Having Big Fun While Being Safe

Working as a photo booth vendor in the Jacksonville and north Florida area, I’ve been to many events during COVID. Not as many as last year. Here’s what I’ve seen at the weddings, birthday parties and graduations. No one is wearing masks. That’s the first and last word. No one but me. My last event was for an elementary school – 8th graders mostly. None of them were wearing masks. The chaperones, if they were called that, were not wearing masks. It’s incredible to me. Sad.

In a sane and perfect world, you would wear your mask up until the point where your photo booth session starts. As a photobooth attendant, I am in close contact, closer than the 6 feet of social distance. Even though I am wearing a mask, my instructions are heard and my guests have a great time.

In our photobooth, we do the 4 pose photo strip. That seems like the right number of poses. Three is over too soon. The first one is always a warm-up. The second one is more daring. The third gets more fun and the last one is where they go for it. As of late, for the last year, I have been very selective of what photobooth props I put out. Usually none. Glasses are my favorite even when there’s not a pandemic going on. They are fun and easy to wipe with a disinfectant. Guests like them, too. Sometimes they like them so much they take them home by accident.

After the photobooth stills are done, I invite my guests to text their strips to themselves. They do. Then we do a boomerang video. All the while, no one is wearing a mask. Lots of laughter means lots of particles of spit. Just another reason to wear a maks and glasses of some kind.