# Photo Booth/Op



## iowachap (Aug 19, 2015)

Anybody ever use a photo booth, or photo opportunity area? I remember in 1997 when we started, we did not have the ability to do a walk through, so we had the front of the house completely decorated and then we set up a photo op area and did poloroid photos, we charged 3 bucks to have photo taken with Crypt Keeper, and for our live characters a buck extra each, or 5 bucks for all 3 Freddy/Jason/Pinhead, if you brought a canned good for local food bank it was a buck off. I remember doing about 1200 bucks in about 4 hours or so back then, we had people lined down the street with their kids to get a photo.. The first year we didnt have many but each year people we grew.

Last year we tried it where folks used their own phone we started to get some folks to pay for the photo, but we got rained out, personally I think it will grow this year, as long as we do not have rain.  Here is a photo from 1997









https://goo.gl/photos/wB3wUKQw3EBF7Rtf7


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## sanityassassin (Mar 15, 2008)

If you could set up an automatic photo at a scare point in a walk through you would make a fortune. I imagine it to be like a rollercoaster photo, get them at the moment they jump out of their skin and charge them a small fee for the digital file they can post wherever.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

There've been some folks here who've set up a photo op in their haunt just for fun - no fee involved. It was more to get visitors to slow down and actually look around


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Be aware that Uncle Sam will require a cut/percentage of all fees and charges, and that as soon as you are charging for services or goods, it can (and probably will) change your status as far as your city/town, your insurance company, etc., are concerned. Asking for a donation instead may get you the same amount of money, and keep you off of the radar for insurance, the government, etc.

You can also add in a twist, have your photo op, but have something that can startle the guests right when the photo is taken. You, using a digital camera of your own, can take and collect the photos, but you can also get email addresses for the guests to send photos to, it also lets you have a list you can advertise to the following year.


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## BillyVanpire (Apr 22, 2015)

great advice fontgeek..

as for types of photo ops there are a few ways to do so.

for capturing fear in the moment like a rollercoaster you need to control the camera with a remote trigger of some kind.

how to hack digital cameras a few different ways:






Making Monsters creates a photo op zombie wall


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## iowachap (Aug 19, 2015)

*good info*

Yeah back in 1997 we went poloroid, it was the best option at the time, and we never ran into govt or tax problems, as for us and last year we went with the option of they use their own cell phone camera, everyone carries one today, we also got umbrella insurance coverage, here is a photo from the photo op area.. thought about doing the photos in a scare point and then telling folks to look for their photo on our facebook page

https://goo.gl/photos/QdRHsUdJwxvingZV6









https://goo.gl/photos/QdRHsUdJwxvingZV6


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## iowachap (Aug 19, 2015)

*taxes and garage sales etc*

This article should help clarify, hobby, garage sale, capital gains etc.. http://blogs.hrblock.com/2012/07/25/garage-sale-money-does-the-irs-need-to-know/ this would be a hobby, of which any funds generated would not make up for the amount of money to put it together, 1k bucks might break even in my case. Anything less than that is a net loss, and therefore not needed to be reported to IRS. Extra insurance is good though, even if you doing a completely free walk through haunt you should have extra home insurance above your home insurance, it is pretty cheap especially if you do it just for a month. I know each state, county etc is different, back in 1997 we were in the San Fran Bay Area, I can not imagine doing what we did then today in the same area due to how crazy the restrictions are in that state. Even back then a few times police who were always cool with us said if the crowds in the street got much bigger they would have to shut us down, because it was like 10 to 15 rows deep of people standing in the street off the sidewalk and cars could not get through. We also had donation boxes back then, and I think we got about 20 or so bucks. Oh yeah laugh, another thing we sold well in 1997 were those glow in the dark bracelets, sodas and hot cocoa, i could not believe how well we sold all that stuff it was crazy. Back then we had lots of friends and family helping, today it is just me and my brother that do the set up and take down with me doing lots of the prop construction. Back then, we had more people not much money, today its opposite have more funds, but not as many people..


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## Liam (Mar 23, 2007)

I made a haunted photo booth a few years back and have used it (or some permutation thereof) each year since. I just post the pics to my haunt's Facebook page and pass out cards to guests pointing them to the page to view the pics. People love it, I'd highly recommend a photo booth.


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## iowachap (Aug 19, 2015)

Liam said:


> I made a haunted photo booth a few years back and have used it (or some permutation thereof) each year since. I just post the pics to my haunt's Facebook page and pass out cards to guests pointing them to the page to view the pics. People love it, I'd highly recommend a photo booth.
> 
> Halloween Tutorials: How To Make A Haunted Photo Booth - YouTube


That is very cool Liam! Well done, it would be great if it was wireless dongle, and used a nightvision cam so it could take some photos in lower light if needed. I would suggest for your haunt page to use facebook, and push folks to there to find their photos.

We like to allow our characters that are dressed up to be in the photos with folks which then gives them that specialized custom just for them photo that they get to have with the characters. Parents love to get their kids photo taken in their costumer with the characters.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

If you are using a digital SLR, you can fid wireless remote triggers pretty cheaply, having one mounted in a hidden location can let different "monsters" have a way to trigger the camera, without the risk of it getting lost or dropped. The camera can be set with a delay to snap the photo, so the monster can do the photobomb routine too. The use of a flash can make the shoot easier and help startle the guests as well.
Posting the photos on something like Facebook is a good idea too.


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