No, we’re not talking about Nikola Tamindzic [careful, some images NSFW], this is about the digital reinvention of the photo booth.

Party photos are tough to take, especially if you’re the host and your guests are camera-shy. A surefire method to great snaps? Power to the people!

Yes, friends, the photo booth is back. And it’s not just for drug stores and shopping malls any more — several enterprising photographers have reimagined the humble automatic photographic machine as the life of the party.

Here’s a couple of our favorites along with instructions for rolling your own:

Mark Van S’s Futuristic Digital Photobooth [via A VC]
It’s been to parties at the Whitney, celebrity bashes, even bar mitzvahs. But Mark’s booth follows a deceptively simple formula: beautiful, flattering lighting, instant feedback (every photo is projected onto a wall as soon as it’s taken, and cycles with other photos for the rest of the night), and a printout to go. As a bonus, all the photos are available online the very next day.

The Shine Flickr Photobooth
Brian Walsh’s Flickr Photo Booth at the Shine bar in San Francisco looks just like a traditional photo booth. It even sets your photos in the traditional 4-to-a-strip format. And then it uploads them straight to Flickr. We hear on some nights, the booth is more popular than the dance floor.

The Do it Yourself Digital Photobooth
Grab a couple friends and hunker down with this tutorial and you’ll combine a computer, camera, and printer to build your own modern-day photo booth. (For extra help, check out this DIY photo booth forum.)

The holidays aren’t just a great time to take pictures, they’re also a great time to spread the photo love (to yourself, or to others.)

Since many of you are probably looking for great photo gift ideas right about now, we thought we’d give you a hand by telling you about a few of our favorites.

For each of the categories below, there are dozens, often hundreds of options. We’re not going to tell you about all of them–we’ve picked the best of the best. It’s the stuff we’d buy (or have already bought) ourselves. We’ll tell you why, and leave rest up to you.

Without further ado…

Look, when you went on that awesome roadtrip last summer, you left Goldie at home. And that rockin’ concert you went to last weekend, same deal. Goldie held down the fort. He did that for you.

Sure, it’s not “practical” to take Goldie with you wherever you go… and we’ve all heard that goldfish only remember the last 30 seconds anyway, but even Goldie deserves a vacation, right?

Here’s a project that’ll help you satisfy Goldie’s wanderlust while keeping him safely submerged in his aquatic home.

Give the ole fishtank a photo makeover. It’s easy, looks great, and Goldie gets a glamorous new view!

Read our tutorial to find out how…

At last count, there are about a kajillion and three websites where you can upload a photo and have it printed on a t-shirt.

That stuff ain’t new; and this ain’t that.

Kristy’s got a simple and cheap tutorial on how you can turn a full-color photo into a one-color screen print. Use it on a t-shirt, a canvas tote, your walls, chest, it’s up to you.

A great way to make beautiful, customized gifts this holiday season.

Photo to Screenprint Tutorial
community.livejournal.com/craftgrrl/3674467.html

p.s. Kristy uses Microsoft Paint in one of her steps, but you can do the same in Photoshop or The Gimp.

There’s one sure-fire way to improve all of your shots: practice. Sure, you think, easy enough to say.

We can relate… Sometimes having a mission and some snap-happy friends can be just the motivation you need to get off your tuchus and start shooting.

With that in mind, we’ve compiled a few fun ideas to get you out having fun with your camera with friends or fellow photo enthusiasts. Read on to learn how you can make your town or city your photo playground.

This website knows more about you than any website should know.

And it figures it out using photography.

LikeBetter is a quirky, photo-based experiment made by the kids at Pairwise. Visit, and you’ll be presented two images. Pick the one you like better. Rinse, repeat.

After a few rounds, an eerie-looking pink brain starts pulsing on your screen. Click it to learn something about yourself that no website could possibly know. It’s like a modern-day, artificially-intelligent fortune teller.

An excellent way to while away a few minutes at work today.

LikeBetter.com
www.likebetter.com

In the age of the Internet, keeping in touch when your chum or sweetheart is miles away is a lot easier than it used to be. A quick call, a text message, a little “I miss you” e-mail — they’re all well and good…

But what if you really want to show that special guy, gal, or pal just how important they are to you?

Our pal Bryan Zmijewski has got an idea that’s easy, inexpensive and guaranteed to earn rave reviews… All it takes is a few minutes a day, some photos, some stamps, and a pair of scissors.

Read our tutorial to find out how!

The minute we saw these Mailable Photo Frames, we knew we had to have ‘em.

Ordinarily, when we stick a photo in a frame, we get tired of it in about a week. In a month, it’s pretty much invisible.

Since The Mailable Photo Frames are inexpensive ($2 or less), shiny and chic, and fit a standard 4×6, they’re great for putting photos all around the house. But that’s not all…

Here’s where the magic comes in: the instant you get tired of a photo, stick on a regular letter-rate stamp (39 cents in the States), write a brief note on the back, and slip it in the mail. Your pal gets a beautiful gift (with a frame and stand to boot!) and you get to put up a new photo.

Everyone wins. It’s picture frame heaven.

The Mailable Photo Frame at the Photojojo Store
www.photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/mailable-photo-frame/