Creative Shots - Fun House Mirror Cell Phone Effect

Dave posted a beautiful pair of pictures today of lightning over Mumbai, and it got me thinking. Family history is not just about archiving past events; it is also about documenting all the great things going on now. After all, without recording current events, there will no documentation of the family's history for future generations to reflect upon.

So everyone -- take pictures, shoot videos, keep a journal, record your family's oral history, and share it.

Sometimes, all I have handy to take pictures is my cell phone. I have found a way to take creative shots that -- due the inner-workings of my phone that I don't understand -- often makes pictures look like they were shot in a fun house mirror. The distortion takes a generic picture and makes it a little less boring.

Here are two pictures from a recent picnic in the park:

So how did I do it? No Photoshop here! I stood in front of my subject and threw my cell phone up in the air, spinning, while pushing the shutter button. Most pictures are lousy, and, really, they don't document much. But they are kind of interesting and the boys love them!

Do you have a favorite or useful technique to share? Let me know! Some are fairly low risk (throwing your cell phone up in the air) and others are higher risk (standing on a metal table on top of a building during a lightning storm). If it helps capture the moment, though, your techniques are welcome.

UPDATE

I found out that the effect is due to the rolling shutter processing used by CMOS image sensors that are common in cell phones and some still and video cameras.