What better way to spend a cold rainy November afternoon than in front of a computer? Apple makes a silly application called Photo Booth that utilizes the built-in camera and allows you to take pictures of yourself. There’s a countdown, and the screen blinks to white to simulate a flash. That’s all good for a quick snapshot, but the real fun begins when you click on the Effects options. Fish-eye lenses, twists, bulges and pinches, and other strange distortions are an instant hit with kids of any age.
If you’re not an art director or designer you might not want to spend thousands of dollars to buy a computer that comes with this superfluous disctraction. However, any digital camera will do. To get some silly effects, find some silly mirrors. Everyone has a flat mirror, which can be used to create two-headed beasts and floating appendages. There are also concave bathroom mirrors which let you see every pore, and convex, fisheye mirrors for bicycles and cars. The shiny steel surface of a pot or a kettle can also be a source of inspiration.
Take these silly pictures to your local photo finisher (we Costco at pennies a print) by copying them from your computer onto a CD or a USB-keychain drive. Get a few prints made to frame and hang in the playroom. If there’s one thing I want my kids to remember about their childhood, it’s that they had fun with their dad once in a while.
