Open Photobooth or Enclosed – What’s the Difference?

There’s no shortage of different styles of photo booths to choose from. The fact that they are referred to as an open photo booths, enclosed booths and towers won’t help the overwhelm! The most common are open or enclosed photo booths. For the purpose of this article we will discussing these two options the most.

It’s important to understand the various features of the booth you’re hiring. What suited your work Christmas party may not be the right fit for your wedding. In other words, it’s essential to compare apples with apples.

Let’s break it down to one of the most obvious choice – open or enclosed Photo Booths?

Open or Enclosed Photo Booths – What’s the Difference?

Let’s start with a little disclaimer….

In the Booth are often asked if the booths coming to any given function are identical to the booths pictured on our website. The answer is a resounding yes! In the Booth offer enclosed photo booths only. Every booth in our network, be it in Darwin, Perth, Port Macquarie and everywhere in between are identical. From the beginning, In the Booth made the highly considered decision to only offer enclosed booths. After nine years in the industry, we remain as committed as ever to our reasons for offering enclosed booths; more details of which will be available in the below article.

Enclosed Photo Booth

Pro: A timeless experience

When In the Booth photo booths were first designed, we held fast to a new-age booth with retro appeal. A big part of the magic of a photo booth is creating a private world behind the curtain. Let’s face it, they’re called photo booths for a reason Be it a quiet moment between newlyweds or a crazy pic for the history books, we wanted to create a space where introverts and extroverts could both do their ‘thang. There is nothing quite like seeing that photo strip ‘magically’ appear out the side of the booth. This feature continues to delight adults and children alike almost one hundred years after the first photo booth was invented.

Pro: Movie star looks

An enclosed booth should be a stunning piece of furniture in itself. There’s nothing better than hearing the gasps and ‘wows’ from guests as they enter your event space! Your booth should have show-stopper looks and draw guests toward it with magnetic attraction. Enclosed booths will usually house the technical equipment inside the booth itself.

Pro: A miniature studio

We could rave on and on about the importance of quality equipment. However as our customers, that’s the stuff we take care of for you. If you’re paying for a professional service, you don’t need to know about camera models or what diffused flash means. Instead, we prefer to let our images do the talking. If you have ever had your photos professionally taken under studio lighting, you’ll notice it’s a very controlled space. This means the room would be essentially black except for the controlled studio lighting. So it is with an enclosed booth. The environment inside is controlled because outside elements such as lighting on the dance floor and noise are blocked out.

Pro: Safety

If a tornado rudely interrupted your wedding rest assured you could huddle in our booth! Those babies are solid and have been specially designed to withstand the most ‘festive’ moments! They can even be a safe haven in that late afternoon insect attack period which many Australian locations suffer from. Most enclosed photo booths are sizeable structures so you can be assured they won’t topple over. Neither will they be tipped by an exuberant guest hanging off the curtain rail.

Con: Size restrictions

An enclosed photo booth will obviously be on the larger end of the photo booth spectrum. If you’re keen on an enclosed booth but have sizing concerns, simply talk to your booth company and your venue. Your booth company will be able to give you the floor space required for their booth and the venue will be able to let you know about any space restrictions, dependant on your floor plan. Accessibility may also be an issue if the booth you are considering is one solid unit and or it too heavy to manoeuvre upstairs. Again, just chat to your booth company and see if they have any limitations. Photo booths are meant for the event industry and as such, should be flexible in their load in (also known as bump in) requirements.

Con: Guest involvement

This comes down to the type of event you are hosting and the nature of your friends and family. An enclosed booth creates a private environment for your guests so they’re perfect for those who don’t like feeling like a deer in the headlights whilst getting their photo taken. If your guests would rival the Kardashians in the ‘look at me’ stakes, you may prefer an open booth environment to encourage plenty of mid-booth-session heckling!

Open Photo Booth

>Pro: Guest involvement

You got it – guest involvement can be considered a pro or a con depending on your preferences and the mood you want to create for your event. If you would like everyone in the room to be able to watch guests having their photos taken or if an open environment would add to your event styling, an open photo booth could be the right choice for you.

Pro: A modern feel

Again, it’s all down to the mood you’re trying to create. If your guests are happiest while they’re snapping a selfie and love the spotlight, an open booth will enable their adoring fans to be watching on as they re-create their very best James Bond.

Con: An uncontrolled environment

Prior to designing the first In the Booth photo booth, extensive research was done within the event industry – both as operators and guests. Although the photo booth industry has evolved tremendously since that time, there’s one thing that hasn’t – guest behaviour : Any ‘open’ environment, be it an open bar, an open dance floor or an open booth 😉 invites free-for-all guest behaviour. An open booth environment means Uncle Bob, who’s already had a few too many whiskeys, is free to jump in to every available shot. We’re not the fun police and no-one loves a photo bomb more than us, but an open booth will invite everyone to the party – whether you want them in the shot or not. If your guests are on the quieter side or you simply would like to capture some timeless booth portraits as well as the crazy ones, an enclosed booth may be the answer.

There’s also the tech side to consider. An open booth means images may be affected by DJ lighting or other environmental issues (a photographer’s flash can cause a photo booth flash to mis-fire at times). Video messaging is probably the main consideration as sound can’t be recorded effectively without an enclosed booth. Most companies offering open photo booths won’t include video messaging in their packages for this reason.

Con: Street Appeal

There are some professional open booth set ups out there so just make sure you do your research and ask for plenty of photos. A lot of open booth set ups will include a separate station for printing because the printer won’t fit inside the small booth structure itself. This can result in unsightly tech equipment on a separate table and electrical cords running everywhere. Make sure you ask to pictures of the entire set up, including the printing equipment and not just the booth itself.

Con: Safety

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If you’ve spent as much time at events as we have, you would have seen all the nightmare situations too. Drinks spilt over equipment rendering it useless; technical equipment crashed into and broken by guests – we’ve seen it all. Make sure the company you are considering has safe equipment. A tower or tripod won’t be worth much when your six foot three inch cousin smacks into it after getting fancy on the dance floor during Mustang Sally. Chat to your venue about their previous experiences as well as they will have witnessed what works and what doesn’t at a lively event.

When it comes to making a final decision, write a list of your non-negotiable features and research your booth company on each one. Ask plenty of questions, ask for photos and ask where you can view the entire set up in operation. At the end of the day, open or closed, you need the booth that’s right for you.

Happy boothing!