July 21, 2008 at 7:05 pm (SL Photography)
Tags: do's, don't, hints, tips
There are tonnes of things we can do to make a photo seem more interesting or, as per my penchant, more realistic. Just quick list:
- DO adjust your AV’s hair and clothes for this one shot. Hint: Female AVs: When lying down, reduce your breast size to a very small measure. They flatten with gravity, you know :)
- DO adjust your environment if you can. I love builders and shape builders who have a grasp of human scale.
- Do look for crazy angles, they often lead to inspiration. Allow yourself to move that camera around freely!
- DO have a technical understanding of the ins and outs of your SL client
- DO play with lighting
- DO take a shot in that one odd, tight little corner in an otherwise plain sim.
- DO take 80 bazillion shots, they’re free and you can discard later. Some of my most interestiing shots are imperfect and came about by pure accident.
- DO work hard on getting just one shot right too. I’ve spent hours trying to make a picture in my head come true.
- DO learn every inch of a great sim (and thank, praise, offer credit to the sim builder–everyone loves praise!)
- DO be willing to do something that you’ve never seen and put it out there.
- DO ask questions, meet nice people, listen carefully, remember and learn. Talent is just the root, hard work and practice is what pays off.
- DO, DO, DO make your picture create a story or a world in one snapshot.
- DO use your imagination
- Do have fun. If this isn’t about fun, I don’t know what is.
Do find someone you love and give them a hug during a shoot. It’s good for inspiration and reduces carpal tunnel syndrome :)
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July 21, 2008 at 7:15 am (SL Photography)
Tags: AM Radio, emotion, Lalique Square, Luth Brodie, n30, passion, rant, rave, Reel Expressions, story telling
Second Life offer’s great opportunities to take really great pictures. One can take as much advantage of SL as we can in real life, all technical considerations aside. Yes, the 3D environment has it’s limitations, as does real life. It also offers opportunities that real life doesn’t offer–when’s the last time you’ve taken a self-portrait on the fly from 15 feet up in the air?
There are technical hurdles. Our AVs break and bend and distort with poses. Sometimes there are anti-aliasing problems. The world acts unnaturally (I hate it when skirts flow though our AVs and furniture, same with hair!), but this can be as much a challenge as a limitation, and often, the easy way out (photoshop) does not have to be our first response to such things.
There are basically three types of images we can take in SL:
- Fun friendly snapshots. We don’t expect much of these, they’re meant to capture a fun moment.
- Commercial photography. OK, so, for a poster, I can understand why you would want a static pose. Cleaning up some joint cracks or anti-aliasing? Makes perfect sense.
- “Photography” photography. That’s where we try to emulate as much as is reasonably possible, what we would do in RL if we were all perfect, beautiful model-gorgeous creatures.
My peevs start as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
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July 12, 2008 at 8:29 am (SL Photography)
Tags: alpha, faerie, leaf, silouette
The green silouette of a young woman seen though a translucent leaf
This was a fortuitous shot in the sense that discovering it was an accident, but getting it just right once I caught onto the concept took some work. This is just on the outside edge of the Silvanus Dream Forest, and I fell off the edges, I tried to get back in, but the trees and textures would not allow me. Suddenly, I noticed that I could see though the plants. I’ve long made use of shooting though alpha, but this particular approach, of going though layered alphas, and coloured ones at that was new to me. I very much enjoy this shot.
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July 12, 2008 at 4:52 am (SL Photography, Uncategorized)
Well, I’ve done it, I’ve uploaded my old Second Life photography portfolio on Flickr.com. Find it here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/quiteoh/
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July 11, 2008 at 11:06 pm (Personal Snapshots)
Tags: friendly, Kuula, snapshot
Just a quick snap of a friendly drama oozing moment with my friends at Kuula. Locke Cardway, Serene Magic and I.
A friendly drama oozing moment at Kuula
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July 11, 2008 at 10:29 pm (SL Photography, Studies)
Tags: AM Radio, photography, skills, The Far Away, Windlight
I often spend time just practicing the getting the right shot. Since I’ve just recently gotten a new video card for my machine, today’s experiment involved playing with Windlight for the first time. It’s deep, rich and scary! And I can see that as of now it’s an absolute must-master skill for those to aspire to be the best SL photographers they can be.
Clear blue water at AM Radio's The Far Away
This particular image uses the Costal Afternoon lighting and the Clear water setting. I wanted to balance the lovely gold of the field, matching the dresse’s red with the light umber light of the afternoon and the clear blue of the sky. I like the way it turned out, but in the future, I’d like to have a better understanding of how to edit the sky. Compare this with the default blue water.
Default blue water at AM Radio
This was taken at AM Radio’s The Far Away. AM is a master of creating sims that are deep and rich, and emotionally evocative. Some people’s sims are a testament to their building ability, other’s their vision and creativity. AM’s are simply the kind that speak little and evoke a quiet stirring in our soul.
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July 11, 2008 at 9:16 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: avatar, free, freebies, newbie, newcomers
Beauty avatar is selling two very lovely outfits for L$0! Lisbona and Vienna. At first, I clicked on the poster and purchased, only to realize moments later it was L$0. I looked up the owner to tell them of it (please support our content creators!) and spoke to Tiago Morales who informed me that “we selling that dress to 0 linden because they are old”.
What? Our clothes wear out here? So not only was I exculpated from having bought something for free, but I discovered yet another vendor who is beyond scarcity mentality. A good creator should never fear losing money by giving away a decent product. In RL that’s known as “value added” and in my own experience does nothng but create customer good will and good word of mouth. Guess this post is proof.
Lot’s of very nice stuff here, and if you cross the street you’ll find men’s fashions and some very lovely skins as well. I’m considering the purchase of Rozen Genesis. Maybe a review on it later, if I do.
The short of it? Great stuff and positive impressions about Beauty Avatar, as much for good quality as for good attitude.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/World%20of%20Beauty/70/192/25
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July 11, 2008 at 7:27 pm (Photographer's Find)
Tags: Avatars, costumes, Look, pirate
As a SL photographer, I’m always on the look out for new and interesting looks to create just that image that I have in my mind and so when I find costume stores, I’m always thrilled. Laqroki skins and hair has what looks like a developping sectin of costume clothes that they refer to as “Specialty Avatars”. Pirate suits, Santa suits, Police outfits and even a really nicely done Pumpkin head AV. Haven’t tried any of them yet, but I look forward to having the right photo in mind to try them out.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Laqroki/36/151/95
Masquerade Costumes by Laqroki Design
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July 11, 2008 at 6:31 pm (For Newcomers, Reviews: Animations and AOs)
Tags: animation, ao, body language, newbie, newcomer
Cybernetic is offering animations at L$1 per anim. I personally encourage all content creators to offer great deals like this that helps the newcomer. Elvis Woodget has a smart idea: when coming out with a new line of products, do indeed offer your earlier, perhaps less practiced works at a good discount rate. It’s good for newcomers and helps the vendor to create a reputation for themselves.
Good deal at L$1, but NOT free
One thing, all appreciation granted for the good deal, is the disappointement in the fact that the end-of-line animations are advertised for free, both on in the classifies, and on the wall, wherea they are in fact “inexpensive” L$1 animations. Better to either advertise correctly. At L$1, some of the animations are a steal, but this is offset with a certain waryness of the discrepancy between the word and the deed. Still, if you’re a newcomer, or a frugal shopper, the end of line anims are well worth the look.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybernetic/155/36/45
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Quite Oh: A Second Life 