By Delaney Hiegert
The Wichita Eagle
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Meet the creative couple who have launched a photography business from a mobile camper. Up to 10 people at a time can hop into the camper, grab their props, find a spot on the bench just inside the door and pose for the camera.
WICHITA, Kan.
A round, vintage camper sits at Conan and Katherine Fugit’s house, its faded white paint chipping and its hitch starting to rust.
The Fugits plan to have it fixed up by the spring, but they won’t be getting it campsite ready.
Instead, they’ll be turning it into a photo booth.
The Fugits started Lamphouse Photo Booth Co. in 2012, a Wichita company that offers a range of unique photo booths for parties and events. They currently rent out two Birdie Boxes, small portable open air photo booths, the Wagoneer, a retro Jeep Grand Wagoneer with a customized tailgate insert that houses a photo booth and the Lampy Camper, the couple’s first vintage camper-turned-photo booth.
They bought the second camper to have a more compact alternative to the Lampy Camper, which is roughly 16 feet long and 8 feet wide. The new camper is about four feet shorter and a foot more narrow than that, Conan Fugit said.
That way, Katherine said, they can bring it into more indoor venues.
The new camper, once complete, will be designed similar to the original. Up to 10 people hop into the camper, grab their props, find a spot on the bench just inside the door and pose for the camera that’s situated toward the left end of the camper. The camera is housed inside a wooden box, giving it the usual photo booth appearance.
The inside of the Lampy is complete with painted walls and crown molding, wood flooring, fun party decorations and lights.
The booth is digitized and takes four pictures with seven second breaks between each. It prints out as many copies of the photo strips as desired and guests can enter their emails and have a digital copy sent that way, too.
Lamphouse designs a custom photo layout for each event, Conan said. Renters can also choose from a range of nearly 50 backdrops and customize the sign outside the camper. They also rotate through about 30-40 props, which range from donut inflatables to hand-crafted wooden monster eyes.
“We’ve done events that have had like 20 people at them. And we’ve done events that have had like 10,000 people at them,” Conan said.
The company has made appearances at birthday parties, weddings, and large events like Zoobilee. They’ll also attend public events like Final Fridays, Katherine Fudgit said, so people can get photos for free.
Katherine, 34, said she was contemplating starting a food truck back in 2012, but realized they had a better option.
“I got a food handlers card and really got into it. I had all these ideas. And then I was like, ‘I have never worked in food service. I’m not a cook…why would I do this?'” she said. “What I really wanted to do was have a mobile business because it’s fun and neat.”
Conan, 36, has had a passion for photography and worked with cameras majority of his life, Katherine said.
So, their mobile photo booth business was born.
Last year, Katherine began working for Lamphouse full-time. Six months ago, Conan did too. They also have three employees that help set up and attend to the photo booths during events.
The couple wants to have the new camper renovated by the end of the year, Katherine said. They’ve already started booking it for the spring.
Though the design of the new camper isn’t set in stone, Katherine thinks the outside might get painted a light pink and the inside will have some fun colors.
One thing they haven’t decided on, however, is a name.
“I don’t know. The Little Lampy? The Baby Lampy?” Katherine said.
“The Blampy?” Conan said with a laugh.
