What to Ask When You Rent a Photo Booth

“Rent a photo booth” is often one of the simplest items on a person’s event to-do lists. There aren’t pages of long briefs required and the service is an enjoyably straightforward one. A normal booking process usually starts with the client getting a few quotes from different suppliers. These are then compared and if all the suppliers seem to be offering the same thing, most clients naturally opt for the cheapest one. So, while we love that it’s so quick and easy to rent a photo booth, we also want to make sure you’re not surprised by any hidden costs or additional charges which you assumed were included in your booking.

We love great deals too! With that in mind, we’ve put together some questions you can ask when booking a photo booth, to ensure you’re getting the best value for your money.

1. Pics please?

Ask your service provider for photos of the actual booth structure, as well as the photo taking device. We are especially proud of our Selfie Cube – locally designed and built. It incorporates beautiful retro wooden finishes and sleek Perspex inserts. We still get excited whenever someone compliments the design. Make sure you know exactly which type of booth your operator will be setting up on your event day, because many companies have a variety of designs.

2. Webcams = Web can’ts

You want your photo booth service provider to guarantee the use of a DSLR camera.  Anything less is just not good enough nowadays. There are excellent low-cost photo booths which provide DSLR equipment, so there is no reason to have to settle for a webcam.

3. Hard evidence

The printing of photos is one of the most important factors when your aim is to create a high-quality experience for clients (or guests). Remember, the hard copies of the photos are the mementos that can stay with attendees for many years and will be looked at long after the event. Even though in-booth social media sharing is increasing in popularity, hard copies are still one of people’s favourite things when they rent a photo booth. If your service provider is using a low-quality printer, your prints could be grainy or dull.

4. On the topic of printers…

When asking about printers, you want to hear that your supplier uses an industrial machine. An indirect way of establishing this is to ask how many seconds a single print would take. You’re looking for anything between 8 and 30 seconds. A minute per print likely means that the printer is not heavy duty and maybe a bit dinky. This isn’t just bad for the take-home prints, but could also cause a long queue at your event. The wait time between prints means your guests get to take less photos in the booked time period.

5. Rent a Photo Booth Bonus: Lighting!

If it were an Olympic sport to rent a photo booth and you wanted to be as prepared as Simone Biles in Rio, we’d have one more pro tip for you. This one is pretty technical, but we believe it’s worth the effort.

We cannot stress enough how important great lighting is in a photo booth. You could have great DSLR cameras, industrial grade printers and beautiful people, but if that lighting lets you down, you’re wasting your brightest smile! You want your photo booth company to confirm they are using studio lights.

Now, anyone can say they use studio lighting, but a great way of establishing whether it’s sufficient is asking them about their lighting’s adjustability. Using Kelvin as a measurement unit will help you understand what you’re asking for. Sunlight would measure around 5,000 K (Kelvin). Candle light about 2,000 K. Evening sun (also known as the golden hour) is somewhere around 3,500 K.

For most events, we adjust the lighting according to the time of day and the crowd preference. Establishing that the company you rent a photo booth from can provide quality, adjustable lighting within a minimum of 2,000 K to 5,000 K range goes a long way in ensuring your dazzling radiance on the day!

Our Facebook and Instagram pages have some great images of well-lit daytime and nighttime events we’ve done, if you’d like to have a look!