New Photo Books Now Out: Faces of London and Post Apartheid Kids

I've been working on a series of Photo Books of various eclectic and wonderful places around the world - from American cities and cafes to people, places, designs and architecture in Europe, Africa and Central America. The first two are now out: Faces of London and Post Apartheid Kids. Below is a little background and a sneak peak of each.

Faces of London shows the surprises you get from walking through the streets of London. If you spend enough time people watching, you'll notice a wide range diversity of cultures who now call themselves Londoners -- from countless countries around the world.

Did you know that at the time of the Roman Invasion, London was called Londinium? In Saxon times, it was referred to as Lundenwic, and during the Kingdom of Alfred the Great, the city was known as Lundenberg? It is a city rich in history, diversity and miraculous transitions.

Today, London represents countless cultures from around the world. Regardless of what part of the city you're in, the experience is always breathtaking, energizing and stimulating. Ask someone a question and be challenge and inspired at the same time -- again and again. Faces of London shows these transitions. It shows London's diversity through beautiful, colorful shots of its people in a wide range of neighborhoods throughout the city. From east to west and north to south, join us on this colorful and artistic journey.

Below, you can get a sneak preview of Faces of London:

Faces of London by Renee Blodgett | Make Your Own Book

Post Apartheid Kids takes you on a journey through various parts of South Africa - both rural and urban - capturing wonderful and surprising moments of children in a post-Apartheid world.

Take a journey through a post-Apartheid South Africa and see it in the eyes of its children. It's a visual story of one child's face after another -- their smiles, their eyes, and their energy. Because of deeply-rooted pains of South Africa's complex past, we don't ask to forget, but we do ask for a harmonious life for the next generation.

We meander from Johannesburg, the Transvaal and Venda in the north through to Natal, Swaziland, the Orange Free State, the Highlands, the Cape and the beautiful and desolate Karoo.

Below, you can get a sneak preview of Post Apartheid Kids:

Post Apartheid Kids by Renee Blodgett | Make Your Own Book

Fillmore Jazz Festival

Fillmore's Jazz Festival is in full play this weekend in San Francisco. A few random shots below including a bunch of swing dancers who showed up to dance up a storm to The Lost Cats.

Also performing was Dave Rocha Quintet, Art Khu, Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Calvin Keys Trio, Brent Kimbrough Band, Pamela Joy Quintet, Bobbie Webb, Native Elements, Bartron Tyler Group and more.

"Dad is Awesome" Talking Photo

Below is an adorable and compelling use of Fotobabble's very simple and easy-to-use technology. For Father's Day, Mom and kids create a 'talking photo' for their dad using a poem to share how much they love him and what makes him so special. People can get set up in minutes. Also check out the Ballpark All Stars Moms Contest using Fotobabble.

Snapily for Photos for Flip-Book & 3D Effects

Vered Levy Ron, CEO of Snapily, an Israel-based company, spoke to me this past week at the Israel Conference in Los Angeles. Snapily prints customized photo gifts with 3D and Flip-book style effects.

In a few simple steps, anyone can create LivingPrints, which Snapily converts into greeting cards, scrapbook pages, business cards, personal fun cards, invitations, thank you cards, and notebooks. Their software is based on interlacing images so they fit under a substrate called Lenticular, which is a type of plastic that is produced with many small lenses.

What is this Talking Photo Thing?

So, what is this talking photo thing anyway? Fotobabble participated in the recent VatorSplash event and in less than a minute per person, managed to capture photos and their voices from a number of vendors and attendees, most of which promoted their brand or shared a moment.

Fotobabble created a VatorSplash talking photo WALL where you can view and listen to a number of technology industry entrepreneurs. Below are just a few fotobabbles from the wall so you can get a quick idea of how it works.

Gagan from Udemy, this month's VatorSplash winner

Dan Smuckers from the infamous Smuckers family, promotes Smuckers jams

Jenn Lim promotes Hsieh's soon-to-be released book on Happiness

Voice + Photos: A Great Way to Add Engagement to Your Brand

At last night's VatorSplash event at San Francisco's Cafe du Nord, Fotobabble's Kamal Shah demos the talking photo iPhone app to the crew at Ask Your Target Market, showing them how easy it is not just to create a talking photo, but how to use it to build some awareness, buzz and customer engagement around your brand.

Social Media Hour: Brands, Marketing, Talking Photos, and Media

Fotobabble was on BlogTalkRadio's Social Media hour this week with Mercury News' Chris O'Brien and Kodak's Chief Marketing Officer Jeffrey Hayzlett.

Jeff talks about new his newly released book: The Mirror Test: Is Your Business Really Breathing and Fotobabble's Kamal Shah talks about how brands can use talking photos to create compelling and engaging social media marketing campaigns.

Playing Around with Photos & Voice

Playing around with Fotobabble at the Technologizer event this past week (Web 2.0 Expo). Below, Patrick Houston, Renee Blodgett and Cathy Brooks. This was taken on an iPhone in a couple of seconds and voice was added in less than a minute.

The result? A talking photo, which can be embedded in a blog post (below), sent to friends via email, Twitter or Facebook. It's a fun way to express yourself and share that expression quickly. Adding emotion to a photo is a lot more interesting than a static photo with no energy at all.

Go Londoners - Add Voice to Those Static Photos of Yours.....

Client Fotobabble makes The Independent today. It's great that Brits now know how easy it is now to add voice to their static photos.

C'mon, Londoners......I am looking forward to seeing your creative fotobabbles. Create talking photos and get them up on the web, Facebook, Twitter and more and if you're proud of a particularly creative one, send us a note so we can highlight it.

Turn Your Static Photos Into Living, Talking Masterpieces

Turn Your Static Photos into Living, Talking Pasterpieces, says Netted. Give Fotobabble a try.