If you’re planning an event, you’re probably thinking if you should have a roving photographer or photo booth. In fact, that’s one of the most common questions that we get—what’s the difference and which should we hire?
Here’s our short answer.
You hire a roving photographer to document your event, and a photo booth to provide entertainment.
Let me elaborate, by first explaining what instant roving photography is.
What Is Roving Photography?
Roving photography is exactly what it sounds like—a photographer who is roving (or roaming) around your event to take photos. The photos are edited and printed on-the-spot, so your guests have a nice souvenir to bring home.
That said, we have some unique features at Ubersnap to make it even juicier.
With our instant roving photography service, you can take not just photos, but also GIFs—that you can turn into physical holographic prints. That’s a first in the world!
You can also get a digital copy of your photos right there, with zero waiting time.
Roving Photography or Photo Booth?
You might be thinking that instant roving photography sounds a lot like a photo booth, and you’d be right—many features are the same.
The difference is the context.
A photo booth is at a fixed location, with a nice backdrop and entertaining props. It’s where you can pull your friends for a fun social activity together. Many planners see photo booths as a type of event entertainment—just like carnival games or street magicians.
On the other hand, a roving photographer tends to blend into the background—seeking out decisive moments to take a photo. It’s a way to record your event for posterity.
Because they serve different purposes, many events will have both.
Now that you understand roving photography better, let’s talk about the 5 reasons why you’d want it for your event.
Reason #1: Take Photos and GIFs
At Ubersnap, we’re bringing the excitement back into instant roving photography—by introducing a fresh experience. For the first time, roving photographers can take not just photos, but also GIFs of your guests.
How is it done?
GIFs can be created by:
- Taking multiple photos and combining them
- Taking a short, looping video (like a boomerang)
These GIFs will be taken with a professional DSLR camera, then created and shown on a tablet (which is carried by an assistant) on-the-spot.
Reason #2: Receive Your Shots Immediately
You’ve been to many events, where a photographer would take a photo of you.
Now think about this—how many times have you received the photo? Almost never?
That’s a problem that happens too often!
Guests don’t get their photos; either because the photographer takes too long to edit them, or because the photos are uploaded to a gallery that no one sees. And who wants to scroll through a gallery with hundreds of photos, just to find their own?
At Ubersnap, we think this just doesn’t make any sense. So we’ve created our own solution for this.
Right after our roving photographer takes a photo or GIF of you, an assistant will show you the shot on a tablet. All you’ll need to do is enter your email or mobile number, to download it immediately.
It’s a real game changer, because now you can share your photos while the event is still happening! And for events like product launches, this is a huge opportunity for user-generated marketing.
Not to mention, it just makes sense that you get your own photos, without having to wait weeks for it.
Reason #3: Get Custom Designed Prints
We live in a digital world, but nothing beats holding a physical print in your hands.
With instant roving photography, we print out the photos on-the-spot—so your guests have a nice physical memento to bring home with them.
We can create custom designs for the prints, to include your branding—such as logos and borders.
4R prints? No problem. But we can do one better.
In 2016, we were the first to introduce our one-of-the-kind holographic prints to photo booths. And now, we’re introducing it to our instant roving photography service.
How does it work?
It’s simple. Our roving photographer will take GIFs of you, which you can download immediately. In a couple of minutes, you’ll also be able to collect your holographic print.
That’s how we’re bringing the excitement back to instant roving photography, by turning it into an experience.
Reason #4: Project the Shots on a Large Screen
You can turn roving photography into a social activity for your whole community, by displaying the shots on a large screen—like a projector or TV.
This all happens in real-time; so that once our roving photographer takes the shot, it’ll show up on the live gallery immediately.
We can even curate the live gallery on-the-spot, so that only the good shots will show up.
Everyone loves being in the spotlight once in a while, and this is an amazing way to make all of your guests feel special.
Reason #5: Suitable for Smaller Venues
We’ve worked on so many events where space—or rather, a lack of it—is a concern.
If you’re booking a smaller venue, you might not have space for a photo booth. If that happens, a roving photographer is a great alternative.
Like we said, many of the features are very similar. And a roving photographer doesn’t need any dedicated space at all.
Conclusion
Roving photography can be so much more than what you’re used to. It doesn’t have to be the same old, boring experience—that people barely pay any attention to today.
It can bring buzz and excitement to your event. But in order to achieve that, you need to bring something new to the table.
That’s exactly what we’re doing at Ubersnap.
With our instant roving photography service, you can take not just photos but GIFs, for the first time. You can download your shots immediately, so that you can share them on social media right away. You can get unique holographic prints of your GIFs and project the shots on a large screen—to bring a community aspect to the activity.
Most of all, you can give your guests an experience to remember.
