Elaine Overton

Archive for February, 2011

Dancing On Pointe

Dancing in pointe shoes requires a lot of strength and years of training. To avoid injury, it is recommended that you do not try to dance in pointe shoes if you have not been properly trained in ballet. Also, you should not purchase pointe shoes until you have been instructed to do so by your teacher.

Pointe shoes do not come with the elastic and ribbons sewn on. In most cases, these items are sold separately. Before applying the elastic and ribbons, let your teacher check the fit of the shoe. Once the ribbons and elastic is sewn on, pointe shoes cannot be returned.

Structure Makes a Difference

Pointe shoes consist of many different parts, all of which are fundamental in how the shoe fits. When trying to find the right pointe shoe, consider these very important terms in making your choice:

•Box: the front, wide part of the pointe shoe
The box can be either wide or tapered. A tapered box is narrower toward the tip of the shoe and gets wider as it approaches the drawstring. Shoes with a tapered box are good for dancers whose toes decrease in length from the big toe to the pinky toe. Shoes with a wider box are great for dancers whose toes are all close to the same length.

•Vamp: the top part of the pointe shoe, which is a continuation of the box
Vamps can either be “V” shaped or “U” shaped. “V” shaped vamps are usually longer, which gives the foot a little extra support.

•Shank: the “spine” of the pointe shoe
The shank is the part of the shoe that must be “broken in.” The shank provides arch support in the shoe. Shanks come in different strengths: hard, medium, and soft. Most beginner pointe dancers should get medium or hard shanks to build strength in their arches.

•Platform: the flat end of the box that you relevee onto

•Throat: the open area where the foot fits into the shoe

Find the Perfect Fit

Pointe shoes must have an exact fit on the foot, almost like a sock. In order to get the correct fit, consider the following tips:

•There are many different brands of pointe shoes to choose from; all are made differently to fit different types of feet. Do not buy a certain style of pointe shoe just because your friend has them. Try to find the style that is comfortable and fits your foot best.

•The sizing of pointe shoes is usually different from the sizing of street shoes. Some brands of pointe shoes run smaller than street shoes while other brands run larger than street shoes.

•If purchasing pointe shoes online, most websites offer size charts that compare the size of the pointe shoe to the size of a street shoe.

•If purchasing pointe shoes from a store, it is best to let the employee measure your foot, or tell the employee the size of your street shoe.

•When standing normally in pointe shoes, toes should reach the end of the shoe, but should not be crunched, bent, or overlapped. If toes are crunched or bent, try the next size up. If toes are overlapping each other, try a wider width or a shoe with a wider box.

•When standing in relevee, there should only be a thumb’s width of pinch at the heel of the shoe.

•Make sure to pull and tie the drawstring so that the shoe is as tight as it can be. This will help keep the shoe from slipping off.

Pampos offers a wide variety of pointe shoes and accessories for beginners through professionals to help you find the perfect fit. Shop online or contact us with any questions you may have to help you find the pointe shoe that is perfect for your foot.

1) Focus your camera

In order to ensure your images are sharp, make sure you know how to focus your camera. Digital cameras with auto focus are often difficult to focus precisely, especially when shooting small objects. Make sure your read your owner’s manual and understand how your camera’s auto focus operates. Most digital cameras are designed to easily focus on large objects but have difficulty on small objects. It is often useful to put your camera in spot focus mode. Spot focus will give you more control over what part of a scene the camera is actually focusing on.

2) Use a tripod

Even the slightest movement while taking a picture will cause motion blur. The closer you get to an object the more obvious the motion blur becomes. Using an inexpensive tripod will make a big difference in the sharpness of your images. For really sharp images it makes sense to invest in a good, sturdy tripod. If your camera has a remote shutter release then use it, if not then use the camera’s built-in timer to minimize camera shake.

3) Put your camera in aperture priority mode

To get the largest area of your subject in focus, it is good to set your camera in aperture priority mode and set the aperture to the highest number possible. The closer you get to your subject, the more important this becomes.

4) Use soft lighting

Your camera’s built-in flash will rarely give good results for product photography. For soft lighting either shoot outside on an overcase day or use a light tent like the EZcube, Cubelite, or use a soft box.

5) Use image editing software

Even inexpensive software like Photoshop Elements or ACDSee can make your product photography much easier. It may seem like it’s faster to use an image exactly as it was shot. But in reality, it is difficult to shoot an image precisely how you would like to appear in its final form. Image editing software allows you to crop an image, adjust it’s exposure, sharpen the image and then resize it, often in less than 60 seconds.

The biggest difference between an amateur’s product snapshot and a professional’s product image are sharpness and lighting. Steps 1,2, and 3 will improve the sharpness of your images while Step 4 will improve your lighting. A minute spent editing an image will improve it further. Because these few steps seem so basic, it’s tempting to ignore them. However, if you take time to follow them, you will see a huge improvement in the quality of your photos.

An old and reclusive art, glove making has been intertwined with human culture since the days of the caveman.  The first gloves resembled crude mittens.  As the years passed, glove making became more of a refined art.  Articulated fingers were stitched in to provide more dexterity and ease of movement.  While glove makers’ guilds once dominated in a society obsessed with a covered hand, today very few remain.  Fewer still are the patterns available for hand-made gloves.  Machine sewn and hand-finished gloves are mostly what you’ll find in the market.

Gloves are seen in ancient writings, such as Homer’s The Odyssey, in which Laertes is said to wear gloves in his garden so as to avoid the brambles.  There is some debate over the translation of this text.  In The History of Herodotus, written in 440 BC, Herodotus describes how Leotychides was given a bribe in the form of a gauntlet overflowing with silver, which later incriminated him.

As years passed, the complexity and versatility of gloves grew.  Plated gauntlets are dated back as far as the early 14th century.  Before that, mail gloves were worn.  Some knights were cited as wearing mail gloves under their plated gauntlets for added strength.

Now, if we look to the fashion world, we see a marvelous array of styles.  Cloth and leather gauntlets displayed intricate embroideries.  Ladies in the 19th century adored opera gloves.  One peculiarity is that they tried to fit their hands into gloves a size too small!  This forced one’s hand to rest in a half cupped position – perfect for greeting, but not for kissing.  If you have ever attempted to don a glove you are too big for, you realize what a task these women undertook!  Buttonhook and powdered alum provided some lubrication, but still, before an opera, determined women would sit for hours, coaxing their hands down into tight gloves.

Few tomes remain that give us real insight of early gloves.  One of the more revered in existence today is Le Gant.  The book, while entirely in French, reveals many patterns and divulges a brief development and history of the glove.  Also included are passages telling us of the period’s social relevance and sexual significance pertaining to the glove.

Insulation from the heat or cold.  Protection from scratches and cuts.  The instigation of duels.  Bold or minute fashion statements.  Gloves have worn many hats, so to speak, throughout history.  They continue to be a wholly integral part of many jobs today.  Conversely, there has been a sharp decline in the use of gloves as fashion accessories over the past several decades.  Fewer and fewer girls attend their proms with gloves.  Fashion is a fickle thing, and only time will tell the future of the glove.

Glove enthusiast, Taylor Hartley, conducts and posts research regarding all types of gloves.