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Frozen Smiles

Like many best friends over the years, Lisa Ann Setchel and Lee Shulleeta have built up their own small collection of portraits taken together in an old style photo booth.

You know those photos – the little strips of four crazy black and white poses that you and a close friend took at the spur of the moment when you had a few extra dollars burning a hole in your pocket and a photo booth staring you down.

"Everybody got into a photo booth when they were a kid and I don't care how bad the photos were - you just can't throw them away," Setchel said. "You have to keep them even if your eyes are shut. People just love them."

For that very reason plus a resurgence of the classic photo booth in the pop media, Setchel and Shulleeta have created Freeze Frame LLC , a Richmond-based photo booth rental company.

Though the local 20-somethings who regularly hang out at the New York Deli are well aware of that establishment's fully operational booth, photo booths seem to be popping up everywhere these days, especially on television.

Jay Leno has one as a popular skit on his show. MTV's Total Request Live show features their booth multiple times on every episode. And adding fuel to Setchel and Shulleeta's creative fire, Martha Stewart just a few weeks ago on her show suggested renting a photo booth as a great added feature for a big party or event.

As a matter of fact, watching television is exactly how Setchel cultivated the idea for the two friends' new business venture. While hospitalized for a bad case of pneumonia last year, she was subjected to a week of unpalatable hospital food and a steady stream of daytime television.

"I was laid up for about a week and I was watching TV and there was a photo booth on Oprah and there was one on Jay Leno and one on Celebrity Poker and TRL and then I was watching E! and they were talking about celebrities that had one in their homes," she said. "And I saw everyone that has one of these and they are all having such a good time. I just though it would be a cool idea to take one to parties."

After a little research and some Internet scouring, Setchel learned that there were only two major companies that would bring a rental photo booth to the area and both were a bit expensive. She quickly realized that she would be a cheap local alternative and the only game in town if she opened up shop.

In October 2006, with the delivery of their new full-size yet portable photo booth, Freeze Frame was born and Setchel and Shulleeta were officially in business – the business of fun, Setchel emphasizes.

"I think it is kind of magical," she said. "You step into the box and the curtains are closed and you are on the spot to produce something creative four times. You are trying to fit into this little square and you are this close to another person (she says holding two fingers about an inch apart) and it just causes a human interaction that’s fun and people enjoy that and it's nostalgic."

And it's better than a matchbook or an embossed paper napkin, Setchel adds. For about $1,200, Setchel and Shulleeta will bring, setup and operate their booth for four hours during an event. After setup is complete, partygoers can take unlimited photos, which can be customized with a wedding party's name or a corporate title or whatever the event calls for.

So far, the Freeze girls have only done a handful of events including two bridal shows and a bat mitzvah but Setchel said word has quickly spread and they are preparing for at least 10 events this spring and summer and even more after their second photo booth arrives this spring.

"What is great about it is that you can take it to a super stuffy business event and people will still get in it and have a great time or you can go to a bat mitzvah and see the same thing happen," Setchel said. For more information about Setchel and Shulleeta's portable photo booth, check out www.freezeframephotobooth.com.