Good Neighbor Podcast: Frisco

EP 267: Creating Core Memories One Photo Booth at a Time: Dave Ainley's Journey With Eternal Sunshine Photo Bus

• Sophia Yvette

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What makes Dave Ainley with Eternal Sunshine Photo Bus a good neighbor?

Ever wondered what happens when a photographer with 20+ years of experience reimagines the photo booth concept? Dave Ainley's story of transforming failure into innovation will inspire anyone who's ever faced a business setback.

Dave stumbled into photography through a high school class he took simply because he heard it was "an easy A." That unexpected passion led to national recognition, a scholarship, and eventually becoming one of the top wedding photographers in the Pacific Northwest. When Dave first tried bringing his traditional photography business to Dallas in 2017, he faced a harsh reality: the competitive Texas market demanded something more unique than another photography service.

Rather than giving up, Dave studied what worked and what didn't in Dallas's fast-paced business environment. The result? Eternal Sunshine Photo Bus – a photo booth experience housed inside a 1971 Volkswagen bus that delivers far more than standard photo strips. Described as part "ringmaster at a circus," Dave creates memorable experiences with animated GIFs, boomerangs, and an energy level that turns a simple photo opportunity into a core memory for guests.

What makes this story particularly compelling is how Dave deliberately incorporated every lesson from his previous business failures. From developing custom merchandise (something clients had requested for years) to focusing on creating genuine experiences rather than transactions, the Eternal Sunshine Photo Bus has found its place in Dallas's Bishop Arts District and at events throughout DFW. Whether you're planning a wedding, corporate gathering, or even looking to transform a memorial service into a celebration of life, Dave's approach proves that sometimes the best business ideas come after experiencing what doesn't work.

To learn more about Eternal Sunshine Photo Bus go to:

https://www.instagram.com/eternalsunshinephotobus/

Eternal Sunshine Photo Bus

509-217-1099


Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a fun photo booth experience? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, dave Ainley, with Eternal Sunshine Photo Booth. Dave, how are you?

Speaker 3:

today.

Speaker 2:

How are you? I'm doing well, dave, so we're excited to learn all about you and your business.

Speaker 3:

Can you tell our listeners a bit about your company? You know what? Yeah, tell you a little about my company. My business is Eternal Sunshine Photo Bus. We've been in business since October of 2018, when I started up in my hometown of Spokane, washington, and moved it to Dallas in late of 2021. And, right off the bat, made a presence in the Bishop Arts District of Oak Cliff and have been generally in that area ever since, but we serve all of DFW. We've done quite a few events in Plano and Frisco and Garland and I mean really anywhere. We love to travel and it is a really, really fun photo booth experience, typically inside a 1971 Volkswagen bus.

Speaker 2:

Amazing, and how did you originally get started with this business?

Speaker 3:

Well, that's kind of an interesting question. I've been a professional photographer since 2001. And I got into that business when I because I heard it was an easy A in high school and I was getting out of an art class and my teacher and I just didn't click and somebody told me you should take photography. That's like the easiest day in the world. And I got into it. And so it's just ironic how that even began, because I did it as a means of everything and got a really, really easy grade. You know, got my A very, very easily in the class. But as soon as I accomplished the handful of things I needed to get the A, they said well, for the rest of the semester you can either focus on other school stuff while you're in the class or you can go out and take a camera and go out and explore. And so I thought, well, that sounds fun, and they let us go off campus. And so I went out and started messing around with camera, and that's where my my excitement for and my passion for photography started. And I did that for a couple of years and had some photos that were entered into a contest with a national contest with the Photographic Society of America and those photos placed first and second overall in the city where I was from, and one went on to place in the top 16 in the nation through the Photographic Society of America and its exhibition in New York and that kind of led me to think that maybe there's a future in photography for me.

Speaker 3:

So I took a scholarship and I went down to this really great photography school, or a school with a really great photography program, down in Powell, wyoming, and I spent a year in this school kind of honing my trade a little bit more, my craft. And when I came back I had a. One of my three younger brothers was about to graduate high school and my parents said, hey, you're good with the camera, would you shoot a senior photos? And, being a good son, I said, yeah, I'll do the senior photos. And so that was my first senior portrait session and I happened to have a cousin at the same time and they were like, hey, can, can you take hers too? So I did, and we would be laughing and joking around and then I'd stop and then I would go okay, okay, let's get serious, let's get a photo, you know? And um, it was pretty painful, you know the, the, the sessions were awkward and uh, but I thought you know what? This is, a way I might be able to make a few bucks here and there.

Speaker 3:

And so I started telling people I was a professional photographer and that first year, by default, I had six more kids for senior photos and I charged next to nothing. I think I charged twenty five dollars a session just to put in my pocket. You know, granted, this was over 20 years ago, but but you know it was nothing, it was just hey, you just pay me a few bucks, I'll take the photos, and, and, and it wasn't until after, you know, the first year of doing this when I realized I'm I hate what I'm doing and I've totally sold out this thing that I love in favor of just making a couple of bucks. And so I started saying, well, you know what, I'm just going to do this my own way. I started using this sense of humor that I've had my entire life and started using that to getting the results that I was looking for and started being a lot more creative and focusing on stuff that excited me, because I figured, well, if I'm going to be taking photos for people, I might as well enjoy what I'm doing. Otherwise, why not just go and be a banker or something you know like? Picking something is at least going to be financially lucrative. But if I'm going to choose to this life of self-employment where you know no paycheck is guaranteed, at least I'm going to have fun in the process. And so I started really on my photo shoots. I started really exploring a lot more of the creative aspects of it and I started implementing my sense of humor into it and joking around with people and catching them off guard with my camera, and so that kind of set the foundation for my photography business, which, after just a couple of years, I became one of the top rated wedding and portrait photography companies in the Pacific Northwest, specifically really in Spokane, spokane, washington. Um and uh, for about 15 years I, every year I would get accolades, um, as one of the top rated wedding and portrait photography companies, and it all stemmed from me just saying I'm just going to do this my way. And uh, over the years there were many things that I did with my business that that didn't pan out as well, and other things that I uh didn't do that I wished I would have done, and so all of those things kind of laid the groundwork.

Speaker 3:

And in 2017, my family and I decided to move to Dallas and we came down I was just operating Dave Ainley Photography at the time and we came down and visited a buddy I'm sorry, I guess this was 2016. And we decided okay, we're going to move down to Dallas and we're going to try taking our business down there and growing it, because the economy is so incredible and there's no shortage of business and Dallas loves small business, so let's do this. And so we moved down a year later, in 2017. And we were here for just under a year and I realized really quickly that I had had these delusions of grandeur, that I was going to get down here and immediately just blow up and my business was going to be incredible and I'd never have to worry again about, you know, getting new jobs. And I had a very rude awakening, and so that entire year I was here, I I only got a handful of jobs and we, after just under a year, had lost a lot of money. And, uh, you know, because photography is such a personal thing, you know, and people are looking for a personal recommendation, and so, you know, I ended up moving back to Spokane with my tail between my legs, so to speak.

Speaker 3:

But that gave me an opportunity while I was down here failing at business in Texas. It gave me an opportunity to see success from the outside. And here's a great example we would go out to dinner and we'd go to this amazing burger joint one of the best burgers I've ever had in my life and then, two weeks later, drive by this gutted out building and I go whoa, what just happened? And this just seemed to be par for the course. You know, like any time we would, you know, something would pop up. Within two or three months it's gone and we're like what's going on here?

Speaker 3:

But I was subconsciously taking notes while we were living here, right, but I was subconsciously taking notes while we were living here, right? And I realized that, you know, when I started Eternal Sunshine Photo Bus in October of I'm sorry, in October of 2018, these, all these subconscious notes that I had taken living in Dallas, I I rolled them into this idea and the thought was this unless you have a truly unique product, an amazing gimmick or both, your business probably wasn't going to survive, much less thrive, in Dallas, excuse me, because although Dallas loves small business, you know, it can be very cutthroat and it can be very, very competitive. You know, and there's a lot of, there's a lot of businesses that pop up and fizzle out, pop up and fizzle out, pop up and fizzle out, and I think it really comes down to like, especially in the food and the entertainment industry, you know you got to bring something fresh to the table or else you're not going to make it. And with that burger place, you know, even though the burger was outstanding, you know, just down the street there was a much more established, much more known burger joint that pushed them out of business or whatever. And so when I started Eternal Sunshine Photobus, I thought, okay, everything that I never did right with Dave Angley Photography, I'm going to do it with this business, and everything that worked, I'm going to roll it into this.

Speaker 3:

So I had 17 years of success and failure as a business owner before I even started this business.

Speaker 3:

One of the big things and I know this is going to be audio only, but one of the big things you can see the t-shirt I'm wearing and the hat that I'm wearing, these are.

Speaker 3:

These are designs that my business, we, we design and sell our own merchandise, custom merchandise and I had people over the years with the photography business that said, man, I love your photos so much. I wish you had a hoodie or a bumper sticker or something I would rock your brand. And I was like, oh yeah, that'd be a cool idea and I never did it. So when we rolled this out, I go, okay, the first thing we're doing is we're coming up with some really cool artwork. We're going to start selling this merchandise that really shows a little bit about who we are and the stuff that we're into and the stuff that we like. So people realize when they show up at come up and they go, whoa, what's even going on here? You know, and it's like we're part photo booth, we're part, uh, merchandise brand, but the experience is designed to be something that's that kind of covers everything.

Speaker 2:

Wow, wow. What an interesting story that you have as a background and now discussing more about Eternal Sunshine Photo Bus. Please tell our listeners one thing, the main thing you would like them to remember about this company.

Speaker 3:

I think the main thing I want you to remember anybody who decides they want to check us out you're going to experience something unlike any photo booth you've ever stepped foot inside. Um, my goal is to create a new core memory for you. I think we've all gotten in a photo booth and we've experienced the transaction, right where some kid is uh tells you hey, uh, look at the camera. And the whole time they're texting their friend, you know. And they say, okay, here, you know, the camera's going to take a photo and change your pose, and the whole time they're just texting and they say, okay, here's your photo strip, have a nice day. And it's like you check something off the list. Okay, I went to said event, we've already done the photo booth. What next? You know it's just like a checklist item, but you know the whole idea of a photo booth it's supposed to be fun, it's supposed to be exciting, it's supposed to be this experience. That's a blast. And you see these ideal photo strip photos where these people are just cutting up and having a great time, and then your actual experience is bland. And so my big takeaway that I want you to get from this experience when you get in this photo booth.

Speaker 3:

Get ready to have your mind blown, because we don't just do photo strips, we do photo strips, we do a gif and we do a boomerang. And someone wrote an article on us and compared me to a ringmaster at a circus. So when you hop in my bus, chances are I'm probably going to yell at you Great seats, piggyback, ride, swap your props, whatever. And you're in a small space space and this guy is suddenly just bringing 150 energy to this photo booth. And I'll tell you what. It makes the experience a riot. But you know, every once in a great while, somebody says, hey, could you not yell? Hey, man, it's your photo booth. I don't care, you know, I'm just trying to give you the greatest experience ever. But yeah, I sorry long-winded response, but I think the big takeaway is get ready to experience something fresh and new.

Speaker 2:

And where can our listeners go to learn more about Eternal Sunshine Photo Bus.

Speaker 3:

You can follow us on Instagram at Eternal Sunshine Photo Bus that's E-T-E-R-N-A-L-S-U-N-S-H-I-N-E-P-H-O-T-O-B-U-S. You can follow us on Facebook, facebookcom forward slash eternal sunshine photo bus. Or you can generally find us on a Friday night or all day Saturday in the Bishop arts district, next to Emporium pies and in front of Paradiso. But you know, if you want to learn more, you want to experience more. Get in touch with us for an event we do private parties, weddings, corporate nonprofit graduations, quinceaneras, everything I mean. If you want to turn your grandma's memorial service into a celebration of life, we will bring the party.

Speaker 2:

Well, Dave, I really appreciate you being on the show. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

Speaker 3:

Thank you so much, appreciate the time.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPFriscocom. That's GNPFriscocom, or call 469-221-9345.