The classic dip & dunk photo booths are arguably the most iconic and beloved photo booths in American history. These are the machines our parents and grand parents grew up with and often share fond memories of using. Created in the early 1900’s as an affordable and easy way to make self-portraits the photo booth has since held a long and well regarded position in American pop culture. Unfortunately with the advent of digital photography in the last few decades fewer and fewer of the original dip & dunk photo booths remain in service.

The most popular of the dip & dunk photo booths takes four photos with flash and delivers them as a single strip of black & white images. A series of chemical and water baths is used to develop a specialized photo paper and in approximately 3-5 minutes the photos are ready for eagerly awaiting users. Because of the nature of this system no negatives are created and each photo is a one-of-a-kind keepsake.

These traditional dip & dunk photo booths are still available as rentals though a bit harder to find- The rental cost also tends to be higher than other options due to limited resources and technical complexity. Because of their history and contribution to pop culture the dip & dunk photo booth should be at the top of any photography purist rental list.

Sometimes referred to as “pipe & drape” or “curtains” pop-up booths are the most common found today. Easily recognized by their full drape or partial drape design pop-ups have become popular because of their low cost (most if not all are home-made), ease of transportation (they are transported in pieces and assembled on site), and ability to take large group photos (sometimes ten or more).

With the increasing number of pop-up booths available in todays market pricing has become one of the most commonly used differentiating points between competitors- This of course comes as great benefit to consumers as low prices are not uncommon and a variety of options is available to choose from.

It should be noted that because these booths are home-made devices the quality of each is largely determined by the skill and creativity of the vendor. When considering this type of booth one should always seek references, request print samples, and ideally ask to see and test the booth in person to make sure they are comfortable with its looks, function, and build quality.

Those with a strong DIY attitude can also consider building their own pop-up booth for a fraction more than a rental would cost. The following resources can have any capable DIY’er on the way to creating their own booth in no time.

www.photoboothtalk.com - A forum discussing hardware & software topics.
www.breezesys.com - A popular choice of booth software.
www.instructables.com - A set of DIY photo booth instructions.