Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Acceptance (Future Is Now Series)




Title of picture - Acceptance (Future Is Now Series)

Photographer's Name - Arcadia Nightfire (arcadianightfire@gmail.com)

Models Name - Arcadia Nightfire 

Location used - The sky above MDR Photo Studio,http://slurl.com/secondlife/Glitter/202/211/23

Poses Used - /me Poses (/me is a firestarter)

Windlight settings used -  Custom - see image below





Second Life Graphics Settings - Ultra

Inworld photo tools used - Sculpture by Elros Tuominen called Creating This New Year To Come

outworld tools used - Photoshop - added black border, tagged, and added a small Gaussian Blur

Comments & Additional info
 This photo was part of an entire series of photos.  The rest can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdrstudio/

Emerging (Future Is Now Series)



Title of picture - Emerging (Future Is Now Series)

Photographer's Name - Arcadia Nightfire (arcadianightfire@gmail.com)

Models Name - Arcadia Nightfire

Location used - The sky above MDR Photo Studio,http://slurl.com/secondlife/Glitter/202/211/23

Poses Used - /me Poses (/me is a firestarter)

Windlight settings used - Default Setting with these modifications: max altitude 1605
distance multiplier 98.0  density multiplier 0.01
Second Life Graphics Settings - Ultra

Inworld photo tools used - Sculpture by Elros Tuominen called Creating This New Year To Come

outworld tools used - Photoshop - cropped, tagged, and added a small Gaussian Blur

Comments & Additional info
This photo was part of an entire series of photos.  The rest can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdrstudio/

Reverence (Future Is Now Series)



Title of picture - Reverence (Future Is Now Series)

Photographer's Name - Arcadia Nightfire

Models Name - Arcadia Nightfire

Location used - The sky above MDR Photo Studio,http://slurl.com/secondlife/Glitter/202/211/23

Poses Used - /me Poses (takes my stance)

Windlight settings used - Windlight - Default Setting with these modifications: max altitude 1605
distance multiplier 98.0  density multiplier 0.01
Second Life Graphics Settings - Ultra

Inworld photo tools used - Sculpture by Elros Tuominen called Creating This New Year To Come

Outworld tools used - Photoshop - cropped, tagged, added a diffuse glow of 8 to the entire photo and a small gaussian blur


Comments & Additional info
This photo was part of an entire series of photos.  The rest can be found at www.flickr.com/people/mdrstudio

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

There's a light in the darkness




Title of picture - There's a light in the darkness

Photographer's Name - Chandni Khondji

Models Name - Chandni Khondji

Location used - MC Photostudio

Poses Used - Unknown (part of a pose stand)

Windlight settings used - Pre-loaded  AnaLutetia AvatarOpt whiter

Second Life Graphics Settings - Custom: Lowest, view 64, with bump mapping and shiny, Mesh Details High,  nearby local lights

Inworld photo tools used - Photostudio for pose and background

Details of inworld tools - NA

Outworld tools used - Photoshop CS2

Processes used in outworld tools -


Base has been the Avatar posing in front of the Background. First Processing has been to increase saturation and contrast to make it more vivid.


Since the lights of the background come from the front i made the area behind the Avatar darker and before it brighter with semi transparent layers of black and white in those areas.


Then I used another layer as overlay for the white highlights on the front of the avatar and the dress to show where the light hits it. With the dodge tool and a soft round brush I highlighted the areas of the front skirt.
The Sparkles are made with different sets of brushes, the long trails i copied and put a gaussian blur filter over the copy for some glow effect.


Next step has been to highlight the hand, arm, chest and face to show the light effect of the sparkles - done with an semi transparent layer with white brush strokes (soft round brush).
The Frame was added with a selection, invert and fill with black, added a blending mode drop shadow for more depth.


The last step has been to copy the foot and put it over the frame to make it look as if she steps out of it.
Done :)


Comments & Additional info

This picture was not planned. I actually played around with the photostudio while being bored and found the background interesting and had this pose from a picture i made before. I did not know what will come out once again the playing in Photoshop was more because i was bored. The first time i did this image with a different model (an alt of mine) but i wanted to have it with my main as well :) This is the second version.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Low to Ultra Faceshots using Windlight




Title of picture - Low to High to Ultra Face Shots 

Photographer's Name - Aldwyn Zanzibar

Models Name - Aldwyn Zanzibar

Location used - My Home Studio

Poses Used - MMP3 Stand Pose 5 by Serenade

Windlight settings used - Custom Windlight Settings by Caliah Lyon (see previous post)

Second Life Graphics Settings - Low to High to Ultra, left to right


Low Settings








High Graphic Settings




Ultra Graphic Settings














Inworld photo tools used - My Studio for white backgrounds

Details of inworld tools - NA

outworld tools used - Paint.net

Processes used in outworld tools - Just cutting and pasting 2 photos together, no processing done

Comments & Additional info

I know it has been said over and over, but I am going to repeat it anyway.  The higher the resolution and graphics settings, the more detail you are going to be able to see, and will give you the best base to work from.  But I wanted to demonstrate the differences in the graphic level settings, and that with a good tool like Photoshop, GIMP, even paint.net, you can get a good base from a lower graphic setting also, and then do your favorite processing from there.

I am going to see if I can put this custom windlight setting together into a file that I can send anybody that wants it.  If you would like it, please either IM me inworld (Aldwyn Zanzibar) or email me (aldwynzanz@gmail.com).

Have a great day everybody!

The difference between Low and High Graphics?




Title of picture - The Difference between Low and High Graphics

Photographer's Name - Aldwyn Zanzibar

Models Name - Aldwyn Zanibar

Location used - My home studio

Poses Used - MMP3 Stand Pose 5 by Serenade

Windlight settings used - Custom WL by Caliah Lyon (See previous post)

Second Life Graphics Settings - Left Pic Low, Right Pic High
Lift Pic








High Settinngs




Inworld photo tools used - My Studio for white backgrounds

Details of inworld tools - NA

outworld tools used - Paint.net

Processes used in outworld tools - Just cutting and pasting 2 photos together, no processing done

Comments & Additional info

just wanted to highlight how the different graphic settings can make a difference. 



The Windlight Difference even on Low Graphics




Title of picture - The Windlight Difference even on Low Graphics

Photographer's Name - Aldwyn Zanzibar

Models Name - Aldwyn Zanzibar

Location used - My own custom Studio

Poses Used - MMP3 Standing Pose 5 from Serenade

Windlight settings used - For Left Pic, default, for right pic, Custom Windlight settings designed by Caliah Lyon, both set on midday

Second Life Graphics Settings - Low, with a few tweaks below:





Inworld photo tools used - None

Details of inworld tools - NA

outworld tools used - Paint.net

Processes used in outworld tools -  Just a cut and paste to get the two photos side by side

Comments & Additional info

I asked a question regarding photographing skins inworld, and Barbara Nichols dropped me a notecard she had about some great windlight settings to use for skin photography.  I wanted to do an experiment on using the lowest graphics settings to see the difference.  Here is the notecard she sent me.



FACELIGHTS, LIGHTS AND WINDLIGHT SETTINGS


* The default light in second life generates some very annoying shadows, this results in a horizontal line for the blond straight hairstyles and dark puffy spots in your avatars face. We used to be able to deal with these issues by attaching (face)lights. But in the new (WL) viewer light-attachments are blinding us mostly and are no longer a solution to the shadow-issues anyway. The best way to deal with these shadows now is to adjust your light at the 'environmental settings' --> 'environment editor'.  Caliah Lyon has shared some great settings she created by tweaking the default midday. It's a beautiful bright light, without loosing all contrast.
Thank you Caliah, for sharing these with us :)


The Atmosphere Tab:


Blue Horizon: R: 0.12, G: 0.12, B: 0.16, I: 0.16
Haze Horizon: 0.09
Blue Density: R: 0.32, G: 0.59, B: 1.00, I: 1:00
Haze Density: 0.65
Density Multiplier: 0.18
Distance Multiplier: 2.0
Max Altitude: 188


The Lighting Tab:


Sun/Moon Color: R, G, B and I at 0.86
Sun/Moon Position: 0.000
Ambient: R: 0.67, G: 0.64, B: 0.63, I: 0.67 (raise I up to 0.70 for outdoor settings)
East Angle: 0.16
Sun Glow: Focus: 0.10 Size 1.75
Scene Gamma: 1.08-1.15
Star Brightness: 0.00


The Clouds Tab:
Cloud Coverage: 0.13
(other setting in cloud tab can stay the way they are)


Save this under a "New" preset. (or any other name that you will be able to remember..:P )




Barbara Nicholls



Barbara Nichol

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Relaxing a bit too much?




Title of picture -Relaxing a bit too much?

Photographer's Name -Aldwyn Zanzibar

Models Name - Aldwyn Zanzibar

Location used - My back deck

Poses Used - Built in sitting pose in my deck chair

Windlight settings used - Incongruent Truth - Sunset

Second Life Graphics Settings - HIGH with all options at max

Inworld photo tools used - None

Details of inworld tools - NA

outworld tools used - Paint.net

Processes used in outworld tools - First thing I did, was run the sharpen tool on the pic.  Then I adjusted the Brightness to 30, and the Contrast to 30.  I then ran the "soften portrait" tool, setting Softness to 10, lighting to 10, and warmth to 20.  Then I ran the "Zoom Blur" tool on it, with my face as the center of the focus.

Comments & Additional info
 I was just playing around, to see what I could do in Paint.net some more.   I am really enjoying this program.  It's not quite as thorough as Photoshop obviously, but it has enough tools to really have some fun!

Strike A Pose!



I was chatting with a friend last night about an idea she had for a picture in Second Life.  We determined the hardest parts of these "ideas" is finding the right location, and the right pose.  I posted a question to my friends about their favorite pose shops, and below is the initial list we came up with, with SLURLS!


ImpEle

Glitterati

Long Awkward Pose (LAP)

ANA_mations

LostAngel

ME-YA

Reel Expression

Striking Poses

Diesel Works

Slash Me poses

CnS

Penny Dreadful Arcade (PDA)

Strike a Pose

Essential Soul

Virtual Elements

Added 01/07/10

Flowey Poses


Posemaster

I will have a notecard inworld available with the above links for anybody that wants it.

Also, if you know of a great pose store that is not on this list, just let me know and I will add it!

Happy Posing!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Tutorial links!




I wanted to share with all of you some fantastic tutorials for photo editing.    These tutorials are courtesy of Riker Beck.  Her blog can be found at http://www.rykerbeck.com/.
Ryker is really an amazing talent, for so many things.  I hope you thank her personally for all the information she has shared with us over the years.
Here are her links.  They can also be found on her site!
Tutorial: The Advanced Menu

Have Fun!

Flying Trapeze




Title of picture - Flying Trapeze

Photographer's Name - Cajsa Lilliehook

Models Name - Cajsa Lilliehook

Location used - My Photosphere

Windlight settings used - Default

Second Life Graphics Settings - Medium, 2:50am

Inworld photo tools used - Photosphere

Details of inworld tools - See notes below

outworld tools used - Photoshop

Processes used in outworld tools -  I shot this photo in my photosphere using the Default setting at 2:50 AM and shifting the angle of the sun/moon.  I have my sphere on the ocean bottom and find the water softens the skin - similar to the blizzard filter but without losing shadows as you do in blizzard. 

In PhotoShop I adjusted for levels, simply dragging the right point to the beginning of content.  I then used render Lighting Effect - the spotlight to make the spotlight effect - again dragging it around to get what I wanted. I increased the exposure of the photo outside the spotlight so that it was not completely dark.

Then I saved the pic as you see in the png.

I then opened the overlay texture from Distressed Textures - (Treasure Textures package), resized it to the size of the picture, copied and pasted on the png, reduced opacity to 31% and saved.

That's it

Comments & Additional info

The Sketch




Title of picture - The sketch

Photographer's Name - Rylan Carling

Models Name - Cole Kaestner (sneak attack)

Location used - Some random store

Poses Used - None, outside of models AO

Windlight settings used - Basic default, played with lighting to get best shadow reduction

Second Life Graphics Settings - Medium

Inworld photo tools used - None

Details of inworld tools - NA

outworld tools used - Photoshop

Processes used in outworld tools - I cleaned up the picture using liquify and some shading before I started to play around with texture options.


1.  The "sketch effect"...When the basic picture was to my liking, I went into the filter gallery.  Using Charcoal, I played with the sidebars to get the exact effect I liked.  Depending on your basic picture, my numbers were:  thickness 5, detail 5, balance 60.

2.  Border: This one is simple.  When you have achieved the look that you want, double click on the most recent layer (the one farthest up.)  This will take you into the Layer Style.  Here, I use inner glow.  I switch blend mode to NORMAL, 100% opacity.  I cange the color to black, you can use whatever color best suits your needs!  Choke to 100% and then play with the size to achieve the thickness that best suits your needs! 

I hope all that makes sense!!!    


Comments & Additional info

Lighthouse




Title of picture - Lighthouse

Photographer's Name - Peter Stindberg (peter.stindberg@googlemail.com)

Models Name - Nissa Nightfire


Poses Used - Custom Pose made by Peter Stindberg

Location used - Cataclysm (not really important for this photo, but can recommend the vistas in Cataclysm)


Windlight setting used - Default

Second Life Graphics Settings - Ultra, 2x antialiasing, anisotropic filtering on

Inworld photo tools used - None

Out of world tools used - Photoshop

Processes used in outworld tools - The photo consists of 5 seperate photographed layers. The clothing conists of two outfits that would eliminate each other layerwise, so that the two shots per outfit were necessary. Those 4 shots were then combined into the final outfit. Seperate layers of the final outfit  were enhanced with drop shadows to add depth to the photo. Hard edges, especially were prim clothing meets texture clothing, where smoothed with the various tools: traditional smoothing, cloning, repair brushes but also liquify. Jerky geometry triangles (for example around the breasts) were subtly smoothed using liquify as well. The background of the shot was seperated using a depth shot mask. The texture of the lighthouse (thus the name of the photo) looked too photorealistic, so I made it more cartoon-like. The last touch was a small dropshadow of the person on the lighthouse wall.

Comments & Additional info
I made a custom pose for this photo in QAvimator. The pose took 3 iterations before it worked as intended with the model. The selection of the outfit took Nissa a great deal of time. All in all this photo took 3 weeks from first idea to completion. Post-processing took a day. Flickr-Link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterstindberg/4229540356/

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Into the Abyss




Title of picture - Into the Abyss

Photographer's Name - Arcadia Nightfire

Models Name - Arcadia Nightfire

Location used - theAbyss  (http://slurl.com/secondlife/The%20Abyss/78/141/237

Poses Used - Striking Poses - Girls With Guns 8

Windlight settings used - Default Windlight Setting, 8:10 p.m

Second Life Graphics Settings - High

Inworld photo tools used - PosePad Pro by Nyterave Studio, Facelight by Star FairyMeadow

outworld tools used -  Photoshop

Processes used in outworld tools -  I cropped the photo, adjusted the lighting levels, and added a small diffused glow to make the clouds appear brighter and thicker.  I also added a slight gaussian blur to soften the edges.  


Comments & Additional info

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Legal Mumbo Jumbo

Second Life Freeze Frame blog is not responsible for unauthorized use of posted pictures. All pictures will be reviewed before posting to verify that proper information has been provided. Please notify Aldwyn Zanzibar either via email (aldwynzanz@gmail.com) or inworld if you feel a photo that has been posted is not authorized to be posted.