Monday, September 26, 2011

Photospot: Stormwater Management

   
Photospot on SL Unearthed is a semi-regular feature that highlights a Second Life spot that is a cool place at which to take portrait photos inworld. Not an entire sim, not even a complete parcel, but just a single specific location - a spot - with portrait opportunity.
   
Flickr members: you're invited to join the
SL Unearthed Photospot group and add your pictures taken at Photospot locations to the group pool.
   
Take note that very little in SL stays the same for very long. After even a short while, Photospot locations may be gone or changed in a significant way that renders their SLurls ineffective as originally intended, so be sure to grab these opportunities as they come!


If you're intrigued by large pipes and mysterious machinery, there's fun to to be had at today's Photospot target where you'll get to explore the Stormwater Management pumping station in Lionheart Bay City, a build by DarthBunny Petrov. This brick building is situated on a street corner next to the canal. The canal offers plenty of picture fodder, as does the street view where massive pipes distinguish the station's entrance, but today we're heading inside Stormwater Management, where the real action can take place.
  
Photospot: Stormwater Management
   
The public works building has three sections, clearly differentiated but too open to call them "rooms." The taller section contains the main pump. The other two have a couple nondescript control racks plus a pair of pressure tanks. These minimal props are assisted in their illusions by some very good texture work. The overall impression is one of heat-inducing labors, carried out nine-to-five for many years. Pick a spot, almost anywhere here is going to give you something yummy for your camera. And to some of us, the great textures and geometric angles just call out for additional play with filters and effects.
   
Curiosity
   
There are also some grimy windows that can be shot through - looking outward at the city or looking inward like a voyeur.
   
Lost
   
For the best close-ups, Ctrl+0 [zero] is your friend. Use Alt+Click only to align your camera to the subject, then use Ctrl+0 to incrementally zoom in. Now you can use the other movement controls to frame your shot as desired, but *resist* the tempation to "zoom" with Alt+Click. Alt+Click doesn't zoom; e.g. it doesn't change the focal length, it moves the camera itself. Using Alt+Click as a "zoom" is literally like taking a camera with a wide-angle lens and bringing it closer to a person's face. You've seen those pictures; the face is quite distorted, with anything centered (like a nose or lips) becoming fisheyed bulbous. Avoid the bulbous effect by using Ctrl+0 to get a tighter focus on faces or other detailed objects. Just like a real zoom, the use of Ctrl+0 will also compress perspective, making the background appear more immediate (an easy way to get a very large moon, among other effects). And just so you know: Ctrl+8 incrementally gives you wider angles, and Ctrl+9 brings the lens back to normal.
   
Trapped
   
It would seem this pink-haired lady wandered in here after hours and now can't find her way out. Is she fated to pace the checkered tiles forever? Every picture tells a story, and some are stranger than others. What stories will you find to tell at the Stormwater Management pumping station?
    
Waiting

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Group Gift Awesomeness!

Howdy! I'm a bit of a freebie nutter. I also like things that are a bit outside the norm, so expect various things from me, free and otherwise. I love shopping though, point blank, and I hope you like some of the great deals, freebies and random things I have to share!

When I logged in this morning, I had some great gifts in my inventory from a few wonderful SL designers. I threw them all on, and this is what I got! Super cute!



Short and sweet, enjoy the goodies!

Hair: Ellie - Subo-Group Gift - ChiChickie
Skin: London picadilly circus
milk - In Store Group Gift -
AI VULO!
Outfit: Woot - Subo-Group Gift
(includes shoes) -
Jazmyn D

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Photospot: Vicina Quay

   
Photospot on SL Unearthed is a semi-regular feature that highlights a Second Life spot that is a cool place at which to take portrait photos inworld. Not an entire sim, not even a complete parcel, but just a single specific location - a spot - with portrait opportunity.
   
Flickr members: you're invited to join the
SL Unearthed Photospot group and add your pictures taken at Photospot locations to the group pool.
   
Take note that very little in SL stays the same for very long. After even a short while, Photospot locations may be gone or changed in a significant way that renders their SLurls ineffective as originally intended, so be sure to grab these opportunities as they come!



I'm happy you caught up to the new Photospot home on SL Unearthed! Travel with me now down to the end of a long, lonely railway structure known as the Vicina Quay Rez Zone. As with most Photospot locations, there are plenty of images to be found along the quay and in several directions around it, but down here at the end is where we're specifically focusing today.
  
Photospot: Vicina Quay
  
Here we find a simple but effective setting, mainly consisting of railings and life preservers. There's a tugboat in the water off to one side, a small, tropical island with a boathouse off to the other. Straight ahead, nothing but water as far as the maximum Draw Distance eye can see. On the quay itself, you decide... it could be nighttime or daytime; it might be foggy and rainy, or perhaps sunny and windy as it is for me today.
   
Oh My Hair And there I go, switching avatars. I've been keeping a tight timetable, so I'm letting this spot do double-duty for me. But really, as a tip, that's also something to keep in mind at a photogenic location. You don't have to shoot while wearing whatever you happen to be wearing. One of the conveniences of a virtual world is that you can become completely different, on the spot, in the matter of a few moments. So try out different outfits, hair or a variety of avatar forms. How about putting on your tiny? android? dragon? elf? furry? You might catch some unexpected image enthusiasm by mixing it up now and then. Say What?
   
I go through several Windlight settings, searching for something close to the feeling I want to impart. When I find one, I generally modify it (lightly or considerably) for the sun position, ambient color and other tweaks. It's good to keep a number of settings handy in addition to the default handful, but keep in mind that if you store up too many, it'll be more difficult scrolling through the list to find what you're looking for.
   
While I was setting up a face shot at this spot, the lighting was close-but-not-quite what I had in mind, yet close enough that fiddling with the Lighting dials would probably lose it. So instead, I altered the colors of the water and sky just enough by fine-tuning the "Blue Horizon" color under the Atmosphere tab. Notice how it tinted the surroundings without significantly changing the sun/ambient lighting. That's a very simple trick that can mean all the difference between "good enough" and "just what I want!" when the color tone of the environment is an issue.
   
fine-tuning
   
If you're here long enough, you might get to see a couple freight vehicles come down the railway and get loaded onto a ship. (Oh, and don't be surprised if you see an ice cream truck pass by along the water, pretending that it's a boat. This is Second Life; stranger things do happen.) Visit Vicina Quay and see how it inspires you inworld or in your graphics program, or both.
   
Anticipation
   

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Welcome!

Thanks for checking out "SL Unearthed". Join our group in world for information on hunts, blog posts and great places and things to discover in Second Life.