Yesterday I decided to run around taking some shots of interesting locales in Second Life. What I ended up doing , though, was taking a bunch of self-portraits. This is a departure from my usual goal of trying to avoid putting avatars (or people) in my photos (in and out of world), but I’ve found myself increasingly more interested in animal and people shots than scenery. Scenery is static and unchanging, and I’m starting to enjoy capturing things that are a little more lively, temporal, and unique.

While I’m by no means a professional portrait artist in either world, I’d like to give a few quick suggestions on how to take good pictures and portraits in Second Life.

Lighting With WindLight

As with any photo, lighting is key. The best backdrop behind the best model in the world won’t look like anything special without good lighting. In the real world and SL both, we can use lights and umbrellas to achieve close-to-ideal lighting when in a studio, but outside things are a bit more random. Fortunately, in SL, we have complete control over the atmospheric lighting and effects, thanks to WindLight. If you want really special shots, whether portraits or landscapes, I recommend playing with the various WindLight presets until you find one that captures the mood of the Sim you’re using as a location, and/or the essence of your particular subject.

You can fiddle with the atmospheric and lighting sliders yourself, but there are many presets available for download. These can achieve anything from subtle lighting changes to grand redefinitions of the SL environment including adding fog, adjusting how the water is rendered, even changing the color of the sun.

The China China sim, using a hazy, orange WindLight setting

The same sim with a different WindLight setting gives an entirely different effect.

You can tweak any WindLight presets using the in-world sliders, and I recommend playing with the sun position in particular to get the lighting right on your subject. It’s no good to have a fantastic lighting setup if your subject happens to be in shadow.

In one light, he appears warm and friendly

In another, dark and ghostly.

You can carry lighting prims with you, as well, for use in rez-friendly sims. I find that many of the best shots include a little something from an in-world light source. Just be sure you’re sensitive about when you use them, and don’t forget to pick them up when you’re done.

Zoom Level Secrets

The standard mouse zoom acts like any lens in that closer objects (and parts of objects) appear larger. This can lead to unfortunate exaggeration of features of our subjects which happen to be closer to our virtual lens. Noses, cheeks, arms, heads — any of these can appear to balloon depending on the position of the camera and the level of mouse zoom being used. This is especially problematic for photographing non-human subjects with already exaggerated features.

Note how the nose just seems to be bulging out of the shot.

Fortunately, mouse zoom is not the only way to control zoom level in Second Life. Ctrl+0, ctrl+8, and ctrl+9 zoom in, out, and zero the zoom level, respectively. These ctrl+# keys affect the zoom level in a slightly different way from the standard mouse zoom in that they zoom without distortion. Rather than zooming in the standard sense, it’s’ almost like we’re cropping and enlarging our picture in real time — it’s something akin to “digital zoom” in the real world, only without the unfortunate loss of quality.

Here, the features aren't distorted at all, even though it's still an extreme close-up

A word of caution, however: the ctrl-# zoom doesn’t increase the render quality as you get closer, so it’s easy to end up with weird prim clipping in your shots. It can also create shots that look subtly “off” if used to an extreme. Since it doesn’t move your camera, it also leads to a disorienting tendency to accidentally cam behind walls without meaning to. I often set mine to one or two steps in for most shoots, and only adjust further when necessary and with care.

As a side note, the ctrl+# zoom also bypasses the usual restrictions on maximum zoom level, something very helpful for jewelers and others who work with micro-prims.

Camming for Composition

Anyone who’s been in SL for any amount of time has no doubt heard of “camming”, short for moving your camera to explore the environment, rather than moving your avatar. Camming involves holding down the alt+ctrl keys and left-click dragging around using the mouse. It’s a bit hard to get used to at first, but with a little practice, it gives amazing freedom to life in SL and can become faster and easier than moving your AV.

Camming is useful for in-world photography because it gives you near-full control of exactly where your camera is placed. It’s essential for self portraits, or you’d be more-or-less stuck taking shots of your back. I say “near-full” because to move your camera, you still need an object on which to focus your cursor, something to act as a focal point from which to zoom or drag your point of view. For instance, you can’t point your camera into the sky and cam somewhere into the clouds, unless there happens to be a skybox or other floating object in visual range you can piggy-back off of.

I used the floating bottle as the focus to cam up to this vantage point, exaggerating my avatar's small size.

Anyway, camming is what gives us the ability to control the composition of our shots. You may have heard of the Rule of Thirds in relation to the visual arts, and it’s no less valid in SL. Camming to put our subjects in a more interesting place than directly in the center of the frame can lead to stunning shots that emphasize the subject, the location, or elements of both.

If you’re not using animations (via a pose-ball or direct play), camming will also affect where your avatar is looking. This can be a good thing, or it can be frustrating, depending on the look you’re going for.

In this shot, I've cammed around the front of my AV and placed her off center. I used the mushrooms as my zoom point, causing my AV to look up at them, which happened to be just the look I wanted.

Focus

Unlike real-world photography, we can’t set the aperture on our virtual SL cameras; this means we can’t deliberately blur the background. Remember when you take a shot of your subject in front of an interesting background, the background will remain just as sharp as the subject, providing its own challenges in creating interesting composition without making our shots too busy.

The background of this shot is far too busy (and unrelated), causing the subject to lose her impact.

This shot deliberately frames the background using the foreground elements.

Final Thoughts

I could go on about more general photography suggestions on composition, lighting, focus, and so on, but those can be found in other places. I just wanted to jot down some of the SL-specific photography tricks I’ve learned in the hopes it will help others take better SL pictures.

If you like any of these suggestions on how to take a good photo in Second Life, or the if you liked the photos that go with them, or if you have any tips for SL photography of your own, I’d love for you to leave a comment below.

The other day I took some time to walk around the annual Raglan Shire Artwalk in Second Life. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend checking it out before it closes on the 29th (that’s Sunday) — there are literally hundreds of art pieces displayed around the Shire, some of which have been created in world, and some of which are uploaded images of paintings and photographs from “real” life. There are even “hedgeboat” rides to take you on a tour through the hedges where the 2-d art is displayed and through the forest where the sculptures are.

A couple of years ago I helped to set it up, but I was so busy working behind the scenes at the time I hardly had a chance to enjoy it. Last year I wasn’t playing at all, so this is the first year I got to stop and smell the waffles, as it were. I decided to make some of my own art by taking pictures of the sculptures displayed in Heron Forest — art within art! It’s so meta!

As with all my Second Life photography, none of these are post-processed in any way. Please click for a larger view; you can click anywhere inside the enlarged photo to go through them slideshow style.

Danu, by Pumpkin Tripsa

L'atomo della vita by Solkide Auer

Sirio by Solkide Auer

Harp and Cello by nessuno-Myoo, through water

Owl Ephemeral by Kobuk Farshorer

Owl Ephemeral by Kobuk Farshorer

Poseidon by Sledge Roffo

Steps dance by Kicca Igaly

Dream Ball by Betty Tureaud

Dream Ball by Betty Tureaud

Today was a special event in Raglan Shire, a day for adventuring through labyrinths and questing for treasure! Tens of Tinies gathered in eager anticipation, though their trepidation was nearly palpable.

Raiders of the Lost Dragon Lair

I took my place at one of the four entrances to the labyrinth, unnerved by the stale smell of musky dragon hide (which I know well), and the sound of scrabbling cave dwellers. Would this be my day to make a name for myself as an adventurer, to mark my name down in the annals of Tiny history? Or would it, instead, be my doom, and this my final chance to breathe the cool air and feel the sun upon my scales?

Considering My Destiny

The tunnel within was dank and noises haunted me from around every corner. Spiderwebs draped the hallways, and each dead end seemed to me like a sign heralding my own doom. I even came across the remains of some poor, decapitated adventurer, stuck gruesomely on a spike to block my path.

Skull on a Stick

As I neared the center, the ground began to rumble with the sound of angry dragon roars – they knew I was there. My scales tingled in excitement when at last I came across a giant door, with a lever on either side. “This is it,” I thought, but which lever to pull? One would surely open the door to the lair of treasure, but the other could just as easily spell my doom!

At last, I made my decision, leaped up and threw my weight down upon the lever. As it gave way, I heard something release in the door, and it creaked ponderously open. Heat and stench overwhelmed me in a gust from within the chamber (I’ll never know why so many dragons have poor hygiene; makes the rest of us look bad). As I stepped in, the door slammed shut behind me, trapping me in a stone prison with two angry dragons! And… all their treasure.

Angry Dragons!

I had only a moment to grab the quest item and make my escape, but I found myself unduly distracted by the mountains of gold and treasure. “If only my armor had pockets!” I lamented, as the dragons bellowed and charged towards me.

Grabbing the Treasure

Finally, I came to my senses, cleared the glitter from my brain, and bolted to the quest item where it lay, half buried in a pile of gold and gemstones. Then, casting one last rueful glance at the mountains of wealth, I fled from the chamber using a ventilation tunnel. The roars of the dragons followed me, but the dragons themselves were too massive to follow me themselves.

I emerged to the cheers of the other hopeful adventurers and presented my treasure (reluctantly) to the Altar of Questing. “Azelle has escaped from the dragon’s lair!” they cried, and I knew I had made my mark in Tiny history.

I’ve split off Second Life info to a separate Twitter account. You can follow my in-world adventures @AzelleM. I did this for a couple of reasons. First, because it’s hard to keep up with my Tiny friends on my main account, which I also use for some work-related feeds. I tried to split off my Raglan friends into a Twitter list and keep track of them there, but ended up hurting some feelings when I started checking the list instead of following the individuals. Add to that the fact that my memory for checking the list is sporadic, and the whole idea became a miserable failure. Second, I think it’s better not to pester my RL friends and family with information about in-world products they have no reason to care about, but I want to be able to post about them. Besides, I know not all Tinies are going to care about my RL adventures, either.

So, anytiny is welcome to follow my RL account if you wish, @shardstweet, but I won’t be the least bit offended if you unfollow my RL in favor of the new one. I won’t be tweeting much, if anything, about SL or related things on the old account. I’ll also be ecstatic if you follow the new one at all, since right now I’m mostly just tweeting to the ether. :P

After nearly a year away, I’ve decided it’s time for me to come back to SL. Though I doubt I’ll ever have the time to be as prolific a creator I once was, I miss SL and my friends there so much that I simply must make the effort to be in-world regularly again.

Raglan Shire began their Medieval Festival today, so I created some Health Services for Tiny dragons and the knights which battle them. I assure you, I’m completely unbiased against the knights… You can get a free first aid kit that gives out Tinysporin and band aids on touch, and also fill out a free application for my totally awesome, totally affordable (and totally fake) health insurance policy. As a special service, I’m also providing free Super Duper Protective Armor for knights! You can find it all in the purple tent at the Raglan Shire seasonal area (across the square from the vendor area).

Tiny Health Services

I’ve decided to recommend Metaverse Exchange for those looking for a haven from XStreet. The community is vocal and constructive on their forums, and the operator of the site is active there and very positive to suggestions. I have added a suggestion for a Tiny/Micro/Macro category, and am optimistic for its addition. I mentioned that if the category existed, the Tinies would have incentive to flock there. ;D

According to the MVX About page, the owner has a business philosophy I can get behind. From what I see on the forums thus far, MVX is doing their best to carry it out.

At Metaverse Exchange we believe that a good community is the foundation of a good economy, so we’ve established forums for the free exchange of information about virtual worlds life and experience. Come to the forums to get help, give help, find information, or just relax with friends.

At MVX we have a very different business philosophy. We don’t believe that business, or life for that matter, is a zero-sum game: that is, we don’t believe that, in order for one to win, someone else must lose. We strongly believe in conducting business to the mutual benefit of all concerned. You, as a merchant and/or shopper here, will always come before money. The owner, Siann Beck, has been an independent businesswoman for many years, and it has always been her experience that, when she operates that way, the money takes care of itself.

I have added an MVX terminal to my main shop. A full listing of in-world MVX terminals is available on the MVX website.

This is what I said in the “Why Are You Downgrading” survey (links added):

I no longer wish to support LL. I’m tired of LL’s money-grubbing strategies, most recently illustrated by their recent changes to XStreet. These will now make it impossible for niche merchants to sell their products and will make it harder to search the virtual world for goods, as creators who are not also interested in becoming businesspeople will no longer be able to post their goods there. While I enjoy the virtual world on the SL Grid, LL is continually making decisions which make clear that they are more interested in ancient business practices of wringing their users dry than they are in building a community which is happy to support them.

If you read Linden Lab’s post about the XStreet changes, it is extremely transparent that they are just giving over to greed, yet again, and I am tired of supporting them. Over the next week or so, I will be moving all my products to the Metaverse Exchange, and I’m glad to know that LL will be getting no more of my money.

Windlight is the snazzy name for the system used in-world in SL to tweak sky and water appearances. It’s great for taking photographs that have an extra ‘something.’ See the Wiki for a more detailed explanation of what it does.

I use Greenlife’s Emerald Viewer instead of the standard Linden Labs viewer. Among its many improvements, it includes considerably more preset sky settings to play with. I’ve been trying to find one that says “Christmas” to me, and ended up taking one called [Euphoria] Natural High and tweaking it a bit to create something I call Winter Wonderland. I thought, “I should share this,” and spent the next 10 minutes trying to find the file. I finally got smart and checked the Wiki:

Windows XP

* Skies – C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\SecondLife\user_settings\windlight\skies
* Water – C:\Program Files\SecondLife\app_settings\windlight\water

Windows Vista

* Skies – C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\SecondLife\user_settings\windlight\skies
* Water – C:\Program Files\SecondLife\app_settings\windlight\water

Those directories are both where you can find settings that you create and save yourself, and where you put Windlight files created by others so you can use them in-world.

So, without further ado, here is my first Windlight file to share with you all:
[Az] Winter Wonderland 1

It’s Winterfest in Raglan, and we kicked it off with some early Tiny Caroling.

Raglan Tiny Carolers on YouTube

I left the group to do some scouting of new locations, and by the time I finished, everyone seemed to be doing quite well without my herding– er… leading, so I decided to do some decorating at the Cave. It looks quite festive! All that I need now is some winter stuff to sell!

New items currently free to subscribers or from trick or treating or my lucky chair.