Why Handmade Matters

The world today is built on technology; our smartphones, cameras, and yes, even our toothbrushes. We’re always trying to make things a little bit smarter, faster, many times smaller, and ultimately less expensive. We’re not trying to say that there is anything necessarily wrong with this, but some things are better appreciated from a yesteryear approach.

Our company specializes in creating memorable photo experiences for any event, and we most definitely use the latest technology to make all of the magic happen. Truthfully though, this isn’t the reason to claim our events to be an “experience”, or what makes us entirely better than any other company out there. What differentiates us are the handmade elements for our setups, working seamlessly together, to help us capture that perfect moment in a beautiful setting.

When our company established itself in 2015 to rent photo booths for any occasion, we did a little research at first on what was currently available. We scoured the internet with the intent to purchase a few setups just to get things going. With our research, we came across many very exciting photo booths to consider; inflatable balloon-rooms with LED lights that would pulse to music, a mirror that would dance around with animations while taking your picture, and even some orbiting camera that appeared to be straight out of a sci-fi movie. Some pretty clever ideas to hide a camera and take pictures. As we looked further, however, we noticed something quite obvious. These exact same setups were being sold everywhere. They were mass-produced, inexpensive, and a turnkey solution for anyone looking to operate a photo booth rental business.

We were a bit disappointed… Not entirely from the concept to buy a pre-manufactured photo booth, but most importantly, not a single of these setups focused on creating a quality photograph. Our team is comprised of professional photographers, and we understand the principles to create a quality image using lighting techniques and camera specifics. None of these options seemed to understand even the basics of photography, but it definitely was entertaining to see all the different ideas.

The idea of experiencing a photo booth from a different era seems very nostalgic to us. If Doc Brown happened to operate a photo booth company instead of a Delorean-powered time machine, this is BoothWise’s inspiration moving forward.

The first photo booth we built is called the Retro setup. Inspired by the 1980’s boardwalk photo booth, everything from the vinyl-wrapped seat cushions to the velvet-lined blackout curtains, we’ve literally spent hundreds of hours on the finished product. If you were around in those days, feel free to look closely at the details the next time you see us.

The next step in our time-machine-inspired design ride would be in the early 1900’s.  If you happen to appreciate old-fashioned woodworking, look no further. Our Vintage setup is as good as it gets. From the dovetail joinery of the camera box to the fabric-lined printer encasement, these are just a few of the handbuilt components that are crafted of solid walnut. Would you have enjoyed the idea of visiting a red carpet ceremony or stepping into an enchanted garden from the 1920’s? We certainly would! This project of ours has taken an entire year to build and truly being able to focus on the most important aspect… exceptional photographic quality.

Our last stop on the journey is to fast-forward to today. We have the newest addition to our photo booth family;  our iPad Ring Light. Surrounded by a high-powered LED light ring to brighten up any night, this setup is modern, it’s sleek and ready to capture everything. Share your moment with the world instantly from our social-enabled software, but here’s our little secret – all of our setups are internet-enabled.

No matter what photo booth of ours you might like best, we hope you can appreciate the amount of time our talented crew has spent to bring some of the greatest historic concepts back to life.

And yes, even our handlebar mustache props are made by yours truly. We love what we do, and we hope it shows in the details.