Party photo booth question

[tkradtke]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this, but here goes...

My daughter is having a cookie decorating party on Friday after school for a group of friends. Today we got the bright idea to set up a photo booth for them. I think they'll have a blast with it! But now I'm wondering about the logistics of getting the photos to the girls. I know they'll want to see them (and post them to instagram) right away (because that's what teen girls do). Would I download them all to my computer and then text them out to the girls (which would take forever and fill up their phones since I'm sure they'll take a ton of photos) or is there a better way? Right now I'm thinking I could show them all of them at the party, so they can see them right away and let them pick a couple for me to send them immediately. The rest I'll put on a share site and send the link to their parents so they can download any others that they want. I'm open to any suggestions if anyone knows of a better way. I'm a bit baffled by how to share them with the girls.

 

[lmccandless]

Drop box! You can create a folder just with those photos and have them be accessible by email invite. It's so fast! We do it with a lot of projects at my house.

 

[tkradtke]

I haven't used dropbox... would the girls have to sign up to access the photos or are they able to download them just by having the link? I would love something fast and easy like that! I just don't want to be the one responsible for the girls (13 year olds) signing up for things without their parents' consent. I guess I could tell the parents in advance what we're doing if it's something they need to have set up.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm going to go look up more info.

 

[sushimommy]

if you email them the link, they would not have to have an account to see them. they can, but not required at all. and the folder is private only to the ones you send the link to.

 

[tkradtke]

Thanks for the information! I went to the site and was trying to figure it all out. Do they need the app? Or can they do it from the web browser on their phones?

 

[Nemla]

no you do not need an app for dropbox, you just need to e-mail them the link to the folder. When you upload something to dropbox you get a link to that specific folder . (right click as far as I remember, but don't shoot me if I am wrong ) But don't you think most of them will be using their own phones to take the photos ? just saying.......

 

[tkradtke]

I thought about that... that they would just use their own phones to take pics, but the lighting where we want to set it up is terrible. Plus I have a remote shutter release for my big camera with an external flash, so they can all be in the photos if they want to. I figure they'll do a mix of both though. But if they do take some with their own phones, that does take the pressure off of needing to get them the photos right away.

 

[PLM]

May I be curious and ask what kind of photo booth you are installing?
I loooove seeing those!!!

 

[tkradtke]

We're going super simple... we may not even do a back drop, just stick some christmas decorations to our white wall. My plan is to have my old digital slr set up on a tripod, with the external flash and the wireless shutter release for the girls to use. We found a prop kit at Paper Source the other day and yesterday I bought some hats and headbands at the dollar store. I want to pick up a few more props for them to use, so I may head to the craft store today. I'll post pics of my set-up once we we're done and let you know how things actually worked. I'm a little afraid this is one of those "works better in my head" projects!

 

[PLM]

But you are jumping on it girl, others (like me, hehe... ;-) ) might be thinking about it, but never actually do something about it.
Can't wait to see your photos!

 

[tkradtke]

Okay... it was a disaster to set up - everything that could go wrong, went wrong... but it was a HUGE success with the girls!!

What went wrong:
1. When I ordered the wireless shutter release, I didn't realize that I needed to order the cable separately. Discovered this the day before the party, but thankfully we have Amazon Prime so I could have it overnighted for $3.99 shipping.
2. I couldn't find the plate for my tripod anywhere. The last time I distinctly remember having it was two moves ago, so it's not looking likely that I'll ever find it. My son was able to rig up a way to attach my camera to the tripod, but not until after he came home from school (and his school got out half an hour after my daughter's school).
3. The cable was delivered in plenty of time, but no matter what, we couldn't get the remote to work. Although the wired remote did work which was easier for the girls to use than the button on the camera.

Those items don't sound too bad, but messing with them (and searching boxes in the garage and storage spaces) took up most of what I had budgeted for prep time on the day of the party.

BUT... like I said... the girls LOVED it! They had so much fun with it and it was an easy way to keep 8 7th grade girls entertained. I had the prop kit from Paper Source, some misc stuff from the Dollar Store, a few more hats and such from Michael's and a bag of bows and some garland from Walgreen's. They took breaks from the photo booth and when they did, I downloaded the pictures to my computer. We air played them on the tv for everyone to see. I cleared the card and put it back in the camera. While they did other things, I batch processed the photos to a more manageable file size for sharing. I texted them to my daughter and she group texted them to the rest of the girls. I tried to convince them to try dropbox, but they weren't real receptive to it. After the party, I did use dropbox to send all of the photos to the parents.

Here's a sampling of the photos...

The background was obnoxious, but it was the best we could find in the house (it was a full sized sheet). And the girls didn't seem to mind the brightness The camera set up was my old dslr with an external flash bounced off of the ceiling. Really simple if I would have had all of my equipment stuff sorted out in advance.

Anyway... that's it! I just thought I would report back! Thanks for the help!

 

[lorryfach]

Those pics are adorable! Looks like it was worth the effort!

 

[Nemla]

It definitely looks like a lot of fun was had by all ! Happy it worked out.

 

[PLM]

Oh wow, this is so cool!!
The result is superb, never the less the stress you had before.
I can totally imagine having those things going on too!!!
Anyways, you should be proud of yourself and I'm sure your daughter was really happy with it!