STARTING A CAMPER PHOTO BOOTH BUSINESS PT 1 : INTRODUCTION

SO YOU WANT TO START A CAMPER PHOTO BOOTH BUSINESS, THAT’S GREAT!

We (Conan & Katherine) started our camper photo booth business back in 2013 so we’ve been at it a while and are pleased to say that our photo booth business has been our full time job for several years now so it’s a great way to work for yourself, have fun, and learn new things!

Since we’ve been doing this for 8 years now we get asked a lot of questions and we thought it would be best to put the answers here to refer to as well as give a more in depth explanation of some things than we can in an instagram message.

This course will be broken down into 4 separate posts so you can easily refer to the section you are interested in:

• Introduction (about us, about our camper, our story)

• Questions to ask before getting started

• Buying your camper (things to look for, things to avoid)

• Equipment

• Getting a good photo

• Troubleshooting/FAQ

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ABOUT US

KATHERINE

CONAN

We started Lamphouse Photo Co. in 2013 with an idea about making photo taking an experience where every detail was thoughtfully considered from the props to the quality of the photos.

Since then we’ve been a part of over 1000 birthdays, weddings, corporate events, and more!

I (Katherine) studied Integrated Marketing Communications at Wichita State University

Conan studied fine arts with an emphasis in painting and anthropology at Wichita State University as well

Conan went on to work for over 20 years in the retail camera sales and photography industry, eventually instructing at Mark Arts in Wichita, Kansas.

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ABOUT OUR CAMPER

The “Little” Lampy Camper is a 1956 Aljo

The camper is 14’ long from tongue to bumper, 7’ wide and 9’ tall

It operates on a single 110v outlet

We purchased the camper (our second photo booth camper reno) in 2016 for $600

We completely re built the interior

You can read all about the process of purchasing and renovating the camper here.

Up next: Finding the right camper

WE'RE IN APARTMENT THERAPY!

In March of 2020 like the rest of the world, we were thrown into chaos. Overnight, our booming year of events and weddings was canceled and we were left wondering what to do next.

So we did what anyone would do - we started a YouTube channel remodeling vintage campers! We started with this 1968 Play Mor 140:

BEFORE:

AND AFTER:

Recently, our work was recognized with a full before & after tour on Apartment Therapy!

You can read the full interview here

AND you can watch the entire first series of Trailer Trash to Treasure on our Youtube Channel here.

This charming little camper is also FOR RENT for elopement shoots, styled shoots, and content creation shoots! Shoot us an email to learn more!

SEVEN YEARS OF LAMPHOUSE!

2020 MARKS 7 YEARS OF SNAPPING PICS ALL OVER WICHITA, KS!

Here’s a little walk down memory lane:

In October of 2012 we bought our first vintage camper, a 1967 Conestoga. We spent the next eight months renovating it inside and out to be used as a traveling large-format photography studio and darkroom…

Above is what the Lampy camper exterior looked like on day one when we brought her home and at an event in 2013 after we cleaned her up.

Below is the Lampy camper photo studio before and after:

We went on to design and build the Birdie Booth for indoor photo booth events:

And in 2017 we purchased the Little “Lampy” Camper that we still use at events today!

Here she is the day we brought her home:

And at a beautiful wedding at Prairie Hill Vineyard last summer:

We’ve had such an awesome seven years growing our business from neat little idea to 25,000 pictures per year and we are so grateful that we get to get up every day and do what we love in a city that supports our efforts to try something new. With the help of our amazing team we’re able to meet new challenges and get better with each event!

If you’ve had us to your wedding, corporate party, birthday, Quinceanera, anniversary, whatever! THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.

To celebrate, we’re doing a BIG photo booth giveaway over on our vintage camper renovation YouTube Channel: Trailer Trash to Treasure - get the deets on how to enter at the end of this video:

- Katherine & Conan

VINTAGE CAMPER REMODEL

We bought another vintage camper!

If you’re keeping track, this is our third camper renovation and our smallest yet, at just 14 feet long.

It’s a Play-Mor Model 140 from 1968 and as you can see from these interior shots, it needs a little work!

For this camper, we’re going to do a frame off renovation which means that entire camper is taken apart and rebuilt from the frame up.

We’ve already started demolition and are starting to rebuild the frame and walls now.

You can follow along with the renovation on our YouTube Channel: Trailer Trash to Treasure

We’re so excited to share this process from start to finish with everyone! On our previous renovations we’ve been so under the gun that we haven’t properly documented all of the fun stuff that goes into a vintage camper remodel but now we have some time on our hands to dig into this BIG project!

We’ll share occasional updates here about interior and exterior plans and before and afters but be sure to LIKE & SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel to get new videos of our progress every Sunday!

LITTLE LAMPY INTERIOR TOUR

The time has finally come to reveal the interior of the Little "Lampy" Camper in all of its teeny tiny glory! The official square footage of LL is roughly 150 feet (at least that's about how much flooring we bought - more on that later) and we've kept it light and bright to make the space feel open when it's jam packed full of people! 

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First up, this is how the "bedroom" end of LL looked when we brought her home in July 2017: 

and the after:

And the dining side before: 

and after:

The whole overhaul took us about 5 months to the day and cost around $3,600 not including the photo booth electronics and equipment that we already had. The interior walls are the lightest possible shade of pink (Magnolia's Antique Rose from Ace Hardware).

For a full look at the process, get that scrolling finger ready!

We started out by removing all of the old cabinets and paneling:

Then came removing the old insulation:

Then we were left with a LOT of rotten wood: 

From there, it was a matter of removing the skin (you can see a pic of one small section removed in my last post), rebuilding the frame with new wood, and reattaching the skin (easy peasy!) 

Then it was time to do the wiring:

re-insulate and put up the walls: 

If you're eagle eyed, you might see a little something carved on one of the studs in the pic above. Since we've done two of these campers now we figured we should keep the tradition going and carve our initials into it somewhere. Here's our initials in the original Lampy Camper from 2012 and the Little Lampy Camper in 2017:

Lastly, we build the cabinets and put in the flooring and trim. We stuck (pun intended) with peel and stick flooring just like the first camper because it has done just fine for the past five years. It's easy to clean, not very expensive, and this particular color doesn't show a lot of dirt.

And that's pretty much it! Of course, it was a LOT more work than a blog post can ever cover and I've skimmed over some of the details but all this to say it's pretty great now that we're all done and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

I've already done a couple of DIY decorating projects in the camper like this honeycomb installation right when you walk in:

And of course, adding some little touches like these awesome Heartlandia Stickers from Vortex Souvenir: 

And I'm super excited to get out and add some more decorations to the inside as the weather warms up and it's not a race against time and numb fingers to work outside ; ) 

For now though, it's back to business. The Little Lampy Camper has its very first wedding next week and we've already got a lot of other awesome public events planned for 2018! 

Thanks for following along on this little journey with us! If you see the Little "Lampy" Camper out and about, be sure and say "Hi!" and of course, if you have an awesome event or wedding coming up, be sure and Contact Us about bringing LL to the party! 

LITTLE LAMPY CAMPER REVEAL!

After about 5 months of working day and night, we're so pleased to finally reveal the Little "Lampy" Camper in all of its adorable glory! 

Join us for a little look back at the progress we made! 

This was the camper the day we brought it home in July:

If you'll recall, it was a little worse for wear.

What little paint that was on it was falling off, two of the windows (front and back) were completely broken

Big dents, a broken hitch, flat tires, and that didn't even start to cover the INSIDE of the camper! 

So, we started work demolishing the interior and began working on scraping the old paint off of the camper. 

We also removed all of the rotten wood inside the camper which meant removing the skin on almost all sides to repair, replace, and re-frame with new wood. More on that later but here's a harrowing photo to prove it: 

Once all of the old paint was removed and the skin of the camper was firmly back in place with new j-rail and fresh butyl tape, it was time to prime the camper: 

Now if you have been following us since the beginning of this journey, you may recall that I had a very "pink" vision for the Little "Lampy" Camper but after some thought about the variety of events that this would be used for and the overall look of our other booths, we decided to go with something a little more understated: 

The body is painted a very light blue-green color and off white. It really looks sharp with the orange marker lights...

And my favorite thing is that depending on the time of day, it changes just a little bit and can be more blue or more green!

Another really awesome project we were able to have done was the hand-lettered name on the back of the camper. It was done by a local sign painter, Canary Signs and it really is the cherry on top of the whole thing. 

So there you have it! 5 months almost to the day and Wichita's newest vintage camper photo booth is ready to roll out! It's already been a big hit at one event and I can't wait to see how many smiles it brings over the course of this year! 

We've already got several weddings booked and we're having so much fun brainstorming fun ideas and and events to take it to! If you're interested in booking the Little "Lampy" Camper or using it for a photo shoot or just about anything, Get in touch with us here! 

Up next, we'll do an interior tour and show some behind-the-scenes photos of the process of gutting and remodeling the inside of the camper! 

Here's a peek at the finished product: 

So excited for all of Wichita to get to see this little lady soon! 

DEMO DAY!

More like Demo Day(S) but whatever! Yay!

The weather finally dipped to a reasonable temperature and we were able to get started on camper demolition and exterior work! 

The first step was removing all of the cabinets, fixtures and old paneling. Here's a look at the before facing what would be the dining area: 

After the cabinets, came removal of all paneling: 

And finally, getting rid of all of the yucky old insulation until we're left with a clean(ish) metal slate: 

The same process on the other end (facing what would have been the bedroom area): 

So, it appears that we're missing something in that last photo. Something like, idk THE FLOOR! Turns out, the wheel well on the right side and most of the back rear wood was completely rotten so the floor had to be removed so it could be re-built. More on that at a later date but suffice to say, the "Little" Lampy will have a nice, new sturdy floor underfoot for all of her future guests! 

Speaking of floors, how cute is the flooring that was in here originally? S'cute! It's in terrible shape but it might be changing my mind a little on my original flooring ideas ; ) 

We also began work on the exterior of the camper. You can't tell from photos but there are at least 3 different paint jobs going on here, the last of which was applied with a brush : / so we're removing MOST of the old paint with stripper so that the new primer/paint has a smooth surface to adhere to! 

You can see the original colors of the camper on the left side. The bottom third or so was a blue green color and the top was cream. Pretty cute!

Here's a closer look:

And speaking of how the camper used to look, we found this incredible old photo of our exact camper: 

We discovered that it's an Aljo travel trailer, likely manufactured in 1956 or 1957. Neat! 

Hope you enjoyed a little look at what vintage camper demolition looks like! We're getting right back to work and we'll have more photos (with some new wood going into place) soon! 

Camper Inspiration

While we wait for the mercury to drop below 100, I thought it would be fun to share some of the images that are going to inspire our re-build of the little "Lampy" camper! 

That gif up there is a clue! Conan created the vector art for our 8th wedding anniversary and it was just too cute not to play with! Anyway onto the fun stuff: 

source

The wonderful photo above is almost *exactly* the color scheme I am interested in and not too far off from some of our current branding colors:

Still, I want to go a little more muted, a little more accessible for something with this much surface area and that will take a prominent place on our 2018 branding guides. 

Here's the images, textures and colors that are going to inspire little "Lampy":

Basically we have a dogwood pink (or millenial pink for you cool kids), palm leaf green, peach/brown and white. 

For the exterior, I would like to a very, very subtle shade of the Dogwood pink. I even shopped up a little sample: 

I want the outside to look good in the background of any picture and be very versatile depending on the event. 

Part of the fun of a camper photo booth is getting inside and having a little private house for a couple of minutes. The Lampy camper definitely gets a lot of oohs and ahhhs when people climb inside and I want the same effect here. I don't want to rely too heavily on the pink color (even though I think pink is TIMELESS ; ) since I realize that it's a trendy color. I'd like to incorporate different colors and textures of green to pop against all cream walls.

We used peel and stick flooring in the first Lampy and it has held up remarkably well so I plan to use the same stuff here in a lighter color. 

ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX

What do you guys think? 

I'm really excited to get started and see these ideas evolve and change as we get to know the camper. It sounds silly but that's really what happened with Lampy No. 1. I originally wanted to paint the exterior BLACK! 

Overall though, I think this is pretty lined up with what I want style-wise. Cozy, bright, plush, and something that would definitely catch your eye driving down the street : ) 

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for demolition progress and more fun stuff!