“A digital spin on the traditional photo booth” is Kelley Andersen’s super-short explanation of
Booth FX Photo Booth Company, which she launched with her partner, Allison Gates, last month. The pair built the idea for their company on a love of photo booths, two creative personalities and their vision for a photo booth that was more than a traditional, space-limited box.
“We first looked at the booths you can buy, and they were nice, but not what we were looking for," Andersen says. "We wanted something that was more digital. I love Instagram, and was trying to figure out how we could do that as a photo booth."
The booth they custom-built – “with a lot of time and a lot of mistakes,” Andersen adds – measures 1.5 ft. by 1.5 ft., is 5.5 feet tall and incorporates software that allows photos to be viewed, edited and shared.
Rather than expecting participants to hop inside, the booth houses the photography equipment. Participants gather in the space around the booth to snap a photo in front of customized backdrops the women create for each event with input from hosts.
Features of the booth include a wireless remote and a touchscreen for viewing images on the back of the booth. That allows attendees to view photos, use filter effects (much in the same way as one would with Instagram) and upload images to social media immediately. The co-founders provide wireless internet with a mobile hotspot.
Booth FX launched last month, and both founders still have full-time day jobs, Gates as a designer and Andersen as an insurance analyst. So far, they’ve been commissioned for fundraising events and they plan to reach out to local brides- and grooms-to-be to expand their business into weddings.
By Robin Donovan