Party photographs a snap behind crimson curtains

ROSS GIBLIN/The Dominion Post

BIG DRAW: Dion Howard with The Amazing Travelling Photobooth he hires out for weddings and other events.

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Photographer Dion Howard has a brand new digital camera, complete with oak panelling and a red velveteen privacy function.

Not content with being the guy at the wedding seeking photographs for the official record, the Wellington entrepreneur has turned the tables on event photography.

Mr Howard designed The Amazing Travelling Photobooth to reinvent what he could offer clients. He wanted to go beyond what the average railway station photobooth offered. "They just look like a cupboard."

Armed with a few years worth of collected antique oak panelling, he commissioned a designer to come up with a classic take on the photobooth.

The result, complete with crimson curtain, handmade stool and Turkish rug, is starting to become a rival for the dance floor at events, he says.

"It is the opposite of a camera; it doesn't drive them away, it pulls them in."

With antiquarian styling, The Amazing Travelling Photobooth hides a laptop, digital photo printer and speakers to sound an authentic antique bell when guests take their own photo.

"It was a winning formula, but I wanted the construction to be interesting, too. It had to be a party piece."

After spending about $12,000 on an overblown design budget, construction and hardware costs, Mr Howard says the investment is a way of paying for itself.

He charges $900 for an event, photos, digital files, and "steward". The Amazing Travelling Photobooth turns over about 200 pictures per occasion, with each person getting a four-piece photo strip and the organiser getting a copy of each picture taken.

But the attraction is that it adds an entertainment factor to the photography aspect of an event.

"There's the secrecy, the goofing off behind the curtain and then the big reveal.

"It guarantees photos of all your guests and they all get a picture to take away immediately. It is not something I could offer as a photographer."

Mr Howard intends to improve the software to offer more options for customers. He says the plan is to replicate the booth to capture more events.

"I wanted it to be so it doesn't need a photographer operating it. I'd like more of them, maybe through licences."

With weddings, corporate conferences and parties in the Amazing Travelling repertoire so far, the spectre of competition has arrived, with other photobooth operators importing the standard railway station style units.

But Mr Howard says the unique look and experience of his mobile business are its competitive edge.

"If you've got an event with people worrying about the table settings, they are going to want the photobooth to fit, too. Everybody loves beautiful things; it is about the experience, not just the photos."

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