David Cline, a 19-year-old university student in the Philadelphia area, used his computer wizardry to give his sister a fantastic present for her wedding.
She had wanted to get a photo booth for the reception, so that guests could take home photo-strip mementos of the occasion and she could have copies of the images for her own picture album. But renting a digital booth -- like the ones used in arcades that have also become popular for special occasions -- for a day would have cost nearly $2,000.
Instead, David cleverly used his Macbook laptop, a $99 printer, an old wardrobe frame and some Ikea shower curtains for a do-it-yourself photo booth.
On his blog, you can see
a video of it in operation on the big day.
He programmed the computer (using the free Automator program that comes with late-model Macs) so that guests were prompted to enter their names on the laptop. Three pictures were taken, which were printed on a strip to take home. The pictures were also saved on the computer for his sister.
Judging by the video, guests sometimes took the opportunity to make goofy poses, just like in a real photo booth, and all seemed to be having a good time. Maybe more so than just posing for a photographer.
Cline is distributing the program he used on his site for a donation of any size. And by the way, his DIY photo booth is available for rent in his area. He's also a DJ and a freelance violinist who will play for special occasions.
This guy knows how to party.
-- David Colker
