5 Questions to Ask Before You Book a Photobooth

This 5-question guide will help you find a professional vendor with truly incredible quality. With so many discount booth options out there providing unremarkable results, it is imperative that you shop around.

At Picabooth We have been fortunate enough to provide services for network studios, corporations, private estates, celebrities, and many exquisite wedding venues who all rave about our products and attention to guest experience, with many becoming regular clients. We are happy to offer advice on booking an event, and we hope the information here provides an informal tutoring for your next rental!

5-Questions to ask before you book a photo booth

Q1. Do you have liability insurance?

Don’t put your event or your guests at risk. This question is crucial to ask first as insurance typically differentiates a distinguished enterprise from a common booth. Avoid obscure, unproven entities who run a photobooth business on the cheap, who might cut you a deal, but aren't willing to pay the costs of having insurance. Some venues won't even allow vendors if they aren't fully insured, potentially causing an embarrassing scene on the day of your event. If they aren’t taking the safety or liability of you and your guests seriously, asking this question first will save you time and future complications.

>>At Picabooth Safety is First and Foremost. Providing Photobooths is our only business and we are fully insured COMMERCIAL GENERAL LIABILITY @ $2,000,000 via PACIFIC INSURANCE BROKERS INC.

Q2. Is it actually a photobooth?  

Terminology is important here, as many companies advertise a photo "booth” only to show up with a camera and a fabric curtain. Be sure to define if you want an “open air” or “closed" booth, and whether the booth is a Tablet or Digital Camera (DLSR) as technology plays a crucial factor in quality and accessibility as many booths do not show real-time results, where an iPad, or worse, a laptop Webcam with a framed backdrop might lead to unflattering and disappointing results. The size of the layout is also relevant as some booths are applicable for only 2-3 people per photo, meaning longer wait times and less group interaction. Open air setups are typically "lower-quality" where environmental conditions (light, shadows, wind) are rarely controlled, leading to many unexpected results. An enclosed booth is more efficient, provides better controlled lighting, and enhanced charisma and intimacy.

>>Our SoftBOX® LUMA™ is a fully enclosed glowing photo booth that really enhances the aesthetic appeal and intimacy of your event. We can fit 10-12 guests thanks to our enhanced visual aspect ratio via a height-adjustable kiosk and 22” live view touch screen that provides real-time viewing and count-down timing for accurate posing and hilarious engagement! We employ a DSLR camera that snaps professional grade photos and with twice the resolution and vastly superior quality of a iPad, tablet or webcam.

Q3. Tell me about your photobooth?

After witnessing some rather interesting makeshift solutions out there, it’s clear not all booths are created equal. After all, this is your special event and it needs to be perfect, so an ugly curtain with suspect results, unkempt workspace, and unprofessional attendants could be a disaster! So find out what it looks like before it arrives. If they are professional and capable there will be social media or web pages not only showing their photos, but their technology and setup. Some appear to be homemade safety hazards; constructed with painted wood, shower rods and curtains attached, or using antiquated, broken, or just plain boring props (a couple of cut-out signs and some popsicle sticks with paper moustaches—really??) or managed by an attendant who frantically throws parts together, then spends the duration of the event texting on their phone and not interacting with your valued guests!

>>SoftBOX designed our photobooths, using professionally-crafted technology that goes above and beyond a traditional "camera and curtain" solution. Ours is a glowing inflatable spectacle that provides 360° global illumination, perfect for professional black-tie affairs, incorporating classy accoutrements, crowd stanchions, and a uniformed attendant that leads your guests through the entire process, from entry to exit and through the printing and social media sharing process. Inside the booth we have a massive touch screen interface, with live view that projects your image in real-time so you can pose and plan perfect photos before they snap! Our props are also some of the most unique in the business such as Masks, Hats, Wigs, Glasses, Dolls, Signs, Frames, Glow-props, Prosthetics, and customized options.

Q4. How good is the quality of your photos? 

Safety is paramount, and Cost is important, but the Quality of the resulting product is imperative! Ask the company to see examples of their best photos. Do they have a professional website? Do they have a large library of photos on Instagram or Facebook? Compare them with another vendor. Do they appear dark, casting shadows, or over-bright, overblown or blurry? You and your guests want exceptional photographs, a joyous atmosphere and an incredible visual aura that will leave lasting memories, so do your homework and search until you find something unmistakably visually awe-inspiring for a competitive price.  If their best is full of blurry faces, shadows, poor lighting, boring props--then cost is irrelevant, because your guests will be disappointed and you will be embarrassed.

>>Picabooth provides excellent HD image quality with our SoftBOX® LUMA™ DSLR Kiosk incorporating multi-point continuous studio spectrum lighting, housed in our patented Glowing Inflatable Softbox generating 360°global illumination, via a height-adjustable interactive kiosk and 22” live view which provides real-time viewing and count-down timing for enhanced and accurate posing before the snap resulting in perfectly lit, perfectly staged photographs every time! Guests also receive a physical photo-strip and digital access to sharing their photos via email and social media.

Q5. What is this really going to cost me?

True cost is the most important question you can ask, and will require some digging. We receive a lot of inquires where competitors give a low rate up front in order to get your attention, only to charge “extra” fees after the fact, such as withholding copies of the event photos, charging for scrapbooks, USB drives, unlimited prints, or “hidden” fees for travel mileage, delivery, late night service, setup/take down, etc. and typically, this is after you have already paid your deposit!

>>Our flat rates are all-inclusive as a matter of fairness and transparency, providing unlimited photo sessions and prints, custom-designed photo strip graphics, a complete collection of unique and creative props, an online viewing gallery, a USB flash drive memento, social media photo-sharing access, a friendly & professional attendant, VIP "black-tie" treatment, and optional commemorative photo album for weddings! We pride ourselves on 5-star products, exceptional value and competitive pricing.