had a baseball theme and that they were interested in a baseball card style print with the photo from the photo booth.
We talked, I shared some ideas for the experience including the fact that we have a baseball stadium backdrop we could use for the photos, and eventually the organizers chose us to provide the photo booth for their conference.
I immediately went to work locating an appropriate baseball card photo frame that could be customized for their event. I found one, sent it to them, and they loved it.
We worked together to make it look just right and had a final photo frame ready within a couple hours.
Throughout our conversation we had been discussing a photo booth experience, but since the design of the baseball card required a portrait oriented photo, it became evident to me that a photo station would be the way to go.
In our photo booths the camera is oriented to take landscape photos and we’re unable to turn the camera to take portrait-oriented photos. With a photo station, we have the camera on a tripod and can easily set the orientation to either portrait or landscape.
Other than the orientation of the camera, you may be wondering what’s the difference between a photo booth and a photo station.
With a photo booth you press the start button on the computer screen to start your session and there is a 3-4 second countdown. When the countdown reaches zero the computer takes the picture. Depending on the design of the experience, it may take a single photo, as we did on Friday, or it may take as many as 4 photos. If the photo booth experience includes multiple photos each photo is taken after a 3-4 second countdown.
As a general rule, photos in the photo booth come out looking great! Sometimes, however, people are not ready when the clock strikes zero and their photos look off. Maybe someone is looking away and not at the camera. Perhaps they are trying to help someone else get ready. No matter what the case, if they aren’t ready when the timer expires their photos will not be exactly what they wanted.
And the photo booth will print the photo strip at the end of the session whether all the photos look amazing or not.
With a photo station, we setup our camera (professional DSLR) and lighting (professional photography lighting) and tether (connect) the camera to a laptop running the photo software. We also connect a printer to the laptop.
People position themselves in front of the backdrop and when the trained photographer thinks everyone looks amazing, they take the photo. Sometimes the photographer will count 3, 2, 1, and then take the picture, but sometimes when dealing with children or others who are not prone to standing still long, the photographer will simply take the photo when the best opportunity presents itself.
Having a photographer determine the best opportunity and timing for taking the photo leads to higher quality photos than hoping that everyone is ready every time when the countdown clock in the photo booth hits zero.
On Friday I captured a photo of a husband and wife with their daughter. When I handed them their printed photos the wife said, “This is the best family photo we’ve ever had taken.” It’s a 50/50 chance we would have captured this photo had we been using a photo booth setup instead of the photo station setup.
Another difference with the photo booth is that the posing or the way people are positioned for the photo is not as important as it is in the photo taken at a photo station. Photo booths are meant to be fun. The poses are less formal. People make silly faces or position themselves in fun and creative ways.
With a photo station we work to create the best possible photo. We arrange and sometimes rearrange people to ensure everyone can be seen. We make sure that once the photo is taken everyone has their eyes open and if not, we take another shot before we print the photo. We ask parents to brush the hair from in front of their child’s eyes. We make sure everyone is looking at the camera.
Generally, with a photo station we take more care to get a more formal and better posed photo and we don’t print the pictures until we have the best photo.
Lastly, as mentioned above, we can retake the photos in the photo station, if they’re not exactly what we want. In the photo booth, once you hit start, you go from photo to photo to photo until your session is done. You can do another session to do a retake, but we don’t evaluate each photo before moving on to the next.
In the photo booth there are many fun photos captured when people are not quite ready for the camera to take the photo. At the photo station, that’s not the case.
In conclusion, photo booths are computer managed photo sessions consisting of 1-4 photos taken every 3-6 seconds after the session is started. They can be done in enclosed photo booths or open-air setups in front of a backdrop.
Photo booth experiences are generally meant to be more relaxed and fun and often include props for guests to wear in their photos.
Photo Stations are photographer (human) managed photo sessions typically consisting of a single photo, although they can be structured for multiple photos, where the photographer determines the most opportune moment to fire the camera to catch the most amazing photo. More care and time is spent with each group to pose the individuals in photo so everyone can be seen, to ensure everyone’s hair looks good, and to create a more formal photo.
Photo station experiences can be fun and can include props, custom designed themed backdrops, and custom designed photo frames to add an additional element to the photo station experience, but the general goal of a photo station is to ensure each guest/group receives a high quality photo from their experience.
With both our traditional photo booths and our photo experiences we are able to customize the experience to your event with backdrop choices, “set” designs, photo frame styles and designs (photo strips), photo orientation, and more.
If you’re interested in guests leaving with a photo from your next event, we’d be happy to discuss whether a traditional photo booth experience or a photo station would be the best way to capture and preserve the memories of your event for you and your guests.
Both photo booths and photo booth stations are excellent additions to wedding receptions, graduation parties, holiday parties, fundraisers, awards banquets, conferences, proms and after-proms, and milestone events like birthdays and anniversaries.
For more information on photo booth and photo station options, please contact us at shane@smilingdogentertainment.com or 515-446-9054.
