The Byron Colby Barn was built in 1885 and is a cool place to have a wedding just outside of Chicago. Our vintage photo booth setup fit in perfectly with the wood structure and old silo barn bar! Check out the place below.
Fotio in action!
View from the top of the barn where we set up.
The cool bar in the silo!
Looking up inside the barn.
The bride and groom taking a picture!
With the help of Venue Logic, we had the opportunity of covering Dennis Manarchy's (Rockford, Illinois native!) reception for his 35ft. film camera/project called Butterflies and Buffalo. This camera is huge and beautiful and records images to 6ft negatives. We got to meet the many designers and artists involved in the project who were all extremely nice and informative. We used the shrubbery and evening sky as a photo booth backdrop outside 2 N. Riverside Plaza right along the river in downtown Chicago (where the camera has been displayed). View all of the photo booth pictures at http://fotio.co/9-26-13
A Fotio portrait of Theresa and photographer Dennis Manarchy
A picture of Dennis Manarchy talking to the crowd.
Enormous print shot by world's largest film camera!
The giant fabricated film lens.
Huge Film Camera meets Fotio!
Fotio in downtown Chicago.
Thanks to Venue Logic and Block Thirty Seven!
Drumbar is definitely a cool place for a rooftop gathering in downtown Chicago right in the Raffaello Hotel. It has a kind of speakeasy feel inside with some interesting corners/booths to get drinks in. The outside patio has lots of chill seating along with some flames to keep you warm. We got to Drumbar early to setup Fotio and they were jamming some classic Bob Marley tunes which helped us get into the mood. Later in the evening the music turned more to dance (they had a DJ playing in the bar) and they place was packed with wall to wall people. Luckily the staff was super nice and helped us escape through the backroom with all of our equipment. All in all it was a very successful surprise 50th birthday party! We used our standard black backdrop and brought some speakeasy inspired photo booth props like black hats, fur scarves, and a fake cigar! Check out all the photos at www.fotio.co/9-21-13
Fotio Wooden Camera Photo Booth
Speakeasy Inspired Photo Booth Props!
Keep Warm on the Rooftop Patio!
Vaulted Ceilings in Drumbar Chicago
Chicago Night Sky.
Martin Roche's Cathedral Hall is such an elegant wedding space right in downtown Chicago complete with vaulted ceilings, painted crests, and stone walls. The historic University Club building was completed in 1909 and is Chicago's first "gothic skyscraper." Needless to say our vintage photo booth setup fit right in with the aesthetics of the venue. View all the photo booth pictures from the evening at http://fotio.co/8-31-13
University Club of Chicago Cathedral Hall
View of Millennium Park from Cathedral Hall balcony
Fotio Photo Booth in Cathedral Hall
Vintage inspired Photo Booth Props
Wedding attendees pose for pictures against the stone wall.
What an awesome downtown Chicago wedding at the Berghoff on 17 W. Adams St. last weekend. Emilie and Garth are such a great couple, and everyone had had so much fun celebrating their love! The party started in the downstairs bar for some happy hour cocktails and later moved up to the famous Century Room on the first floor for dinner, dancing, and Fotio. The Berghoff offered some rare brews including their German "Dortwunder" lager, Kotbusser style pale ale, and German Sir Dunkle Crispy Dark! The Century Room fits around 120 people comfortably with some room to spare for the DJ and a small open air photo booth like ours. "Style Matters" DJ company was rocking some serious jams while everyone was dancing and taking awesome black and white photos. The Berghoff catering staff worked wonders on the delicious food and beautiful table sets. We set up Fotio against the classic wood paneling- view all the photos from the night here.
A picture of Garth Borovicka and Emilie Sims.
The Berghoff Restaurant Chicago
Chicago Brewery Berghoff Beers
Berghoff Catering Wedding Table Set
Tryptic Painted Mural in the Century Room.
Fotio Photo Booth Rental Chicago.
They used a Fotio picture for their wedding sign!
An eccentric shaped wedding gift.
This is a wedding cake. No joke.
Custom magnet weddings favors!
OK Fotio fans, check out this super fun movie-themed wedding we covered in Batavia, IL at Riverview Banquets along the Fox River. This was a serious mash-up of Frank Sinatra music, Roaring 20s flare, Star Wars sci-fi inspiration, along with a "going to the movies" wedding theme! I mean, the DJ introduced the wedding party with Star Wars music while the bridesmaids and groomsmen came out wielding red light-sabers and play fighting! Not only was this was an epic way to enter the party it also got everyone's attention on the important people! The guests found their seating arrangements with cool miniature director/film slates which had each person's name and table on it. There was even had a classic 16mm film projector which accompanied the cool name slates. Plus each of the tables had classic movie names such as "Gone with the Wind." Our vintage wooden camera photo booth look fit in perfectly with the fun wedding themes. We brought a good mix of photo booth props including some classics like our feather boa, captains hat, and fur scarf as well as some crazier ones like our "pink unicorn on a stick." The wedding guests took some 550 pictures. View them all at www.fotio.co/8-10-13
Riverview Banquets Catering.
The gazebo at Riverview Banquets Batavia, IL.
Movie themed wedding seat arrangements with vintage 16mm film projector.
Each table was named with a different movie!
Blue striped wedding cake.
Guests watching the photo booth slideshow.
Photo booth props including "Unicorn on a Stick."
Taking some fun pictures with Fotio!
Just call us HORSE BOOTH. We arrived early to setup at Gallery 1028 and were very surprised to find a giant horse as our photography backdrop! We had planned on a nice and clean white background along with some outdoor/camping themed props for the party. But everyone was so excited about the horse we decided to roll with it. And good thing we did because it was a huge hit! I mean who doesn't want their picture taken with a giant life-sized horse sculpture?
The Firefly ball is a fundraiser which sends Chicago children to summer camp. They had some awesome sponsors like Revolution Brewery which supplied some Anti-Hero Double Fist IPA as well as Piece Pizza with some seriously delicious late night ZA. Thanks to event planner Carlene Smith from Naturally Yours Events who helped us get involved in this cool fundraiser!
Hilariously, everyone thought our photo booth company supplied the horse and were asking "what other kinds of background we do" and calling us "horse booth." Scroll down to check out some cool photos from the event and view all the horse booth pictures we took with Fotio here.
Firefly Ball Photo Booth Sign.
Picture-taking with the horse!
Brave girl sitting on the horse for a picture.
DJ Hammurabi rocking some beats in front of the star scape background!
Off the Street Club Kids.
Horse and vintage wooden photo booth.
Carlene Smith from Naturally Yours Events!
We are pumped to help some cool animals tonight at the Bet on a Pittie Casino Night taking place at Chicago Party Animals. It's a Pittie is a great organization that rescues pit bull's in need of some human loving. They help find foster homes and eventually permanent homes for many pit bulls around Chicago. Pit bull's are extremely loyal and kind dogs that are quite misunderstood. Many owners take advantage of the pit bull's loyalty and do not properly train/socialize them. Thankfully It's a Pittie Rescue is here to help rehabilitate the animals so they can have another chance at life!
We had a super fun time at Chicago's Indie Wed Bridal Show at the Zhou B Art Center. It was our first Indie Wed and we met lots of amazing people. Even Magnolia Photo Booth and Matt from Smilebooth came to say hello! Everyone was very excited about our new photo booth concept. We made great friends with Matushek Photography (a cool husband-wife team) who kept coming by to take pictures with us. Check out their blog about Indie Wed too! View all of the Fotio photos from the event at www.fotio.co/7-28-13
A hand painted folding sign we made for our vintage camera photo booth look.
We call her baby dove. Our camera is hand crafted with solid oak dovetail joints, a brass lens, and black leather bellows. Take a ticket to view your pictures later online!
Here's an assortment of some of our photo booth props. For this Wedding Show we brought a handful of vintage props along with some of our wilder ones (like the pink unicorn and wolf hands!)
Theresa and Heather taking some selfies with some fun stick props and vintage hats!
We've been having a great summer crashing the Guerilla Truck Show with husARchitecture, photographing some Backyard BBQ Photo Booth action, and hanging out in Logan Square attending block parties. This weekend we will also be set up at the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival in Chicago so come take some cool photo booth pictures! It will be on Milwaukee Ave. from Kimball to Diversey in Logan Square. We will be running intermittently during the fest near the south end in the husARchitecture tent. We will be there Friday at 5:00pm sharp. Email or text for specific times on other days. Also, Fotio is now on Instagram!
Fotio's open air photo booth design at the Guerilla Truck Show.
Fotio photo booth setup at a backyard BBQ graduation party in Portage Park.
Our good friends over at Hippo Bear Media are now creating sleek and customized wedding websites! What a cool idea and great way to help everyone remember all of the important details for your special day. You can choose your own colors/patterns that match your wedding, your own unique URL, and envision a design that truly reflects you and your partner! There is no reason to settle for a cookie cutter template website (usually with a strange URL!) when you can use Hippo Bear to help make you an affordable yet unique and memorable website.
In preparation for Saturday's annual pug party here in Chicago, we thought it would be a good idea to change up our normal Fotio set-up to make it a bit more pug friendly. Since we have a free-standing open air photobooth, we decided to assemble a kind of "pug pedestal" for the animals to rest on while we photograph them. Our dog, a Manchester Terrier, was nice enough to do her best pug impression for us while we tested out new Fotio heights and lights. Our goal was to switch our normal human friendly set up for something that would capture some serious pug personality instead. We hope they like it!
The Party is from 12:00-5:00 at Chicago Party Animals at 1133 W. Fulton Market. Visit pugparty.com for more info!
A picture of our black and tan Manchester Terrier licking her nose!
Portrait of a Manchester Terrier.
What a great time we had at Chicago's Dose Market at the River East Arts Center for Mother's Day! View all of the photo booth pictures here.
Fotio!
Family friendly Chicago photo booth.
Here is a picture of April Francis that she took with Fotio!
Check out Chicago's coolest photo booth in this promo video we made with Abe's market at the Congress Theater on Milwaukee Ave. Thanks to our beloved models for helping us make the video. And special thanks to the Congress Theater for letting us shoot in the epic lobby space! Enjoy.
We got to attend a 2013 Graduation party for the Notre Dame EMBA class at Quartino Ristorante and Wine Bar in Chicago, IL this past Saturday. Fotio was a hit! Everyone loved taking the pictures themselves with our newly designed red shutter release button. As for Quartino, the place was awesome and the food was killer. They had a swanky buffet set up with delicious fried calamari and servers walking around with oven-fresh pizza slices for everyone to enjoy. Below are a few pictures of our photo booth rental setup in the cool looking space. Check out all the photos at www.fotio.co/5-11-13
We brought Fotio to Architectural Artifacts in Ravenswood for Sara and JP's wedding last week. It was a very classy and fun affair. They hung swooping lights across the main dance floor which gave the indoor space a kind of outside ambient feel. And they had some seriously tasty goodies from J&L Catering such as grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and fresh old-fashioned doughnuts! Our wooden box camera free standing photo booth design fit in perfectly with the old-timey feel and reclaimed historic pieces that cover the walls of the space. We used a large vintage/reclaimed stained glass window as a photography backdrop which looked really cool and set the mood for the nights photos. This vintage Chicago wedding/event venue would be perfect for any kind of vintage themed wedding or even a Great Gatsby party!
If you are considering Fotio for your next party and would like to see it in action, come check us out at these upcoming events! We are Chicago's coolest photo booth with a vintage look and freestanding photo booth design. You can book Fotio photo booth for your next Graduation Party, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Wedding Reception, Corporate/Work Party, Backyard BBQ, or Black Tie Ball.
Dose Market at the River East Art Center on Mother's Day May 12, 2013.
WedLocal at the Double Door on May 19
IndieWed at Zhou B Art Center on July 28
Fotio made an appearance at Art of Imagination for their Jenny Yoo bridal gown/wedding dress giveaway on April 24th! We enjoyed delicious sushi by Thalia Spice (make sure to try their "Sweet Fuji" sweet potato crunch rolls) and delectable deserts from Bombon cakes (their individual tarts are to die for!). We also really enjoyed meeting the engaged couples who made it to the top 5 in the contest! They all had such cool ideas for their weddings ranging from a backyard party with home-brewed beer favors to an Alice in Wonderland theme to an all green wedding with little to no waste! Lucky for us one of the couples could not make the party so we got sent home with a modern and thoughtful floral arrangement by floral designer Juliet Tan! As you can probably tell, we had an excellent time and Fotio was a hit - you can see all of the pictures here.
Harvey couldn't help himself taking pictures of Fotio during the magic hour light.
Take a red ticket to retrieve your pictures online!
Guests viewing the photo booth slideshow.
Art of Imagination had an awesome draped background ready for us!
Colored light, delicate shadows, and crystal balls - the space felt magical.
The couple who won the dress! They loved Fotio and were excited to learn that we are a print-less photo booth. Congrats you two!
Fotio had fun video shoot with Abe's Market and Vanilla Video at the Congress Theater last week. We are excited to be featured on the new Abe's Market event services portion of their website which will launch early next month. Abe's Market is a green company where you can purchase Eco-friendly products (and now services!) that go through stringent Abe's Market verification. Abe's market really liked us since we are a print-less photo booth rental company. Let us give an extra special thanks to Eddie and Barbara who let us use the Congress Theater entrance way as an epic backdrop. Our vintage camera setup looked amazing in front of the grand stairwell and entrance-way!
For the past couple weeks, we have been covertly building our second Fotio machine. We made a few improvements to the Fotio experience, and are crazy keened to share the details with you! First, we simplified the front plate where the lens is located. Our first model used the on-board Canon T4i flash, but we have since upgraded to the Alien Bees AB800 strobe unit with beauty dish and honeycomb grid which gives our pictures the signature look. Therefore, we no longer need the second brass flash lens above the camera lens. We aren't necessarily getting rid of our first model "Old Snappy," but it'll be more of our backup rig. Second, we improved the joints of the box portion of the camera. We picked up a Porter Cable 4210 dovetail jig so Harvey could cut these awesome looking joints with the half blind dovetail template and Porter Cable Router. The dovetail joint is an extremely strong means of joining two pieces of wood which predates written history and was used for tombs in Egypt and tombs of Chinese Emperors! Last but not least, we made some improvements to the ventilation system and hand-made leather bellows. Yay for our second born, Baby Dove!
A super sneak peak of Fotio 2.0! Check out the blind dovetails and front plate!
Buying some oak and dovetail jig.
Testing out blind dovetail joints.
Theresa sawing off the 20" iMac!
