Technique

Wet

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1 Wet

Apologies for my absence. I’ve been a bit under the weather the last few days, but I’m perking up and nothing made me feel better than the new release from *ARGRACE* called HIKARI. It’s wet. Yep, it really does look like wet hair! I paired it with one of my very few must-haves from Summerfest ’14, this bathing suit from Valentina E. All I needed to do was dive into the ocean and start snapping!

Well, not exactly. While the hair does look wet, the suit and my skin didn’t. Fortunately, I recently watched a video tutorial on using the Plastic Wrap filter in the Photoshop Filter Gallery to mimic wet surfaces. Once I had done my basic edits, I applied the filter followed by a layer mask to remove and lighten parts of the effect, tossed in a few extra water droplets and came up with the final image. This is the first time I have used this filter and added water drops with a brush and I was rather pleased with the result. You can flick over to my Flickr stream to see a higher resolution photo.

Time to go towel off now…who wants to dry my back? 😉

Pretty stuff I’m showing off:

Swimsuit: Valentina E. :V.e. Carmen Ruffled One Piece Swimsuit S Orchid by ValentinaEvangelista (available at Summerfest ’14 until July 13 2014)
Necklace: Cae :: Promise :: Necklace by Caelan Hancroft
Earrings: Cae :: Promise :: Earrings by Caelan Hancroft
Hair: *ARGRACE* HIKARI – Auburn by rika Oyen
Skin: [PXL] Creations [PXL] JADE NAT Terre MEB C2 (FR) by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Hand appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hand Appliers SK by Hart Larsson
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Pose: oOo Studio sexpot_five by Olaenka Chesnokov

Photo taken using the LumiPro HUD

Going To School At Tableau

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1 Tableau 2

I really need to just plan a visit to Tableau to shoot photographs. It is one of the few places where the shiny of the setting can distract me from the shiny of the shopping.

On my last excursion to Tableau, as you may recall, I went shopping for shorts at Tres Blah. I honestly thought I bought the black ones, but apparently I didn’t. So back I went to get them. Since I was so smitten by the landscape the last time I thought I would check out the other stores on this trip. I actually went into a few shops but then I walked around a corner and saw the scene in the photo above.

That was it. I was done shopping.

I have been playing around with clouds brushes in Photoshop lately. The clouds in the photos for my blog in my last three posts (where clouds are present) have either been enhanced or created completely using this process. The Windlight setting I chose for this shot actually had a cloudless sky. So these are a new meteorological phenomenon: Peepulus clouds. It has been fun learning this, although it has been entirely trial and error (emphasis on the error!).

Then, because I liked the contrast in the photo, I decided to make a black & white version.

1 Tableau BW

I am also still learning to get the contrast right with black & white photographs to show them off in the best light (pun intended). But what I love most is just the process of learning, and Tableau is a fabulous place to go to school.

To Di For

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1 Di's Opera

This post is a little about a lot of things. I’ll try to be brief, even though I rarely manage that. Feel free to slap my virtual hands if I waffle on too long!

Yesterday I did two photo shoots. When I finished and was looking at my raw shots, I decided it was time I broke out my Wacom Bamboo, which I have had for a while but which has terrified me. I have been through tutorials and played with it a bit, but it’s been a trial for me. But I finally realised if I want to elevate my Photoshop skills I need to move on from my mouse and begin using a graphics tablet. But before I start using it on client photos, I thought it prudent to use myself as a guinea pig.

Naturally, I didn’t want to use a photo I had already taken 😉 And since I needed this outfit from E-Clipse (available at Limited Bazaar), I felt it was the perfect opportunity to shoot a few photos for my Wacom trial. Which led to needing new poses, of course! I have hundreds of poses already, but I tend to favour more natural poses. This outfit just cried out for drama.

I checked out some of my favourite pose stores, but I wasn’t getting that fashion-flair feel I was looking for. It just so happened I had picked up a pose set from Di’s Opera at Limited Bazaar, and while I love them, they still didn’t have the dramatic feel I was craving. So off to the mainstore I went.

I tried literally every pose in the store – many more than once. I have a sneaking suspicion that my lil Cao is a frequent shopper here; I think I recognised some of the poses she uses and I was having visions of a Milan catwalk as I worked my way from pose stand to pose stand. I could practically feel the heat of the lights and see the cameras flashing as I worked my way from room to room, up stairs and back down on my quest for the perfect high-fashion pose.

I think I found it. And about twenty others. Honestly, I could have bought more, but time and Lindens were my enemies. So off to my studio to try to capture what I consider my first true fashion photograph.

This is it – and my first photo completed using my Wacom Bamboo. I have a long way to go to feel comfortable both using a graphics tablet and shooting high-fashion photos. But I believe I’ll get better at both, with practice. And these poses? Yes, they are to Di for!

Pretty stuff I’m wearing:

Top: E-Clipse FiluffSweater S Brown/Vermillon by Thetra Blackheart (available at Limited Bazaar)
Skirt: E-Clipse HighWaistLeatherSkirt S Brown by Thetra Blackheart (available at Limited Bazaar)
Shoes: [Gos] Boutique – Lauren d’Orsay – Truffle Collection by Gospel Voom
Jewelry: EarthStones Maxine Necklace & Earrings – Larimar by Abraxxa Anatine
Hair: *ARGRACE* Mia – Red by rika Oyen
Skin: [PXL] Creations – [PXL] JADE SK Peach Lips MEB C2 by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Hand appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hand Appliers SK by Hart Larsson
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Pose: Di’s Opera – Glam Series 4 – 2 by Di Hoorenbeek