To start I have to say that i am the owner of a photo booth rental company in Michigan so I am biased as to what my company does but I think that I have some great insight as to things that make a company good or bad.
A great photo booth company needs to be up front about all it’s prices. There are two types of companies, all inclusive companies who have packages that include everything like prop boxes, scrapbooks, digital copies and online hosting of your pictures. Then there are al a carte companies that have a per hour rate that will be lower than the all inclusive packages but then charge for anything additional like the prop box, the scrapbook, and the other things mentioned above. The great companies give all inclusive rates that way there are no surprises. When you are comparing prices between two companies its important that you know what that price includes. That being said there are a few things that you should not be charged for and if someone does charge you for these i would classify these as companies to avoid. You should not be charged for set up and tear down nor should this time count against your packaged rental time for instance if you book the photo booth for three hours you should be able to use the booth for all three hours. The 20 or 30 minutes it takes to set up and tear down should not cut into your booth time. You should not be charged for an attendant to stay with the photo booth. Most booths need some to stay with it to insure that it runs properly and to insure that if something happens they can fix it and keep it running. As long as the companies don’t do this you might be able to label them as great.Photo Booth
A great company will have great equipment.
There are two things that make a photo booth company great. #1 is their customer service and #2 is the quality of their booth. They could be the nicest people on earth but if the booth looks cheap and flimsy it will drastically take away from your guests experience. Also the booth could look really nice but if it takes bad pictures and it takes minutes to print your pictures your guest will get bored waiting and not as many of them will get a chance to get in the booth to have a great time. A great company will have all the latest technology. One thing you should really ask about is what kind of printer the company uses. The dye sub laminating printer is the industry standard for quality. This printer can produce prints in seconds that are identical in quality to what you would get from a professionally photo lab. These pictures are water resistant and should last for years. These printers are expensive the can cost up to $1000.00 but are well worth it. They produce constant results and they can print 200 photos on a single cartridge which means less down time and more time for you and your guest to be in the booth. They don’t spray the ink like the cheaper inkjet printers so you don’t have to worry about the pictures getting smudged. Some off the other parts of the photo booth that are important are the type of cameras used. Some of the cheap booths use a web cam like you would have on your computer. These can produce grainy picture our worse, out of focus pictures. The great companies use professional SLR cameras with automatic focus and a flash. These cameras produce pictures that you will cherish for a long time.
Great companies in Michigan will have a combination of great service and great equipment. Don’t settle for less and your photo booth will be the best experience you have ever had at an event.