Tag Archives: symmetry

Facial Symmetry

After four months of no hair cut, I finally managed to get some clippers and set about cleaning up my head.  I won’t share the awful look that I had developed (and the current look might not be that great either) but I did have Nancy take some pictures before and after.  While she was taking the after shots, I asked her to take a couple that were directly head on.  I was interested in facial symmetry.

I had seen articles in the past about how some people have quite symmetric faces while others didn’t and I had been meaning to try this out for myself.  I got a shot that was nice and head on so took it in to Photoshop.  There I duplicated the layer and flipped it horizontally.  Aligning it centrally was a bit of a choice because you can move it around a little and just widen or narrow the face.  I got it to a place that seemed about right.  The fact my face is asymmetric means that there isn’t an exact center to align against.

I then added a layer mask to two versions of the image to blank one side or the other out.  The result is two versions of my face using either the left or the right side.  The difference between them is quite stark.  My jaw is slightly lopsided as is my nose and so one version has a far broader look to it while the other is a lot thinner.  It’s like two different people.

Hwy 99 Crosses the Water

To get from Seattle to Fremont, you have to cross the water.  Highway 99 runs across a high bridge to get from one side to the other.  Being underneath the bridge you have a very different perspective on things.  It is an old bridge structure with concrete piers supporting the roadway.  From underneath, the symmetry of the structure is quite appealing.  What is apparent when you are there but is not so clear in a picture is the steepness of the hill as it drops away down to the water.  The gradient is pretty dramatic.  The bridge does climb a bit but the ground falls away far faster.