Club Spotlight: Time Traveler’s Society's HOCO Photo Booth
By Kyle McLaren
At the 2023 Homecoming, Kyle McLaren and Paige Tetterton set up a photo booth as an extra activity for students to participate in. “It wasn’t much. Student Government decorated the trophy case and large oak tree by the Bulldog statue, and I came up with the idea at the last minute to take photos of students,” said McLaren. “Last year we did it last minute with some quick planning, but it was still nice because we got to meet the student body,” added Tetterton.
Three weeks before the 2024 Homecoming, the “Time Travelers” had intentions to do another photo booth. “We had an idea where we use a green screen and people can choose a background and we edit them in front of it,” explained McLaren. “Mr. Angove allowed us to borrow his large green screen and Mr. Savickis allowed us to use a rug,” Cameron Brown said. When the big day arrived, McLaren loaded the green screen, a rug, a large table, and his other technical equipment and walked into the gym. “I arrived at the school a few hours before Homecoming to get some photos of various landmarks on campus like the Bulldog statue and the Liberty Bell, so students have more options to choose from,” McLaren. When he arrived, there was a conflict. “Another organization had planned to set up a photo booth and we didn’t hear about it. Kyle called me and Paige and said that he had to cancel,” explained Brown.
The time had come, and students packed the gym and gym courtyard. McLaren and Dr. Wells found out that there was no official photo booth, and their plan could still work. “Kyle called me telling me that Dr. Wells said we should try to set up the booth because it was better than nothing. He said that he parked at the old Brevard Mall and ran through puddles to get back,” explained Tetterton. “I had to get a few pictures of my friends, and I didn’t want to deal with the traffic and parking situation at the school, so I parked across the street. I was running through the Starbucks parking lot and dodging the rain puddles to get back before Ms. Perez closed the main gate,” McLaren added.
Thirty minutes later, the Photo Memories 2011 Photo Booth was set up. “Kyle set it up pretty quickly. It looked amazing despite some of the props being missing and the power going out and breaking our TV,” added Brown. “The Photo Booth was super fun and a great spot to get unique photos taken to commemorate a very special night. The green screen display allowed for people who didn't like or match the homecoming theme to get pictures they still loved for all their high school memories. It allows everyone's photos to be entirely unique and individualized to their personality. You get all dressed up and ready together for this special event and it's awkward to ask someone to take a photo of you and your date together and sometimes they're not great at taking photos or you don't see them till you get to the dance so this allows everyone to have peace of mind that they will get good photos that they will love with all their friends to look back on for years to come,” said Sammi Sanchez. The Time Travelers had plans to expand their photo booth idea to other events and places. With their camera and a borrowed green screen, they were ready to transport people to various landscapes.