How to make a photobooth at home

May 7, 2008 9:16 PM

How do I take a photobooth picture at home?

I love the look of photobooth pictures -- the old-fashioned, black and white, grainy film ones. I assume it has something to do with the lighting, and perhaps the angle of the camera. Assuming access to good photography equipment (including good lights, reflectors, backdrops, etc) and a willingness to acquire or build the necessary parts, how do I take pictures that look like that at home?
I checked out this previous thread which is interesting, but not really what I'm looking for. I'm not necessarily looking to automate the photobooth -- I just want to figure out how to approximate the look of the finished product at home. I'll probably be using a digital camera, and I'm not too concerned about the grainy aspect, but I'm at a loss as to how to recreate the lighting and the overall look.

posted by katemonster to media & arts (6 comments total)

Well, my macbook has a program called Photo Booth, which works pretty well. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_Booth
posted by stlboi at 9:48 PM on May 7

I think manipulating the images in Photoshop will probably be your best bet.

Here's one example.
posted by liketitanic at 10:23 PM on May 7

get a used cheap ring flash on eBay and attach it on a SLR or a DSLR; that's the look youre looking for, more or less.
posted by matteo at 4:57 AM on May 8

Well as far as lighting goes, think about it. A photobooth is a small box with light colored walls and a ceiling that are very close to the subject. The light source is in front and there is plenty of bounce light from all directions. Replicating that with painted cardboard is pretty easy.
posted by JJ86 at 5:34 AM on May 8

I would think that getting in real close to the camera and using a cheap flash, or maybe a single light pointed at the subjects with no flash and a longish exposure to approximate the grain. Maybe experimenting with the depth of field and or the ISO mode.
posted by gjc at 7:11 AM on May 8

Seconding ring flash. Those do amazing things to portraits.
posted by rokusan at 9:06 AM on May 8