Gallery: Seeing Cleare-ly

Aoife Millea, a photographer for Cleare Photography out of Waterford, Ireland, has been operating her own photo booth for less than a year, but seems to have perfected it already. Bright colors, whimsical backdrops and, sometimes, Whisker Works props. Why does she like photo booths? Aoife states, “because I felt a lot of people, especially adults, can be super uncomfortable standing for normal photos, but give them a mustache on a stick and they transform into giggling confident posers, whether they are 5 or 95!”


Cleare Photography on Facebook
All backdrops are from Lemon Drop Stop.

To have your photo booth images considered for a gallery feature, click on the “Submit Photos” button above. Please send up to a dozen of your best images showing a variety of backdrop designs and plenty of color!

Shark Tank Makes a Photo Booth Deal

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Shark Tank stars, from left, Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavec, Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran and Kevin O’Leary goof off in a Pink Shutter brand photo booth on the ABC hit reality show about venture capital investments. Corcoran and John’s fun with Whisker Works props made it on air!

Whisker Works props helped loosen up the business moguls of the Shark Tank, ABC’s hit TV show, thanks to our friends at Pink Shutter Photo Booths, a national photo booth company based in Los Angeles. The show featuring Pink Shutter aired May 10th and can be seen at abc.go.com.

Business interest skyrocketed after the show aired, said Lance Yabut, co-founder and CEO of Pink Shutter. “It’s been astronomical. We’ve had $4 million in franchise inquiries since then.” It came as something of a surprise, he said, because going into the show taping, which happened about 8 months ago, he was focused on the business, not fame. “Meeting some famous people? I didn’t really care about that, but improving my business, I cared about that part.”

Pink Shutter started simply enough — with inspiration from Lance’s own wedding. He said he hired a photo booth company to help make the event memorable for his guests, using a “friend of a friend of a friend,” as he put it. “It was OK, but it took an hour and a half to set it up, and we thought, ‘We can make a better mouse trap than this!'”

That was about two years ago. He and fellow founder Tom Kanemoto, the company’s COO, bought what they needed and ventured into the business for themselves. “We thought we could go out and do this and just make some extra money, and the demand was just astronomical,” Yabut said. “People forced us to expand!”

Their presentation to the moguls on Shark Tank wasn’t without the typical tension, as they made their case to a room of potential investors for why Pink Shutter was worthy of investment capital. The duo invited the Sharks to grab some silly props from a display next to their booth and see why their customers were so happy. “They were stiff until they got into it (the booth),” he said of the Sharks. “They actually had fun!”

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Daymond John flashes a “Tease” smile, one of WhiskerWorks.com’s most popular photo props.

That’s where Whisker Works got its cameo — Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran mugged with a “Gentleman” mustache while fellow Shark Daymond John clowned around with a pink “Tease” smile, as they also donned brightly-colored sunglasses and hats. It was a lively scene as the shutter snapped, and the normally reserved group couldn’t hide their big smiles.

“Props are great,” Yabut said, “but with our photo booths, just the way they’re designed, we have people use themselves for props, too. Props are things a lot of clients want, though.” He said part of the change in Pink Shutter’s business is how they use those props. Instead of renting out the props, as they have been, they’re now going to sell them to their customers. “They get to keep them,” he said.

Ultimately Corcoran, the lone female on the venture capitalist panel, offered a deal they couldn’t refuse, but that was just the beginning. “Since then we’ve been working with her,” Yabut said. “We’re still in negotiations. That’s part of the process. There’s due diligence. We want to make sure everyone’s happy.”

Corcoran’s business advisers with The Corcoran Group have helped give Pink Shutter a push in a new direction that’s fundamentally changing his business, Yabut said. “We’re focusing more on expansion and franchising. Our plan was to open up 50 offices across the United States that were going to be our offices. That was our initial business plan, what we were going to do with or without the Sharks. Since then, our business plan is focusing on franchising.” Of The Corcoran Group’s business advice, he said, “They want to focus more on repetitive business.”

Though dollars and cents are at the core of the business relationship between Pink Shutter and the Shark Tank, Yabut said he’s still enjoying the photo booth business, even with more customer demand than he’s ever seen. “We’re having a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s a ton of fun.”

Check out Pink Shutter Photo Booths at PinkShutter.com and see Shark Tank at ABC.Go.com. Whisker Works mustaches and lips are available at WhiskerWorks.com.

April Fools Day — 2,500 Years of Tomfoolery

The tradition of silliness that is April Fools Day offers a welcome opportunity to eschew seriousness.

The tradition of silliness that is April Fools Day offers a welcome opportunity to eschew seriousness.

April Fools Day takes different names and forms, but the concept of a day of pranks and silliness has been around for centuries — possibly dating back to 536 BC. Iranians treat the 13th day of the Persian new year, which falls on April 1 or 2, as a holiday for pranking familiar to much of the western world. Called Sizdah Be-dar, the holiday is focused mostly on celebrating the start of the spring season, but among its traditions is prankery.

Similar traditions are celebrated throughout the world, including in Belgium, Italy, France and French-speaking Canada, where it’s common to attach paper fish to victims’ backs surreptitiously as a joke. References to the day in these nations make direct reference to fish, such as “Pesce d’Aprile” in Italian.

Traditions vary, including the extreme practice in Belgian Flemish culture of children locking their parents out of their homes with a demand of treats in exchange for entry. Light-heartedness, though, is typically the order of the day. What better way to inspire merriment than to cavort about with a perpetual smile, a la “The Tease,” or a big silly inspector’s mustache and monocle? Check ’em out at WhiskerWorks.com, where there’s a 20% off sale through the end of March.

However you celebrate April 1, have fun!

Happy New Year!

As we bid adieu to a fine two-oh-one-two, find below a bit o’inspiration for your celebration! I mustache that you have a happy new year and a grand 2013!

Photo credits:
Happy New Year banner: Etsy
Confetti toss: Wedding Chicks
Scallop garland: Etsy
Balloon wall: Pinterest
New Year photo booth: Lowe’s
Silver heart backdrop: Cargo Collective

A holiday full of sparkle and pizazz

By pinning metallic pennant flags (the kind you see at grand opening events) to a wall, photographer Christa Elyse created this brightly-colored backdrop, full of sparkle and pizazz. “I went to the dollar store and picked up some odd Christmas things and also pulled out my old school light bulbs. I set up my camera on a tripod and put on the timer!” The result? A holiday photo booth that is full of merriment and cheer.

An alternate idea would be to purchase a thin sheet of wood from a home improvement store and staple gun your shimmery material to it. Then, because your board is double-sided, you can create two different backgrounds for your event.

Much thanks to Christa Elyce for sharing her delightful images.
Christa Elyse Photography / Facebook

Smile and ‘stache props from Whisker Works.

Gallery: Famous William has his heart on a string

Copious amounts of inspiration, all from the same person! Famous William, a photographer out of Atlanta, Georgia, creates his own great backdrops time and time again. From strung hearts and colorful streamers to funny masks and mylar bling, he knows how to liven up a photo booth.

Famous William / Facebook
The fish house backdrop was painted by Alan Kurkendal of Carrollton Ga. in partnership with Famous William.

To have your photo booth images considered for a gallery feature, click on the “Submit Photos” button above. Please send up to a dozen of your best images showing a variety of backdrop designs and plenty of color!

Neon Photo Booth

Flagging tape, typically used by Surveyors, can be found for less than $2 per roll at most hardware stores. Since it comes in bright shades, like hot pink and neon orange, it’s a perfect supply for making an inexpensive 80’s themed photo booth backdrop.

Much thanks to Kristin Greenlee Photography for sharing this idea and these photos. Additional photos from her party can be found here.

Looking for more neon inspiration? Read this post.

Polaroid Guest Register

This is perhaps the cutest way to combine a photo booth, guest register and seating chart! As long as everyone cooperates, that is.

Photo by Sarah Rhoads Photographers.

Paper Chains

Paper chains: they’re a classic kid’s craft that has been gaining in popularity at parties and events recently. After seeing so many colorful images on Pinterest and around the Web, I was inspired to make a paper chain ceiling installation in my son’s room. All you need is paper, scissors, a stapler and thumbtacks, and you could do the same. Best of all, it’s quite inexpensive, especially if you use paper you already have around the house (newspaper, maps, music sheets, etc.).

My inspiration came from these delightful images:

Above: Snippet and Ink

Above: SweetBee Photography (left), Style Me Pretty (right)

Above: Michelle March Photography

Above: MEF Photography
This last photo shares a clever way to do a guestbook, too! Guests wrote words of wisdom on slips of paper then added them to the chain, so it grew in length as the night progressed.

Ideas to Inspire: Neon!

Nothing does quite as much with quite as little as neon — it brightens the mood as it dazzles the eyes. Celebrate spring and summer with a burst of neon color!

The following ten items – all found on Etsy – are perfect for your neon-inspired photo booth.

Credits:
one: Mustaches on sticks by Whisker Works
two: Paper maché letters by Twisted Twig
three: Tissue paper poms by Pomtastic
four: Upcycled vintage frames by Melissa’s Ornate Palace of Wonderment
five: Tissue tassel garland by Everly Lane Design
six: Chalkboard frames by Shugabee Lane
seven: Fabric bunting by Coco Sailore
eight: Messages on sticks by Paper Polaroid
nine: Pinwheel banner by Laughing Hour
ten: Dotted garland by Gray Day Studio