SL Photographer's purpose?

I never airbrush or retouch my ads, other than to remove the white background

if the avatar has a jagged edge that jagged edge stays, if the textures warp the warped textures stay

when I look at ads, I expect to get what I see

I'll add to that.. Collin Savon does some absolutely amazing work using Photoshop. Most of his work he posts to Flickr.

There's a display of his and some of the other artists Debbie mentions going on at the Cannery right now. Knock yourself out!

Inc

I am now 2 weeks into the change over from being an

SL snapper, into a beginner Sl photographer.

Having an Sl studio makes a big difference, learning

how to use Photoshop, also has a big impact on final

results.

Ex.1 SL snap

Ex.2 Hopefully something a little more artistic.

As with any art there is a big skillset to be learned, but

natural talent surely speeds the process.

At the same time, you *can* do a great deal by jes creatively using SL.



or (with the once an future Windlight):



(Some of my faves is here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/marianne-mccann/ - an I only did photoshop on two of the ones on flickr)

Mari
(Art show closes on October 21st!)

mari yes this is true, just SL can be enough sometimes.

You guys have GOTTA see Mari's other pictures. Drop on by Livingtree before the show ends. She's one talented little girl with that SL camera.

/me blushes

Thankoo Lindal.

I shoulda also said earlier: It's not to say nuttin bad about photoshop, neither. I use it a lot for a lot of stuff, an have done some with a couple of my piccies. Yet there is, to me, someting to be said f'r finding a good environment for shooting in, an really tryin' to tell a story with the piccie, using th world as your background.

Mari

free tip for those looking to extract the back ground add depth or do some other interesting things... when you are on the snapshot ui... there is a drop down labeled color... change to depth, and then layer it with a "color" shot.... some gorgeous effects can be done this way

I am impressed by what people can do with photoshop (since I have no skill there), but I am even more impressed when people actually take the time to take good photographs in world (like yours Marianne).

I also like finding interesting fun places in SL, and good photos taken in world really help. Really annoying when I want to see something in world that I saw in a picture only to learn that the picture only included the avatar and the background is not in SL. That or it has been heavily manipulated and does not look like what can be found in SL.

"Anybody can take a picture - not everybody can take a *good* picture."

N.B. Applies to RL and SL with equal measure.

Trout, hi...

My camera (when worn) fits right into your hand. When someone takes a default 'snapshot' the animation and my camera in-hand line up perfectly...it looks natural.

On top of this, when a snapshot is taken, a dynamic flash is activated. This is a cool effect.

Lastly, the camera turns on and off (shown by a red light on it's faceplate).

Honestly...it's mostly just a prop. I don't know why people keep saying, 'What does it help you do? Does it take pictures for you?'--my answer is 'no.' You dont' want it to take pictures for you...there is nothing a scripted camera in Second Life could do that is better than just setting it up via alt-zoom, and cropping and manipulating later in Photoshop.

It's just a prop...as it should be. But it's a darn cool prop. You won't find a higher quality camera in SL--and a lot of photographers love to hold a camera as they work....it's fun for role-play.

Lovely as always.

A while back I looked for a "SL Studio" but couldn't find one. Where did you get your SL Studio?

Mari, I just had to buy some pics at your show, along wit the book. The other evening I was looking thru da book at NCI and had trouble putting it away cause people just kept wanting to see it hehe.


I guess what draws me to your photos is the feeling they each give me. They are much more than a recording of SL they give me the feeling of SL

Oh Lexxi, after trying a cheaper model, I settled on the N30 made by MadameG Zagato.

Great Lights, Great backgrounds, 100 great poses ( you can add your own too ).

Moving the pose stand, back and forward also helps create the impression of depth of field, although tinkering later in Photoshop probably does more to help in this matter.

I only brought the studio thing up to illustrate, that even an SL photography Newb like me, can get drastic improvements, almost imediately.

Only wish I could post here the ones I submitted to Trout for his considered evaluation.............. but I fear the Wrath of the Forum gods..............shudders.

I suppose I count myself as an SL photographer. SL is a 3D interactive work of art and it's fun to capture 2D stills of it. I have quite a few pic of places that are now gone, so there's a historical aspect too. I have a Flickr site where I put my best photos. I don't employ models, as a rule, since I do my own modelling.

Wait, was the rating based on my pictures of you or your pictures of you?

And thanks, I'll look in world

{edited to add: my pictures of you would not be allowed on this forum }

Well......I....er......um.......... (coughs)......supplemented the ones you took, with some of my own.

I thought them utterly wholesome, but I am aware that opinions may diverge on this subject. It can be such a fine line....between "Slutty" and "Disgusting Degenerate Deviant".

Or at least the line becomes fine......when you dont care one little bit........if you cross over it.

I think Rubens paintings are cute......but that could be construed as using the Fig-Leaf of Art Apreciation to cover........um.........more carnal instimcts.

Well......I....er......um.......... (coughs)......supplemented the ones you took, with some of my own.

I thought them utterly wholesome, but I am aware that opinions may diverge on this subject. It can be such a fine line....between "Slutty" and "Disgusting Degenerate Deviant".

Or at least the line becomes fine......when you dont care one little bit........if you cross over it.

I think Rubens paintings are cute......but that could be construed as using the Fig-Leaf of Art Apreciation to cover........um.........more carnal instimcts.

Well......I....er......um.......... (coughs)......supplemented the ones you took, with some of my own.

I thought them utterly wholesome, but I am aware that opinions may diverge on this subject. It can be such a fine line....between "Slutty" and "Disgusting Degenerate Deviant".

Or at least the line becomes fine......when you dont care one little bit........if you cross over it.

I think Rubens paintings are cute......but that could be construed as using the Fig-Leaf of Art Apreciation to cover........um.........more carnal instimcts.

Bear in mind that if you don't mind finding textures and textures yourself, it's relatively easy to make (for example) lights and have total flexibility On the other hand, a studio can often be a lot less hassle to use.

I remember when I was taking a product photo of a house, and had to essentially build a photo platform around it to create the best shot of it. I still somewhere have a zoomed-out shot of a house sitting in the middle of a field surrounded by a house-sized white studio back and orb lights.

---------------

Well......I....er......um.......... (coughs)......supplemented the ones you took, with some of my own.

I thought them utterly wholesome, but I am aware that opinions may diverge on this subject. It can be such a fine line....between "Slutty" and "Disgusting Degenerate Deviant".

Or at least the line becomes fine......when you dont care one little bit........if you cross over it.

I think Rubens paintings are cute......but that could be construed as using the Fig-Leaf of Art Apreciation to cover........um.........more carnal instimcts.

I actually created my own studio, with different colored lights for effect, but I was curious to what a true SL Studio looked like (though I've used 1 version twice).

Oh, and that reminds me - "white studio back" - I find it interesting that my studio that I created has white walls, while the professional studios I have seen seem to use black walls (and also texture background). I'm probably doing something wrong, but I seem to take better pictures against a white wall than against a black wall.

{edit: And I still stick with my claim that I like "natural" photos better, though it is hard to take "natural" photos that do not need some work ; and I do not know how to do that "work"}

If you intend to do postproduction involving the background, it's better to use a funky, distinguishable color, like blue or green as your backdrop, so you can easily separate the avatar from the background.

Ah I see I have the post-production skills of a small inanimate object.