What's the Deal with Photo Booth?
Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 6:00AM
As an artist, Photo Booth gives me creative anxiety. I see myself becoming addicted and instead of working on that oil painting I've been trying to finish for the past 6 months, I'll be posing in front of my MacBook seeing how many different poses I can do in Mirror setting! I always thought Photo Booth was for holidays when your cousins were over and you didn't have a Wii to keep the grimes busy. But alas, Photo Booth, though semi-useless, is kind of addicting.
As a new MacBook owner it is tradition to take a good four or five hours experimenting with Photo Booth. For someone who isn't in a long distance relationship with family miles away, I rarely need a quick picture of myself. For me, the effects are what make Photo Booth interesting. There were those that amazed and those that disappointed. The usual Sepia, Black & White, Pop Art effects are boooring. My Speak n Spell could pull that off! Besides, I've seen enough of those in early Facebook pictures. Color Pencil was nothing special either. I've experimented with real colored pencils in my day and this effect just makes it look like you're taking a picture in a rainstorm.
I got excited when I saw X-ray setting. I don't have the best health insurance and this would be the perfect way to diagnose my broken bones. Unfortunately this setting shows no bones and only makes your teeth look grimy! No fun!
The best effects hail from the second page: Bulge, Squeeze, Dent, and Stretch. I've never seen circus freaks but I have to imagine they are reminiscent of the above. It's scary/hilarious how ugly one can make their face. My question for readers is this: Is there a way to adjust the flash settings so my glasses don't reflect? I mean, I don't mind the squeezed face but I get picky about the glowing computer screens in my eyes. I mean c'mon!
I know all of you have probably exhausted Photo Booth and are on to bigger and better things, but I know hidden on your computer you have your first experimental pictures. I want to see them! Send them to me, carolyn@thedigitallifestyle.tv , and allow me to share your crazy faces with the rest of The Digital Lifestyle family.
As much as I've enjoyed my Photo Booth experiment, I still believe once you're past the age of 12 and have exhausted all the crazy Facebook/Myspace/Twit pics you could imagine, Photo Booth is only meant for procrastination and to make the narcissistic even more so. I ask that when you run into me in the future and I'm still jobless, broke, and drunk in my parent's basement proclaiming, "But at least I have my Photo Booth!" to you, please rescue me.
Reader Comments (2)
Here is a link with more ichat/photobooth effects you can install.
http://forums.mactalk.com.au/11/32790-ichat-photobooth-effects-plug-ins.html
Awesome thanks!