Photobooth-make your own

Haven't met a big party which didn't enjoy the photobooth. Below are directions for making one. They're pretty rough but you get the idea. You also need a tripod and a camera with a remote control. Jumping up to hit the shutter for every picture would be pretty unwieldy so a remote is pretty much a must.

The basic booth is three sided w/ black fabric suspended from the structure. Mine disassembles and fits with the curtain into a large folding chair bag. Mobility is important unless all parties are at your house.

Here's a list of what you need:

Camera
Remote control-with string attached
Tripod
User Directions
LIGHTS (Optional)

Skeleton:
1. 14 3' lengths of 1/2 PVC
2. 4 straight connectors
3. 4 90 degree angle connectors
4. 4 THREE sided connectors-ask the guys in the plumbing dept.
To use the three sided connector you have to get an adapter
5. 4 adapters


Above is a look at the connector

Drape:
1. 2 yards of 54" or 60" dark fabric
2. 12 grommets
3. 12 shower curtain hangers
4. 2 12" lengths of ribbon or string

To get the drape ready:
Evenly space the grommets along one of the 72" sides. Put the shower curtain rings through the grommets. Tie the strings to the END grommets.

To assemble:

THE SKELETON:
Build the bottom and the top:
Put a three sided connector on each end of one of the 3' pieces. One end of the connector should face UP and the other OUT. Attach another 3' piece of PVC facing out from the original piece. Now you have a three sided base. Put a 90 degree connector on the end of each of the side pieces. REPEAT. You now have the bottom and the top.

Now build the uprights:
Take two of the 3' pieces and connect them w/ the straight connector. Do that four times for the four uprights.

Put the uprights into their connectors on the bottom piece. You now have 4 uprights sticking up in the air. Take the top and fit it onto the uprights.

People, I designed and built this myself so you can be assured it is not hard. It's a little tricky to put it all together and it's easier with a second set of hands.

Above is what it looks like from the back


At the party:

Once the skeleton is assembled just hang the drape. The drape will be a little bigger than the skeleton. Use the strings to tie the drape to the FRONT upright to keep it in place.

You'll need to scrounge a 2 person seat. I've found that a full size cooler works well and you can tie the string with the remote to one of the handles. That way nobody pockets the remote by mistake.

Here are the directions I print out and tape to the tripod:

PHOTO BOOTH DIRECTIONS

Check the monitor on the back of the camera- if it is blank the camera is taking a nap. Wake her up by pressing the big silvery button on the top.

Sit down… act goofy…

Person on the left points the remote the camera There’s a bit of a delay

S • M • I • L • E !!!!

You’re welcome to take a bunch of shots.
Leave the remote on the cooler.

You'll need to take a bunch of test shots so grab a helper or two for that. This is also the time to grab an extra light or two. My camera has a big delay when it's trying to focus w/ the flash. So better to set the camera relatively slow (1/60-ish) and just get your light from extra lights. Last night we used a spotlight and a utility light.

Make sure your camera is set to use the remote control. Also-modify my directions above to suit the way your camera operates.

Here's a link to four set of photobooth pictures. As you can see-folks have pretty much fun (PMF):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76061242@N00/collections/72157603794519875/

Once the party's over I upload the pix to flickr, make them into a set and then email the link to the participants.

NOTE: These directions are basically how I built my photobooth. BUT mine is not really tall enough so I've increased the length of the PVC pieces. I think it'll work better