Photo Contests

The Year That Was

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1 Tylar Profile 8a

It is New Year’s Eve and a day to reflect on the year that has passed. For me, it has been a tumultuous year with lots of lows interspersed with a few highs. In terms of my real life I have seen so many changes that I am still attempting to process and come to terms with them. As for Second Life, it has been a better year, largely because of this blog.

And the person most responsible for it is My Cherished, Tylar. I chose to lead this post with this photo because it was largely her encouragement that led me to opening my photography business, which in turn led to this little publication that has become not just a showcase for my photographs, but also an exploration of my life in and out of Second Life. My Cherished, thank you for believing in me, standing behind me and for sharing so many of your wonderful qualities with me.

The rest of this story will be a taste of some of my favourite photos and posts. Some of them may not make a lot of sense to you; you won’t necessarily see only the best photos in terms of composition and technique. But each one of these holds a special place in my heart for one reason or another. This is going to be a long one, so if you aren’t inclined to spend a large portion of your day reminiscing with me, I wish you a happy and healthy New Year and I’ll see you on the other side.

If you are willing to stick with me, just click this link to take the plunge. Continue reading →

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.

1 Audrey in shadow

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.

Gulp!

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In case you haven’t heard, Truth Hawks of Truth Hair has a new colour range for his hair, along with six new styles! There’s going to be a new build for his shop, and I guess the reason for the recent sale (which is ongoing until May 19th, for those of you haven’t managed to get there, by the way) was to make room for the new releases. In the meantime, you can check out the new styles and grab a full colour demo set (complete with all of the hairbases) on Marketplace. Here’s the link to the Truth store on Marketplace. If you sort by Newest First, it will take you straight to the latest styles.

Even bigger news is that Truth is running a photo contest – the Truth Model Search. To enter, you need to upload a (minimum) 2048 X 2048 photo to the Truth Model Search Flickr Group. Make sure you check the Flickr group page for a complete list of rules and the prizes. The prizes are awesome, and in addition to winning Truth gift cards, the first 10 winners will have their photos displayed in the Truth store. Now tell me, what Truth fan wouldn’t give their GHD hair straightener for that opportunity?

Well, I would. So here’s my entry. Oh…and I did it all in Photoshop!

1 Truth contest_043JS

This hairstyle is called Denee – Reds01 and it’s one of the new styles and shades. I’ll go ahead and list all of the credits here since I’ll be adding them to my Flickr entry.

Hair – TRUTH HAIR Denee – Reds01
Dress – Schadenfreude Cloud Into the Woods Dress
Skin – [:T:] Helena / powder (red) :: 08
Lips – [:T:] Helena / powder :: Lips :: Deviant Rogue (gloss)
Eyes – Poetic Colors classic gen4 – icicles – small bright
Eyelashes – Eyelashes -41- Hollywood *REDGRAVE*
Necklace & Earrings – EarthStones Classic Romance – Garnet Silver

Pose – !bang – stand 330

Now, I’m going to take a deep breath, publish this post and (GULP!) enter the Model Search!