How to Create an Exciting Portrait Photography Booth at an Expo

Baby photographers represent a large portion of the portrait photography community.

A portrait photographer’s booth at an expo needs to attract a large amount of attention in order to make an impression on other photographers and to increase business. There are many ways to design an expo booth exciting enough to meet these goals. An expo booth must have personality and color with a minimum of open white space. It must be inviting and it must reflect the worldview and inspirations of the photographer.

Things You'll Need

• Sample photographs
• Makeshift frames
• Backdrop
• Furniture
• Accessories
• Laptop
• Wireless printer
• Camera
• Business cards

Instructions

1. Place some kind of plaque with your name in the center of your display, or, better yet, place a large banner in a prominent spot. Expo participants need to know who you are and any photos taken of your booth need your name clearly displayed.

2. Fill your booth space. A portrait photographer obviously needs to display her photos but a booth that consists of nothing more than photos will ultimately be boring. Use furniture to fill your floor space and decorate with smaller framed photographs or flowers or blankets.

3. Use your subjects as inspiration for the design of your booth. If you shoot babies, for example, consider designing a booth that looks like a nursery. If your niche is wedding photography, design your booth to resemble a bride’s dressing room or a honeymoon suite. Use a crib, a changing table or a rocking chair in a nursery or a settee, a clothing rack and a mirror for a bridal dressing room.

4. Display samples of your work around and behind your floor space. For many portrait photographers, this is a small fold-out wall that fits at the back end of the expo booth. Instead of just sticking your photographs to the wall, accent them with simple frames made out of paper and painted.

5. Make your expo booth interactive. With a digital camera, a USB cable, a wireless printer, backgrounds and a few props, you can offer to take portraits of visitors and either print or email them during or after the expo.

Tips & Warnings

• The backdrop of your booth should never simply be white; white is very plain and will not attract attention. Use a honey-colored backdrop that will match almost any photo in any color. If your images are particularly dramatic, consider using brighter colors such as red or aquamarine. If you do black-and-white photography, use a dark color for your background to bring out the images in your photos. Keep a large number of business cards available.

• Don’t get too carried away designing your booth. While a booth does need to be attractive and exciting to increase your business, breaking the bank to do it will ultimately drain you financially.

References

• Aria Photography: Photography Wedding Expo Booth
• Paperie Boutique: Simply. Baby.
• Coralily: Swaddle Designs at the ABC Trade Show