Makeup Masterclass: Contour and Highlighting

Trixie Mattel at 'RuPaul's DragCon Los Angeles 2016

Hello again! Welcome back to my 3rd blogpost on my makeup journey using Jemma Kidd's 'Makeup Masterclass' book. In the last blogpost, I experimented with lip lining and filling (specifically for red lips), but in this post I'll be attempting something less bold, and more tame (that is, if you do it correctly of course).

Contour and highlighting is a makeup technique used to subtly enhance and re-sculpt features of your face, however if it is done incorrectly or too drastic, you end up looking more like Trixie Mattel (a drag queen who cakes on makeup in general in a comedic manner.)
With that being said I decided that for this post, I would hop onto the trend and attempt to contour and highlight my face. In the past I have highlighted my face and occasionally contoured my nose, but I had never really full on contoured my face, so this was quite the challenge.

For this technique you will need:
Powder or cream that is two shades darker than your skin tone (I used a 'Blackheart' Duo Contour and Highlight Stick)
Highlighter or Illuminator
Contour Brush, Angled Contour Brush, or Kabuki Brush (I used a 'Wet N Wild' Angled Contour Brush)

The instructions following Jemma Kidd:


Step one: for the first step I began by contouring the side areas of my face. I made sure to pay close attention and detail into the lines that I created as Jemma clearly notes "Bones are curved, so shadows are too- a hard edge looks false, while any shadow that goes beyond the point you want to deepen will destroy the illusion. Start with little product and add more as needed." I started my line close to my temple area and brought the line downwards, curving the line to my cheeks as I went further down. While following Jemma's instruction, in addition I followed the visuals she provided to make sure I was applying the contour in the correct format. By following the bone structure of my face, the contour later when blended makes the shadows created appear to be more realistic and blendable to my face, natural sculpture, and tone.

Step 2: I then began to contour my nose. My nose is more flared and larger than average. Because of this, I followed Jemma's instructions on flared nose contouring. Jemma states "to slim a wide nose,shade either side, starting from below the bridge and ending above the nostrils. A bulbous nose needs a touch of shade below the tip" I followed these instructions as exact as possible, but you will notice that I accidentally contoured from the bridge of the nose to the tip, instead of just under the tip, which does ruin the illusion and does not slim my nose as much as I desired.

Step 3: Now it is time for highlighting, for brightening and enhancing the features you have sculpted with your contour. I placed the highlight above my contour areas on the sides of my face to enhance cheekbones and deepen the shadow, and as for my nose, I drew my highlight in between my contour lines down the bridge of my nose and then on the tip of my nose, resembling an exclamation point. I also added highlighter on my chin, and inner forehead.

Step 4: Blend Blend Blend! using my Wet N Wild angled contour brush I began using up and down blending strokes to blend both my contour and highlight. After blending my look was complete.

Overall I do not think I did very well with my contour job. Although it is only my first time, the lines were very precise and the nose contour practically achieve nothing, due to the fact that i curved the line with my nose. I also think I should've used a darker contour stick, as it was to close to my skin tone. Although I did not do very well, I will continue to work on this technique to master it in the future. My question to you all is, what do you think I could to to do better on my contour?

Works Cited: 

Mattocks, Zia, Vikki Grant, and Jemma Kidd. Jemma Kidd Make-up Masterclass: Beauty Bible of Professional Techniques and Wearable Looks. London: Jacqui Small, 2009. Print.

Pictures Used 

http://www.gettyimages.com/pictures/trixie-mattel-13939863#cast-member-of-season-seven-of-rupauls-drag-race-trixie-mattel-at-a-picture-id464022672 

Snowflake Cookies

My first attempt at making sugar cookies did not go as I had hoped. Before beginning this project, a second time, I looked back at my previous blog post, which did anything but boost my confidence levels. Despite my previous failure, I still planned on actually decorating my second batch.

Upon flipping through the book, I came across some snowflake cookie. In comparison to the other cookies, they seemed fairly simple. But based on past baking experiences I knew they would not be nearly as easy as the book entailed.

In the book, Edwards recommends using her recipe for gingerbread cookies in order to stay consistent with the “winter theme”. However, I chose to stick the basic cookies and mastering those before moving on to more complex recipes. While the cookies were chilling in the freezer, I went over what went wrong with the last batch of dough. I soon came to the realization that we had used the wrong type of flour. Once I took the cookies out of the freezer, I immediately placed them in the oven at 350 for 9 minutes. Edwards recommends freezing them before baking to ensure the cookies maintain their shape.

I then began making the royal icing. On page 16 of her book, Bridget Edwards gives thorough instruction on making the icing.

Royal Icing Recipe:

-        ½ cup meringue powder

-        1 cup water

-        2 lbs. powdered sugar

-        2 tbsp. corn syrup

You begin by combining the meringue powder and water in a stand mixer until they are combined and frothy. After, you add the powdered sugar and corn syrup and mix again until fully combined. At this point, I was reminded of why I dislike baking so much.

The icing was too thick to be piped through the icing tip I would be using. I began thinning it out by adding small amount of warm water. Once it reached the right consistency, I scooped about a fourth of it into a piping bag. At this point, I had taken the cookies out of the oven and they had been left out long enough to cool. I piped a thin lining along the edge of the cookies. I scooped a fourth of what was left in the mixer into a separate bowl and tinted it a light blue color. 

I then thinned out the remaining icing until it reached the consistency of thick syrup and poured it into a squeeze bottle. With the icing in the squeeze bottle, I “flooded” the cookies by squeezing the watery icing within the lining I piped before. 

Once they were dry enough to finally pipe the snowflake design, I used the blue tinted icing and followed her design to the best of my abilities. I wasn’t satisfied with the first design and just continued with the different patterns. Edwards stated that, “the royal icing needs overnight time to dry thoroughly and the icing kind of ‘seals’ the cookie from getting stale.

               The next morning, I returned to the cookies to find they had hardened completely, just as they should have. I decided to take a bite of one and immediately regretted it. It sucked. Though that is mostly because royal icing is incredibly sweet, since it is made almost entirely of powdered sugar. What can I add to the icing next time to make the cookies a bit more enjoyable to eat? 

Argumentation and Persuasion - Using Analogies - Post #2

Developing my Argument & Using Analogies - Post #2

Austin Freeman

Period 4 - Honors English

Independent Reading Project - Quarter 2

For my Quarter 2 IRP, I will be reading "A Rulebook for Arguments," and developing a short (no longer than three paragraphs), an argument on my personal passion for some ideas on Education habits and ideas on how to be successful. As I read my book, I will tie in the rules of Argumentation and the content of my book into my Argument, which will be developed over my 5+ blog posts.

As I continue to read my book, work on my argument, using analogies, and expanding on those analogies and my techniques, it helps me to organize my statements effectively and create a argument. by using arguments based on analogies, rather than many different examples, I am reasoning that since these two things have one major connection, they are similar. One example and explanation from the text that I want to reflect off, and find to be a powerful method to use in my argument comes from page 22. This page divides the small argument up into several different sections and uses an analogy. In a "Rulebook for Arguments," it says in the text:

"Beautiful and well-built houses must have "makers": designers and builders.

The world is like a beautiful and well-built house.

Therefore, the world must also have a "maker": a Designer and Builder!

Again, more examples are not necessarily needed here. In this example, the argument turns on the similarity of the world to one well-understood example, a house." (Weston, 22)

I then used this format in my argument (see the third paragraph).

My Argument (In-Progress):

In High School, your study habits and actions do matter and skills such as good time management, studying in new locations, and identifying how you learn all will enable you to be successful. You will use these skills all of the time in many different settings, such as college, your career, in social gatherings with other people, etc.

In High, School, you should develop skills such as planning and efficient time management. 

Colleges such as the University of Washington, want to see continued intellectual growth and that you care about your education. Identifying how you learn, establish good study skills where you can concentrate on your academics and not being distracted, and learning to manage your time so that you can get all of your homework and academics done, are good skills to have and will help you with your intellectual growth. Therefore, establish good study skills, identifying how you learn, and completing your homework are things that will help you get into college and prepare you for life. 

Question:

How can you use analogies and other background information when you are arguing or trying to persuade someone? How could using analogies and dividing your argument up into different paragraphs or statements help you make your point? For example, the example in the book and also in my argument has been divided up into different sentences that all tie into making an analogy and making a point (Therefore, the world must also have a "maker")

MLA Citation:

Weston, Anthony. A Rulebook for Arguments. 4th ed. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 2009. Print.

My next post will focus on the use of sources and revise my current argument to focus on getting my point across using correlation and repetitive terms.

Creating a Soccer Image

You need to be mentally strong every time you play soccer and a lot of players including me are not confident before and during a game. There are many ways to improve your mental part of the game and one way you can become mentally stronger is by having a positive soccer image. “Your soccer image rules your soccer game because these inner pictures and movies influence: how much belief you have in yourself to learn and improve, how good you feel you can be, how confident you are for match day” (18). “When you think about your soccer game what do you see? Take a few minutes to allow your mind to build a small picture book or short movie reel. This is a simple but important exercise to do every few weeks because it gives you an idea of your soccer image (17). This quote helped me realize the importance of soccer image and what my soccer image is right now. By visualizing my soccer image, I am able to see how I played in my game and see what are some of the things I need to improve and also I am able to think more positively about how I played during the game.

Now that I know my soccer image, I want to be able to keep it positive and make it better over time. Dan Abrahams also talked about a technique that will help maintain and build a strong soccer image. He said to write down 3 best games you have played and write down the important and positive moments during the game (24). This helped me remember my key moments of how I played and because I am writing them down I can reflect back on the key moments whenever I want and compare them to other games and that makes it easier for me to visualize my soccer image and make it stronger than before. Below I am using this technique to make my soccer image stronger.

Do you think you can play at your full potential without being mentally strong?

Abrahams, Dan. Soccer Tough: Simple Football Psychology Techniques to Improve Your Game. Birmingham, UK: Bennion Kearny, 2012. Print.

Icing The Cookies

               I realized my mistake with the dough of the sugar cookies of my first post and fixed them. I used the wrong type of flour. This was due to me not reading the labeling of the flour containers. The next thing I’ll work on is getting the cookies to maintain a shape.

               “This time I focused on icing but even that didn’t turn out how it should ideally. It was a bit waterier than I thought it would look. However, it did turn out better than I was expecting and I failed to use common sense to come to the conclusion that adding more dry ingredients would make the icing more solid. The recipe goes as follows.

-2 pounds powdered sugar

               -1/2 cup meringue powder

               -1 cup water

               -2 tablespoon corn syrup

              

               The steps basically consisted of mixing all the ingredients together so there wasn’t any way to mess that up.  I mixed in some food coloring and lined the outside of the cookie to create a barrier that would hold the other icing that I thinned out with water. As she talks about icing techniques on page 16, she also adds that “the stiff icing is perfect for outlining…”.

               I then waited over night for the frosting to dry. The cookie was very sugary but then again I didn’t really know how else I would expect it to taste. Making sugar cookies doesn’t seem like such a good idea in hindsight but I will continue to struggle through and make them even better.

               Any ideas for potential designs to include in my next blog post?

Pitching Forms and Techniques

This position is known as "The Windup" because
it's motion is a multiple-step procedure of twists
and turns before throwing the ball.

If you ask any baseball player what is the most important job while playing, they will say pitching. Pitching is considered one of the hardest things to do in sports. "The pitcher must not only throw the ball so that it passes through the strike zone, he must throw so that the batter does not hit the ball squarely" (Adair, 48). Constant decisions are being made by the pitcher from when he looks at the batter to as soon as he throws the ball. With the potential of the game being on the line and everybody focusing on you, pitching can build stress when your whole team relies on your decision making.

This single motion pitching position is called "The
Stretch" where the pitcher takes multiple pauses
before deciding when to throw the ball.

The speed of a pitcher is one of the first things that is noticed when anyone looks at the person on the pitching mound. A 95-mph pitch will reach the plate in 0.41 seconds after release, a 93-mph pitch will be around 1.5 feet from the plate after 0.41 seconds, and a 90-mph pitch 3 feet (Adair, 60). A small difference such as a 2-mph slower pitch can cause such a large effect where the batter can be thrown off by a one and a half foot difference. I can't throw a 90 mile per hour pitch just yet, but to utilize what I can do, I make sure to throw fastballs and change-ups frequently.

Typically, a trained pitcher finds that when throwing a fastball, throwing it high and inside the strike zone is the best way to utilize it. If a change-up is thrown, you'd most likely find that pitchers locate it low and away from the batter (71). Although, a pitcher must mix things up while on the mound because he/she doesn't to throw a pitch that the batter is already expecting. When I first started pitching, I was around 11 years old and just threw the ball to get it over the plate. Now that I've practiced consistently and frequently, our coach wants me to focus on hitting certain locations while pitching because he truly believes that it will be my most deadliest pitching trait.

I personally love pitching because I enjoy finding new ways to throw off the batter. I look for patterns in the batter's swings and make sure I don't fall into patterns myself. If I'm facing a team that we've never played against, I usually pitch with the same comfortable patterns that I normally use. But, I wouldn't do the same with a team that I normally face because they can easily pick up routines that I might fall in.

What do you think will throw a batter off his game more effectively, changing the speed of a pitch or changing the location?

Adair, Robert Kemp. The Physics of Baseball. New York: Harper & Row, 1990. Print.

Skin Enemies

If you are reading this first of all, I hope you had a fantastic break and a wonderful holiday. If you are new to my blog, I talk all about skin care. My absolute favorite thing to research and talk about. In my last post I had mentioned that diet has a huge impact on our skin, which I will be covering in this blog post. In my family, dairy is not our best friend. My siblings and I were not as heavily affected by it as my oldest sister, who is lactose intolerant. But we are all lactose sensitive. So over the summer, I cut off dairy. I had initially hoped it would help my stomach aches but I miraculously found that it helped my acne and my dry scalp. I then decided to research more and, what do you know, dairy is a huge culprit in acne and breakouts (the question remains if it is dairy in it self or the way it is produced). Now this doesn't affect everyone of course, everyone's skin is different, but it made me wonder; what else am I consuming that's problematic for my skin? In the book "Skin Cleanse" Adina Grigore addresses these skin enemies.

So you may be wondering, is dairy really bad for you? Well, yes and no. Many claim it makes your body too acidic, or it disrupts our hormones, etc. Others disagree. Adina Grigore claims that it is the way it is produced. "First of all, milk is homogenized, which stops it from ever separating, and then pasteurized, which, as we've discussed, kills virtually all of the bacteria it contains. And then there's the way most dairy cows are raised: they're fed hormones and antibiotics, which end up in their milk and then in your body." (Grigore, 107) What she is saying here is that, dairy isn't the real deal. It has been messed with and changed so much, you can't even call it dairy. It's fake dairy. And many believe the process in which dairy is brought to our grocery stores is causing our hormones to freak out and, in turn, causing skin issues. Okay now I know your next question; what else am I eating that's bad for my skin? I'll tell you. Along with regular milk, I wouldn't suggest soy milk either. Soy is great on it's own but it is bad the same way dairy is. It is very industrialized, just as dairy is. Soy is often slipped into everyday foods without us even knowing. Butters, mayo, canned foods, baked goods, etc. Now don't freak out and stop eating mayo and baked goods, just don't go chugging soy milk from off the shelves at your nearest Safeway. Of course, anything that came in a wrapper or a package is obviously bad, and hopefully I shouldn't have to explain why. It is all processed containing synthetic flavors and preservatives.Yum. Soda. Yes even diet. Soda is overall really bad for you, trust me on this. It causes yellowing of the teeth, acne, everything terrible. Always research into those culprit foods, never trust a label.

In the book "Skin Cleanse" Adina Grigore offers multiple recipes as substitutes to food products we use everyday. One that caught my eye was a homemade mayonnaise. I'm not sure about you but my family uses a lot of mayo. So this sounded like a perfect replacement with greater benefits than your typical mayo. If you would like to make this as well, here's how you can.
Ingredients:
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of half a lemon
For this you need an immersion blender. Put all of the ingredients in a bowl wide enough for you to fit the blender in. Pulse it until it turns mostly white, then turn the blender on until completely mixed. Can be refrigerated for up to one week.


 
Mine did not turn out quite as I had hoped. I would recommend not using a super strong olive oil because that is what made mine taste not so great. But I still enjoyed making it and would like to make it again.

So, I would like to ask you: what is your biggest food culprit? What foods have you found cause you to have breakouts or have found negative skin reactions?

Softball: Pitching: curveball

Another skill that i need to work on is pitching. I use to pitch when i was in about 3rd and 4th grade, but it wasn't my favorite position to play. But pitching is one of the most important positions in softball. "The main pitches are fastball, change-up, and drop ball. And after learning these three pitches the pitcher usually chooses  between, rise, curve or screw-ball" ( Veroni 169). The main pitch for me to work on is the curve ball. The curve ball is the one pitch that i have always struggled with. Not only do you have to have be able to get it over the plate but being  able to get the batter to swing.

The purpose of the curve ball is to get the ball to have a curve that goes clockwise once you release it from your grip. "at release the hand should be under the ball with fingers pointing up" (Veroni 175).  i I wasn't able to up load a video so I took pictures of what the motion is like.

From learning how to throw a curve-ball i have furthered my knowledge of softball and skill in a different position. 

Drawing, Painting, and Photography - The Artist's Handbook

Through random times of the day i'll find myself holding a pencil sketching whatever comes to mind, on whatever paper that's in front of me. Never did I take the quality of paper into much consideration. 
While reading The Artist's Handbook By Ray Smith I found that the quality of paper can impact the piece of art and the texture of the drawing or even painting.

For my second post I decided to do a watercoloring of an apple. By using rough paper with small little indents "the pigment had settled in the hollows of the paper" making it more vibrant (Smith) Another plus side to using rough paper was that when the painting had dried it wouldn't fold over on itself making a clearer look. Deciding on what to watercolor was fairly easy as an apple was a classic and could come in different looks depending on the artist creating it. The apple first had to "been painted using just overall washes" to set the undertone, later on you'd continue layering the different shades including the shadow (Smith). After finishing up painting you could go over with a dry paint brush to soak up some pigment, leaving a type of highlight for the apple. 

Thinking back about the process of making the painting i noticed that the variation of colors used for the apple wasn't very wide. Is there any other color that i'd be able to add that'd make it pop? 

Using the the quality of paper to my advantage, what're some objects that i can paint that would benefit from this technique? 

A Healthy Lifestyle

Foods all Soccer Players Should Eat

All players should have an equal balance of nutrition in order to stay healthy on and off the field. If you read my previous blog, you’d know that exercise is a critical component to keeping your body in shape. Ace McCloud, the author of “Soccer Strategies” says that “In addition to the exercise that you should be doing and the drills you need to practice, you need proper nutrition to keep the body going” (McCloud 10). Staying on top of your nutrition will allow you to become a better soccer player because they carry the necessary nutrients that will help you stay energized throughout the entire 90-minute game.

Turkey and Chicken

Turkey and chicken are lean sources of meat that will help you get the protein that is necessary for an athlete. These are great ways to acquire protein without all the added calories and fat that other food groups have.

Complex Carbs

Complex carbs include many different grains such as cereals, potatoes, pastas, bread, and rice. Eating these carbs in their whole wheat or whole grain forms is when you’ll get your best results. Loading up on carbs before a game or practice can help you play longer and have the energy you need to perform at a high level.

Milk

Drinking milk a few times a say is a good way to get a lot of nutrients into a meal. Choosing a low fat or skim variety will be giving your body lots of great nutrients, such a calcium, as well as avoiding the extra fat.

It is very important to maintain a healthy diet while being an athlete. Eating these three basic foods will help to keep your energy throughout the entire game. I believe that a healthy lifestyle will allow you to improve and grow into a better player and will allow you to do more on the field.

What is your go-to meal before an important game? Do you think it helps you play better?

McCloud, Ace. Soccer: Soccer Strategies: The Top 100 Best Ways to Improve Your Soccer Game. Charleston, SC: CreateSpace, 2015. Print.

Knitting on Circle Looms: Part 2

Knitting a Hat

Finished Scarf

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! If you saw my previous post then you know that I have started knitting on circle looms for the first time and attempted to create a scarf. I have since finished the scarf and am starting a new project on my circle loom: knitting a hat!

Finishing my scarf was a bit difficult for me because I continuously lost my place while knitting and rushed the process. As a result, my scarf had many mistakes and wasn't up to my standard of quality. Learn to Knit on Circle Looms by Denise Layman, taught me that knitting can be a tedious hobby, "Be sure to take the time to lift off the bottom 2 loops on the pegs that have 3 loops...repeating 15-17 times" (Layman 18). Thus, taking your time and making sure you are correctly following the directions will not only help one become a better knitter but a better person as well. 

The mistake is in the middle of the photo.

Through knitting, I have found that when doing a project, activity or just in general, you should give it your complete and entire effort because failing to do so will result in a product that is poor quality. Layman underlined that the key to mastering knitting is to realize your mistakes and going back to fix them (Layman 18). Doing so will not only help with knitting but beyond that as well. I struggled with this while creating my scarf, so I was set on succeeding with my hat!

To knit a hat on a circle loom, you will need:

• An adult sized circle loom 
• Yarn
• Yarn Needle
• Loom hook

The Brim:

1. After gathering the materials you will need to create a basic "slip knot" and put in on the first peg of the loom. 

2. Wrap the yarn around all the pegs from the front to the back.  

3. Repeat this step once more. 

4. "Yarn over" by taking your loom hook and flipping the bottom yarn pieces over the peg. 

5. Repeat this step multiple times to the desired length and fold both ends over each other. (The brim of my hat was 14 stitches)

The Rest of the Hat:

1. Repeat steps 2-5 from "The Brim" after you have created the brim of the hat. (My hat will have about 15-17 stitches)

* The number of stitches depends on what size hat you want. 

Finishing:

1. After knitting your hat to desired length, cut off the yarn.

2. Cut off a piece of yarn that is about 2 feet and use a knitting needle to sew the string through the knits on the pegs of the loom, take your hat off the loom as well.

3. Pull the hat inside-out and tie the two strings at the top of the hat.

4. Pull the hat right-side out and you have created a hat!

I am very proud at the progress I have made while completing my hat. By learning through my mistakes from my first project, I am taking my time in completing this project. Now that you know about my first experiences in loom knitting: 

Do you think it is better to accept failure and move on if you keep making mistakes or to never give up? Tell me your thoughts below! 

Citation: Layman, Denise. Learn to Knit on Circle Looms: 10 Easy Projects! Berne, IN: DRG Pub., 2006. Print.

3-D Geometric Origami Post #2

Nathan Cho
Geometric Origami #2

So the next thing I decided to make was the Small Rhombicuboctahedron designed by Rona Gurkewitz. This module is definitely more difficult than the previous one I built as the Rhombicuboctahedron required much more time and patience. The process of folding and arranging the module wasn't as cleanly done as the book instructs but the end result is alright. Again like last time i'm going to walk you guys through the steps of creating the module.

Step 1:
You're going to want to begin with a square piece of paper then fold and unfold each corner to the opposite corner. Then fold each corner into the center of the paper and unfold it. With the smaller triangles on the corners fold the tips into the base of the triangle and refold the whole triangle back to the center.

 Step 2:
You're going to want to turn the paper around and again fold the corners into the center of the square so there's a cross in the middle. Finally fold the tips of the square again but point the tips upward and you'll be done with the first module. You're going to need to create a total of 18 of these modules in order to create the Rhombicuboctahedron.

 Step 3:
Once you have all the modules you're going to want to connect them by folding down the tip of a point and insert it into a the pocket of another point and repeat until you're able to link eight of them in a circle.

 Step 4:
Link three more modules and attach it to the top of the circle by inserting a point on one end and insert a point on the opposite side of the circle

 Step 5:
Add two more modules to the remaining points of the top middle piece creating a kind of dome

 Step 6:
Recreate the dome on the bottom and you'll have  a Rhombicuboctahedron.

Notes:

So overall the entire process of creating this thing took over an hour for me as creating over 18 piece as some had to be scraped because they didn't fit or didn't turn out as i wanted. Arranging the Rhombicuboctahedron also took some time as some points wouldn't fit or stay in place so I kind of cheated and stapled some points together to keep the module together. Folding the pieces was pretty easy but arranging the pieces was definitely the hardest task and the book even says " The difficulty of assembly may be intermediate even though the difficulty of folding the individual modules is simple" (Gurkewitz and Arnstein 10).

Question:
So i definitely scrapped some pieces due to them being less then ideal but i also kept many which were close to being good but weren't. My question is, when folding origami or creating anything, do you guys keep going when you make a small mistake or do you redo it and do it perfectly?

Outdoor Photography with Dylin Wen:Composition and Perspective

Outdoor Photography with Dylin Wen

Composition and Perspective

"Good photographs don't come from fancy camera equipment, dramatic lighting equipment, or special effects. Photographs that stand out in terms of their ability to engage an audience's interest and imagination have one source: the vision of you, the photographer" (L.L.Bean 35).

If you were able to see my last blog post, I talked about aperture and its impact on photography. Today on the other hand, I will be talking about something even more important than aperture, composition and perspective. We all see images every day that attract our attention, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself why a particular scene causes you to pause? What is it about the scene that makes it so special? I chose the topic composition and perspective because it is one of the biggest factors of photography but might be the least noticed one.

So what does Composition and Perspective really mean?

Composition in photography is simply arranging elements within an image in a way that suits the core idea or goal of your work best. Sure you can change your composition by zooming in or out with your lens, but if you want to change your perspective, you are going to need to move around. "Don't let your feet, or tripod, root you to one spot, get ready for some bending, turning, walking, or climbing to get the perfect photo" (L.L.Bean 36).

A Bridge at Coulon Park

Taking these tips into mind, I decided to change things up a little. Instead of taking a photo of a tree, plant, or flower, I decided to lean towards taking a photo at a lake, specifically at Coulon Park. These are two of my results using composition and perspective. Using what I learned, instead of taking these photos at an eye level, I either leaned back or crouched down to get a different perspective.

A low level photo of Lake Washington

Have you guys ever wondered why an area, object, or image attracts your attention?