Pics by Peep

I really love this week’s meme topic! I’m always looking for new places to explore and take photos, so I will definitely be stealing some from the other bloggers!

Berry is a fantastic photographer and the raw shots she used in her blog put mine to shame. I have long said I am not a landscape photographer, and these pictures just go to prove my point 😦 But I still had a lovely day, revisiting some of the locations I have used in my posts in the past. I did, however, shoot in different spots on the sims so you can have an added flavour of each location.

Meme Instructions: Share 1 to 5 of your favorite places on the grid. I feel like exploring and discovering new places. Share places you think everyone should visit and also tell us why they are your favorites. Don’t forget to leave a link to your post in the comments (of this post)!

The opening shot is from Empyreal Dreams on the Ctrl+Shift+H sim. This is a place I visited a while back, but wasn’t able to actually shoot in the Empyreal Dreams gallery. It was very busy, and I wasn’t up to derendering about a dozen or so people 😉 Instead, I just wandered around Ctrl+Shift+H and the Indigo Aviary. Empyreal Dreams is an immersive art installation and if you love the beauty of black and white (eh, Rwah? 😉 ), this is the place for you. There are multiple authors whose work has been turned into art displays. You land in the scene above (Edgar Allen Poe) and you are then able to tp to other installations (or fall through walls into Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, as I did!) that memorialise other writers. And of course, you can always wander out of Empyreal Dreams and visit the rest of this quaint sim.

Another of my favourite locations in Second Life is Bryn Oh’s Immersiva. There is just something about this place that keeps drawing me back. I shot my first entry for Single Frame Stories in the store located there (an experience in itself!) and more recently, I attempted to stare down a songbot. (I lost, by the way.) On this visit, I wanted to photograph something different. In fact, I discovered this fella for the first time after many, many visits. It appears to me that he is the one dangling the bait, but what I love most about this type of place is you can interpret it however you would like 🙂

Another sim I love for its beauty and quirky little nooks and crannies is Scribbled Hearts. I took a LOT of pictures there the last time I visited, but I was still able to find an area I hadn’t photographed before. I wasn’t very happy with how this photo turned out, but it was the best of the shots that I took. The twinkling lights in the trees, the fireflies and sparkles from the water give this little clearing such a peaceful feeling. This sim has been put together with such love and care I hope you will add it to your collective itineraries.

Ah, Runestone. This (along with Far Away, which Berry highlighted in her blog) is one of my favourite “still-existing” sims in Second Life. I have been visiting this spot for over three years – perhaps longer. It was where I went when I first attempted shooting landscapes (and failed) and it was also the scene for another of my Single Frame Stories entries. It is a rustic spot which is suitable for exploring alone or with a loved one (there are couples pose balls scattered all over the place). There is, I believe, even a wedding area for those so inclined. It truly is a lovely place and I found a view I don’t recall seeing before to snap the shot above (with Windlight settings liberally applied). This place, like the others I am showcasing, should be seen under a variety of lighting settings. Pick your favourite or scroll through the vast choices available to find the one that speaks to you. What may be an ordinary outlook can be transformed into a wonderland by simply adjusting the light.

This photo is a raw shot, other than resizing, and it is my favourite of all of the photos I took today. I first discovered Two Moon Gardens when I was doing my tour of the stunning gardens at the Second Life Home & Garden Expo earlier this year. Although our home doesn’t lend itself to the type of gardens Two Moon Gardens offers (we live on the beach), I have visited the mainstore several times. It’s not “just” a garden store – it has an outdoor dance floor, complete with Intan and lots of little separate garden areas set up to display the items in a most-tempting fashion. There are areas where there are plants and shrubs set out in plots, but the little niches created to display full garden builds are what make this place so special. In fact, I had to derender a couple who were making use of a fountain setting where I took photos (but didn’t end up using…oops!) and there are remote Intan posts scattered around the sim. It is evident that the creators of Two Moon Gardens intend it to be more than just a shop. It is a glorious place to while away a few hours, whether by yourself or with that someone special.

One thing I wanted to mention is that a lot of these locations were built simply for the enjoyment of the residents of Second Life. Even if there are businesses on the sim, the creators have spent a lot of time, effort and money to bring these fabulous places to our virtual world. If you see a tip jar or donation box and have a few Lindens to spare, please contribute. It is in everyone’s best interest to help the owners of these locations stay afloat so we can continue to revel in their beauty.

Last note (I promise!): The Calas Galadhon sims will be reopening next week. This is a series of sims created simply for the love of Second Life by its owners. About a month ago, they had to shut down and ended up having to close two of the sims in the group (but they thought it would be four, so that’s good news!) and they have revamped the remaining sims. The owners pay for the sims themselves and any donations or funds raised there are used to buy new items to decorate. Keep an eye on their blog for upcoming news – and schedule a visit as soon as possible after their reopening (scheduled for September 2).