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An "Open Air" photo booth is not a Real photobooth, Just Sayin'!

4/11/2018

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So you are looking for a photobooth for your wedding, birthday party, company event or bar/bat mitzvah and all you see online are “photo booth” companies that offer something called “open air” photo booths. You click on their website and all you see are photos of groups of people posing in front of a backdrop with paper mustaches on sticks and funny hats. You think to yourself, “that’s not a photobooth is it? I thought you get inside a photobooth?”  

You would be correct! You do!

Saying a photo booth is an “open air” photobooth is like saying you live in an “open air” house - meaning you probably live outside! If I put a bed, TV, kitchen table, etc in my yard, I could call it an "open air" house but would want to live out there? Probably not.

You have taste right? You seek authentic and cool experiences and you want a REAL, classic, “get inside and pull the curtain” photobooth and that is getting harder to find these days.

Why, because so many new fly-by-night operators have jumped into the "photobooth rental"  game with this idea of an “open air” photobooth because it’s cheap (a DJ can add it to their services) and in reality it’s just a camera on a stick (usually inside a little white metal box on stand with maybe touch screen and you and yours stand in front of a gold curtain and get your pictures taken). Now while this might be a fun thing to do, it is still NOT the real classic photobooth experience, which is what you want right?

With a real photobooth you get inside the booth (this is probably why it is called a booth), you close the curtain and you are in your own private little photography studio getting your pictures taken. Your inhibitions let loose and your inner model comes out when you are not posing in front of everyone in the room and you’ll always get better pictures in a real photobooth!

So if you are planning an event and want a real photobooth experience then rent a real photobooth! You and your guests will be happy that you did. It will be noted that you went for the cool, retro, real deal photooboth versus some cheap pop up thing on a stick.

​Here’s to keeping real photobooths going for years to come!

​Cheers!


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REstoring a Vintage Photobooth on Reality TV

11/16/2017

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Anthony Vizzari on HISTORY CHANNEL'S American Restoration: The Mutoscope Photomatic Photobooth from A&A Studios on Vimeo.

​A few years ago, when 312photobooth was the rental arm of A&A Studios - before I took over the business - I took a call from a photographer gent in California who told me he had an old metal photobooth in his garage and would like to know more about it and maybe if it was worth restoring. 

As A&A Studios is one of the top photobooth restoration & fabrication companies in the world it was only natural that he would reach out to us. I asked him to send me some photos of his booth, thinking it was probably one of the classic 1960's photobooths that A&A Studios restores regularly and I'd get back to him.

​Within a few hours I checked my inbox and saw pics of a style of photobooth that I was completely unfamiliar with. I showed the photos to Anthony Vizzari, the founder of A&A Studios (and 312photobooth) and he was just as surprised. We reached out to some of our well learned photobooth aficionados in our network and came to the conclusion that this was a VERY RARE, pre-World War 2, vintage Mutoscope photobooth and at that time there were only five or these things that we knew of. I got back the guy and told him the news. I also offered him our services to restore his booth. He said he'd get back to us.

A few weeks later they guy calls me back and says he talked to the producers of the History Channel Reality Show "American Restoration" and they were super excited to take on the project of restoring his photobooth and he'd given them our info if they had any questions about the photobooth. Soon, Anthony gets a call from Rick Dale, the star of the show American Restoration and then next thing I know, Anthony, his wife Andrea, their new born son Max and I are all on a plane to Las Vegas to help the cast and crew of the show to restore this classic vintage Mutoscope photobooth. 

It was a great week. Not only did we get to see how they filmed their show, we also got to be "extras" on Pawn Stars (the same production company makes both shows and the director of our episode told us that her boyfriend was directing Pawn Stars that day and if we wanted to go check it out,  she'd hook it up). It was cool experience! 

The American Restoration episode aired and we had big viewing party at Chicago's High Dive. It was the first episode of their 3rd season and is called "Photo Finish."

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Original Selfies in Vintage Photobooths

7/20/2017

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"Going to the photobooth at the local Woolworth’s was a special event, which meant getting dressed up, smoothing down hair, wearing those clothes kept for Jesus on a Sunday. This was a chance to show what you were truly like to a loved one, or a friend, or a distant relation, or maybe a blank official stamping your passport. The photobooth was a private place to show your public face, to be seen how you wanted the world to see you."  
via Dangerous Minds
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"Sexto De Mayo Party"

5/8/2017

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We had fun at Chicago's Low Res Studios the other night bringing the Retro Photobooth fun for a "Sexto De Mayo" birthday party that included live music, a great DJ, a mechanical bull and our photobooth! 
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A Fun Past week of Retro photobooth Action

5/1/2017

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We had a super fun week bringing our cool digital retro photobooth to a rocking event for Cisco Marketing Velocity at Chicago's House of Blues (with "The Blues Brothers" in attendance and enjoying the photobooth!). We also traveled out to beautiful Rockton, Illinois to the wonderful Pavilion at Orchard Ridge Farms for the wedding of Megan & Johnny. It was truly a grand affair and our photobooth was going non stop!! Great week! More fun events on the way as we head into summer!

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Photobooth  - A Biography by Meags Fitzgerald

4/20/2017

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One of our favorite artists is Meags Fitzgerald from Canada who has come down to work with the team at A&A Studios in Chicago where she did some amazing hand painting on some booths that were built. One was a "Tiki" style photobooth that Meags and I personally delivered to Psycho Suzy's Motor Lodge in Minneapolis a few years back. She was working on her graphic memoir "Photobooth - A Biography" and added our trip to her book (I'm the one in the dark shirt pushing the photobooth!). I'm pretty sure this is the only illustration book that I am in!! You can get it on Amazon.
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Everyone Loves Vintage Photobooths

4/20/2017

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Since 2007 we've been providing photobooth's across the Chicago area. One of the great resources for learning about the fantastic history of photobooth's is www.photobooth.net 
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