EdCompBlog: Jowlers and other photo projects

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Jowlers and other photo projects

I can't seem to get out of silly post mode these days... I'll start with the very silly and then move onto the slightly more useful.

David Jowling,
originally uploaded by DavidDMuir

While looking for ideas for an upcoming EduFlickr post, I came across the Jowlers website. This is a deceptively simple idea that produces some bizarre results. All you do is shake your head rapidly from side to side while somebody takes a picture. That's it. No fancy Photoshop techniques, no clever lenses for your camera. Just shake your head and take a picture. It took us a few goes to get the best result and I was getting a bit of a headache by the end, but I think you'll agree the result is rather fetching. Blue didn't want to be left out, so I posted one of him jowling too. Enjoy! {If anyone is up for the challenge... leave a comment here giving an educational justification for jowling in the classroom! :-) }

The slightly more useful part of this post is a link to the site that directed me to Jowlers in the first place. The site is called Photojojo and claims to "...find the best photo shiz anywhere"! I'm not sure what a "shiz" is, but it seems to be a good thing. :-) The site allows you to subscribe to a twice weekly newsletter that gives tricks, tips and projects related to digital photography. An archive of past newsletter entries is available on the site. Recent items that caught my attention include the Jowlers site listed above, Project 365 (How to Take a Photo a Day and See Your Life in a Whole New Way), Keep the Juice Flowing (Digital Camera Battery Life Tips), The DIY CanFrame (Transform a Tin Can into a Simple Photo Frame in 15 Minutes) and PhotoGlow (An Enlightened Photo Frame).

They publish huge range of ideas from practical tips (like prolonging battery life) to practical projects (like using a can as a photo frame). Simple ideas (like take a picture a day - or in a classroom why not take a picture every hour?) to complex constructions (like the illuminated photo frame).

Over one hundred ideas a year delivered to your mailbox or to your RSS feed reader. And it's free! Well worth checking out.