Help - I want to setup a photobooth!

[scheme2099]

Need some advice. I want to setup a booth with as little equip as possible with a small to medium sized white backdrop.

What is the most minimal lighting and other equip I could get and be effective. Hopefully something I can carry in a large hockey duffle bag?

Also is there some sort of device or method I can use to display the pics directly on a TV?

Thanks In Advance

[OsmosisStudios]

Quick and dirty: 2 flashes, 2 umbrellas, 2 stands. Set them up either with 45 degree angles or one head on and one off to the side (like an L), camera on a tripod. Tadaa!

OsMo has it right. Vivitar 285HVs are pretty cheap, and have good power. Get a couple wireless flash triggers from ebay ($30 total), and 2 umbrella/light stands.

For the white background, paper works best, but you can't really fold it up. It's a big, 9 foot long roll. You'll also need a backdrop holder.

For a display, you can get a wireless SD card that will transmit all your photos to a computer. You can probably find a slideshow program that will either display the newest photo or just rotate through all the photos in the folder.

Total cost (rough estimate):
$140 for flashes
$30 for wireless triggers
$60 for paper
$100 for backdrop holder
$150 for light stand/umbrellas
$50 for wireless SD card
$300 for laptop (if you don't have one already).

[OsmosisStudios]

I think those numbers are a bit low. For instance: $300 laptops are hard to come by, as would $150 lightstands/umbrellas. I'd see maybe for ONE set, but not for two.

[Dennismc]

Impact | Digital Flash Umbrella Mount Kit | DFUMK | B&H Photo

99.99 for two, Impact line

or better

Smith-Victor | UK2 Umbrella Kit with Brackets, Stands, | 401484

SV 112.00

As for laptops, 300 is pushing it for for a usable good one, but I can get 1.8gz ones for about that would work for just basic editing and display.

You don't need a beefy laptop for this. The laptop that runs my fully-automated photo booth was only $250. While that was an exceptional deal, a $300 Best Buy laptop will do just fine. All you're doing is storing and displaying photos...a 10-year-old Pentium 2 could do that.

As for light stands/umbrellas, I'm pretty sure I got a couple Lumo Pros from Midwest for about $150 (give or take $20), including flash mounts. They're very portable, and are highly recommended in the Strobist group.

And I was a bit off on the flashes...there's a Yonguo out there for under $50 that would do the job. Just saw one e-bay for $46 shipped (buy it now).

But we could ramble all day about gear...check out the Strobist group on Flickr, and you can read about all the nifty gear that they use (and it's usually pretty inexpensive).