Blog Challenges

Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape – Losing Myself In Pictures

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When I saw the Weekly Photo Challenge prompt this week – Escape – I had grand ideas of heading into Second Life, pulling out a photo prop I have of balloons lifting me into the sky. Or wandering through one of the lovely sims I’ve featured before, or finding an all new destination to share. But to be honest, lately my escape has been in trying to improve my photo editing skills.

So I opened up a couple of folders and started reworking some old images. The first one is a totally different shot and crop from a photo I used for my Movie Soundtrack blog challenge (click the link if you want to see the original). I loved the idea behind this photograph – trying to recreate the elegance and beauty of Audrey Hepburn – but even after several attempts, I really wasn’t satisfied. Each of those shots, though, were tight closeups. Today I decided to go at it a different way – I pulled back the cropping and yes, I used a shot that has me sporting blue eyes, not Audrey brown. And I added a shadow.

I’m still not totally satisfied with this version, but it’s getting closer.

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The second image I escaped to was the photo I entered in the Truth Model Search. I blogged this photo earlier this week , but sadly, Truth Hawks didn’t “favorite” it on Flickr. I was disappointed, to be honest; I worked very hard on this photo and it was one that I was actually pleased with when I finished it. Apparently, not good enough.

I decided to try a new technique I’ve picked up from a couple of tutorials – adding body shadows. This is my first attempt, and I’m not sure how successful I was, but it was an escape for me for over an hour.

I also added a frosted edge. I just don’t like sharp corners, and that was one thing that I regret not adding in the original. Easily fixed 🙂

Truth Model Search - Take 2

I haven’t yet decided whether to enter the reworked shot in the contest. There are still a few days left before it closes; I may just leave my original entry, or I may continue my escape to create a winner.

I’ll let you know 🙂

As always, click the link to the Weekly Photo Challenge blog post above to check out the other entries.

My SL Guilty Confessions Meme – Hail Mary, And All That Jazz

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Remind me never to complain about one of Strawberry Singh’s memes again! Last week, Berry had us write our SL haiku. While mine sucked, at least it was easy! This week, she wants us to confess all of our guilty secrets. It really would be easy to “have a headache” for the week and skip this one, but I’m going to take a deep breath (wishing I had a valium, instead) and just do it!

Here are the instructions:

Share 1 to 10 of your top second life guilty confessions. Remember to leave your link in this meme’s post so others can come by and read your answers as well!

1. I can’t find anything in my inventory without using Search. I know that a lot of bloggers will have an inventory-related confession, but I have to include this one. While I would LOVE to be one of those people who keeps a perfectly organised inventory, I just don’t have the patience to try to sort mine out. It’s much too daunting at this point to even try, so I’ve stopped fretting about it. I really wouldn’t be able to find anything if Inventory didn’t have a Search feature, and I totally abuse the Recent Items tab. In fact, I’m shocked when I find something actually filed away in it’s correct folder! I made a comment the other night that the reason I shop so much is because I can’t ever find anything I already have to wear…while this isn’t entirely true, it’s not far off the mark!

2. I love being girly. From my shabby-chic home, to my predominately pastel wardrobe, I love all things feminine. I work as a host in a rock club, and while most of the women there are wearing leather or denim, I love to rock the pink! Or pale yellow, or robin-egg blue, or any other colour besides black. Unless, of course, it’s the quintessential LBD 😉

3. I always compare my butt to other women’s. I guess you knew there would be something about my bum here. I have an obsession with my backside. I freely admit it, and I love it. But sometimes, I see another female avatar and I think to myself, “OMG! Hers is better than mine!” All I can say is I’m thrilled that with the Firestorm viewer I can tweak my shape without going into the dreaded telltale pose and broadcasting to everyone that I’m playing with my bum, because yes, I DO do it on the fly! I also always try on mesh demos, because if a dress or pair of pants gives me a flat derriere, it’s a no-go. Ironically, that’s the one thing I don’t like about my favourite LBD – as my sister Maddie said when I got it, “You got no junk!” Sighs. Well, it gives me another reason to keep searching for another one 😉

4. I’m boring. No matter how long I work on this post, I really don’t have anything earth-shattering to confess. So I’ll just stand in my garden, dressed in some pretty girly stuff I found in the Recent Items tab in my inventory. Oh…and not a bum in sight for me to compare mine to \o/

Weekly Photo Challenge: Patterns – The 9 Art Planets

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I’m back on track with the Weekly Photo Challenge after missing out last week. When I saw the prompt, “Patterns”, I knew there was a multitude of choices in Second Life for this theme. I went to my standby, the Destination Guide, and I wasn’t disappointed.

I was immediately drawn to The Nine Art Planets, which is described as ” an art installation to give visitors nine different emotional feelings, reflected through subconscious minds. Inspired by a variety of immersive artists, this is one installation you don’t want to miss.” It is a riot of colour, sound, and experience.

The patterns are mesmerizing, the music is primal, and the entire experience is a bit surreal. You will receive a HUD on arrival – wear it, and click to the various areas of the installations. You won’t be disappointed.

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For those of you unfamiliar with LEA, it’s the Linden Endowment for the Arts. You can read more by checking out the link on the Second Life Wiki page for LEA. It’s well worth checking out more of the installations. I’ll try to add more visits soon.

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You can check out more of the Weekly Photo Challenge entries by clicking this link and going to the comments section.

If you happen to click on one of my photos, you’ll notice it takes you to my Flickr page. I’ve lost my Add Media button on my post editor, so rather than spend more time trying to figure out how to get it back, I’ve just added the photos to Flickr. Fixed!