How to Build a Home Photo Booth Home Hacks

What You Need

Materials

• $30 worth of 71-foot 2x4s were cut down to build the frame.
• 66 feet of salvaged MDF planks were cut down to cover the frame.
• A tetherball lamp strung over the top provides light.
• Jandra borrowed a remote-controlled camera and tripod from work.
• They used Jandra's IKEA Frosta stool for a seat.
• Ruella donated the red curtain and curtain rod.

Equipment [OR] Tools

• Jigsaw
• Drill/screws
• Hammer/nails
• Kraft paper
• Lots of helpers. (In addition to Jandra, Priya, and Ruella, their friends Nick and Molly helped out.)

Instructions

1. Various friends contributed their brainpower to get ideas going. Doodles and sketches were made, measurements and notes were taken, a budget was set, and manpower was accumulating.

2. The main idea was to build two comparments within the frame: one to house the camera and tripod and another to permit the subjects to sit and be photographed.

3. A wall was built in-between to separate the compartments. Nick used a jigsaw to cut out a sizeable hole to accommodate the camera at (seated) eye-level.

4. The lamp provided sufficient mood lighting and made everyone look really pretty.

5. Kraft paper was used as the background. It worked out, since the color of the Kraft paper matched the exterior.

6. Jandra supplied the camera with remote control and set it up on the tripod. Subjects could trigger the camera whenever they were ready to be photographed.

7. To complete the photo booth, they hung a curtain on a rod.

8. More than 200 images were taken throughout the night!

Thanks, Priya, Jandra, and Ruella!

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(Images: Priya, Jandra, and Ruella)

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I think this is a great idea. What kind of camera was used?

posted by Piewacket on February 5th 2010 at 3:48pm
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Totally awesome. Good thing jandra was there.... doesn't seem like they could have done any of it w/o her for "30 dollars". But I love the idea.

posted by rlmesq on February 5th 2010 at 3:50pm
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If you don't have a remote, a good solution would be to check and see if you camera has custom timers. The last few canon point and shoots I've own have allowed you to set a custom timer and number of shots (though I've always felt the time between shots was always too soon) So you could set it to something like 20 seconds from pushing the button to give the person enough time to make a funny face, and then have it take 4 shots automatically.

posted by Jose A on February 5th 2010 at 3:51pm
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This is a fun idea. But wouldn't it be easier to simply convert a coat closet?

posted by Comicgeek on February 5th 2010 at 7:02pm
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What a cute idea, especially for a party. This would be really cute as a permanent fixture in a kids room.

posted by mprentice on February 5th 2010 at 11:22pm
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Fun idea for a party.

It can't be done for $30 unless you have a supply of MDF, tetherball lamp,remote control camera etc........ that you can get for free.

I was pretty sure there was no way to make it for $30 and it turns out that it can't, unless you have a lot of time to scavenge for items and a lot of luck.

posted by Cally on February 6th 2010 at 11:15am
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I was planning to do exactly the same for my housewarming party but could not find an inexpensive and efficient way to make it happen. THANKS for this!!!

posted by MeWindow on February 8th 2010 at 2:47pm
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posted by daoes on June 20th 2010 at 6:03pm
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Ruella started planning their housewarming, they decided to build a photo booth for the party. Friends pitched in, sketches were made, and they ended up designing and building a pretty sturdy booth for just $30.<A HREF="http://peninggibadan.org">peninggi badan</A>

posted by Bill1Andreas on June 27th 2010 at 11:51pm
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apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time