I'm in South Cackalacky for the week getting Lasik, and in honor of the snow-pseudo-polcalypse that ravaged the coast scared everyone a bit more than was necessary, I have put together a new Winter Wonderland photobooth template for Photobooth Creator. This template is the perfect edition to your snow day parties (though I won't be offended if you call it Winter Horrorland, I'm not a giant fan of the snow myself).

Here's the theme:

Just try to keep everyone from getting stuck at your house. No one is going to want to sleep on the carpet after last time.

Have any other ideas for photobooth templates you'd like? Send me an email or holler at me on Twitter and let me know about them!

One of the coolest features of Photobooth Creator is the ability to set up a real-time slideshow of the pictures taken in your booth thus far. This feature emerged from one of the early proto-booths that was set up for an office party we had. To get people to participate, we (using arcane, nerdy computer magic) transferred all the pictures taken to another computer as they were taken. This other computer then ran a slideshow on a projector we had in the office, occasionally reloading the pictures to grab the new ones.

Man, what a headache! As fragile things often do, this "system" kept breaking, requiring me and my coworkers to patch and repair it, in increasing states of inebriation. Nonetheless, it was a great hit and it served the purpose wonderfully: our party attendees would go and take crazy pictures of themselves just to see them show up on the screen.

Luckily, for Photobooth Creator users, it isn't nearly so complicated. Because your booth is hosted on the internet, all of the photos you take are automatically available to other computers as well. Setting up a slideshow like the one at our party is as simple as finding another computer or laptop you can hook up to a TV, projector, or computer monitor! If you're not using Photobooth Creator, you can still have a slideshow, but you'll need something like Dropbox to glue it together.

Setting up a photobooth slideshow

Here's how to set up your slideshow using Photobooth Creator:

1. Get your photobooth set up and ready to go.. Though not strictly necessary, your slideshow won't work until you have some pictures taken, so go ahead and take a few to test it out. You can always delete them later.

2. Find another laptop, computer, tablet, or something else you can hook up to a screen: TV, projector, screen, etc. From that device, go to your booth URL (it was sent to you in your receipt email). You'll have to enter your password again, but when you do you'll be at your photobooth dashboard.

3. From your photobooth dashboard, click the button underneath "Set up a slideshow!" This will bring up the Slideshow page:

   

4. You can optionally set a timeout value from this screen. Feeling frantic? Choose 1 second.

5. Hook up your device to your screen, and click the "Enter fullscreen mode" button. Your device will go fullscreen and cycle through your pictures randomly.

As you take new pictures, they will appear automatically in the random rotation. At this point, you can leave your slideshow running for the duration of your party.

Tips

Here are a couple tips to get the most out of your slideshow.

• Make it visible. Unlike the photobooth itself, which benefits from some isolation, your slideshow should be as front-and-center as you can make it. Having the party in the living room? Put it on the flatscreen. At the office? Bring the projector out into the main area. You want people to see the slideshow to encourage them to use the photobooth.

• Take some seed shots. In my experience, the slideshow creates a sort of contest among the guests: who can produce the craziest picture? To get this going, you should take some crazy shots of yourself, and ideally take several. This way the slideshow doesn't repeat the image of you trying out the booth for the first time.

Thoughts? Feelings? Send me an email or holler at me on Twitter and let me know about them!

If you're anything like me, you love the Olympics. Competition on the international stage, literally the best athletes in the world, and a laundry list of obscure sports occurring at times when everyone else in the country is asleep. Am I going to get up at 3AM to watch the curling semifinals? You can put money on it.

Since the 2014 Winter Olympics are rapidly approaching, I've put together a Winter Olympics-themed photobooth template for your all your Olympics party needs. Grab a handful of old 5K medals out of the closet (mine all say "participant"!) and throw on your ski goggles and you and your guests will be indistinguishable from the world-class men and women tearing up the slopes in Sochi this year.

Here's a quick peek at the theme:

With this template, you still won't know know how skeleton works, but it won't matter: your party will rock anyway.

Have any other ideas for photobooth templates you'd like? Send me an email or holler at me on Twitter and let me know about them!

Always on the lookout for cool photobooth ideas, I have found a few resources the enterprising photobooth host can use. These sites have everything from theme ideas, to free printable props, to backdrops, to simple inspiration.

Oh Happy Day has (among other things) beautifully designed photobooth props and backdrops. Batteries totally included, as each project typically contains detailed DIY instructions and high-quality build photos. With Valentine's Day coming up, be sure to check out the Sweet Lips props. You are having a booth for V-day aren't you?

Pixilated Photobooth has several nice sets of printable props, from mustaches to wedding props. They also have a lot of nice inspirational shots from booths they've hosted, and be sure to check out their video on how to make photobooth props.

Photojojo has several easy-but-cool DIY photobooth backdrops that can be made for next to nothing. I think the streamer backdrop is a particularly cool way to add a lot of color.

Have any other great resources you've used to liven your photobooth? Send me an email or holler at me on Twitter and let me know about them!

Man, I love the past. How else could I explain this ridiculous, semi-ironic mustache and beard that I have? That Overly Manly Man meme always makes me giggle. Any time I read about the hardships and sadness of American pioneers, I am filled with maudlin and sigh big sighs for times gone by.

Luckily, with the creation of the Olde Timey photobooth template for Photobooth Creator, I can sigh no more! This new template takes me back, way back, to the days before my grandparents were born! It's got a sweet handbill-looking wooden type font, and a nifty tintype-looking overlay (though don't worry, the photos you take will still look like normal).

Without further adieu, here's what the new Olde Timey photo booth template looks like:

With stuff looking this old timey, I can completely forget that I am not in a saloon in the Western Territories, having my picture taken by an affable con artist instead of in a college dorm in front of a computer. Ah the good old days!

Have any cool ideas for other custom booth templates? Send me an email and let me know about them!