Images

W Is For Willy

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1 W is for Willy

I am totally blaming Grumper for this one. Way back when I was shooting the photos for the letter F, Grumper wanted me to do a recreation of the movie poster for “Free Willy.” I laughed and asked if he meant a freenis. He was appalled. (He has an affinity for animal characters; don’t ever go talking smack about Peppa Pig!)

Alas, I had already done my photo for the letter F, so I let it go. That is until W was imminent. And although W is a rather common letter, doing a take on Free Willy just seemed more and more appealing.

I had the rocks. I live on an island. I could make the pose. I even had the outfit. All I needed was Willy.

Now, to be honest, I seriously considered using a freenis. I actually have a couple in my inventory – gag gifts I have received over the years. But I didn’t have one that had the right bend to it to mimic Willy’s arching back (sorry guys). So, that meant that if I was going to do this, I would have to *gulp* buy one.

I couldn’t do it.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a single whale in my inventory. I toyed with the idea of using the friggin’ laser shark, but he has no arch to his back and his laser beam kept interfering with the sunset.

That left me with procuring an Orca. Now, I know I said at the beginning of this challenge I wasn’t going to buy anything specifically to complete one of my posts. But since Willy is now swimming and leaping about in the bay, I can claim he was purchased to enhance our island living. I don’t even have to cross my fingers!

Oh, and I’m not kidding about the inexpensive part. I got three sizes for L$210. Every girl should be spoiled for choice when it comes to deciding on a Willy 😉

Pretty stuff I’m showing off:

Jacket: Emery – Biker Jacket Amadeus Yellow by Sunami Beck
Jeans: Maitreya Boyfriend Jeans Slim – Original by Onyx LeShelle
Boots: *ionic* my winter boots (camouflage) by Iakua Arriaga
Hair: *Dura* JAPAN FAIR Limited hair A-3 by chiaki Xue (colour modified)
Skin: [PXL] Creations [PXL] JADE NAT PetalPink MEB C2 by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Hand appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hand Appliers NAT by Hart Larsson
Nail polish: Flair – Fingernails Applier Slink A/E – Set 101 by Sasy Scarborough
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Willy: Tomato Park-Animals and Pets Orca_medium_v0.12 by Nicehoon Langer
Rocks/waves: Las Islas – Naima Coralline Barrier by Naiman Broome

Pose: Willy by me (not for sale)

V Is For Villa

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1 fri poses Villa_008

I am doing something today that I very rarely do – I am posting raw shots (other than cropping/resizing). Why? Well, for once when I opened the photos in Photoshop to process them I realised I liked them as they were. I think this is a lesson to me; I can sometimes rely on Windlight, great poses and a location to speak for themselves.

The location is the Cortona Villas from Trompe Loeil, available at the April round of Collabor88. While this is not someplace I would normally call home, I can see myself using often for photos.

The build is materials enabled, so in certain lighting there is a lot of shine on the walls – too much for stone, in my opinion. I spent a lot of time trying to find the balance between definition and shininess. I seem to recall that there is a way in Firestorm Phototools to adjust the amount of detail given off by materials; I am going to have to find the tutorial that covered this so I can use this tool properly.

1 fri poses Villa_011

Another reason I was able to use raw shots was because of the poses from fri.day by Darling Monday, available at Pose Fair 2014. Both the Monday and Careless pose sets are well-constructed and natural, so the joints are smooth with no need to correct jagged elbows or knobby wrists. Darling is one of those designers who has recently hit my radar as a posemaker and I can see her becoming a fast favourite.

1 fri poses Villa_026

And what villa would be complete without a balcony? This one has turrets and balconies and rooms big enough to hold court. I may end up becoming a princess after all if I keep hanging out in this villa 😉

Pretty stuff I’m showing off:

Dress: Cog & Fleur – C&F Satin Doll Gown – Opal by Abathyr (available at Genre April 2014)
Necklace: Cae :: Guinevere (C88) :: Necklace by Caelan Hancroft
Earrings: Cae :: Guinevere (C88) :: Earrings by Caelan Hancroft
Shoes: ::HH:: Hucci Vinnitsa Sandal – Blush for Slink High Feet by Eboni Khan (available at Collabor88 April 2014)
Hair: *ARGRACE* MIZUKI – True Red by rika Oyen
Skin: [PXL] Creations [PXL] JADE NAT PetalPink MEB C2 by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Feet: Slink Mesh Feet (Av) High by Siddean Munro
Hand & Feet appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hand & Feet Appliers NAT by Hart Larsson
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri
Rose: Inizio Longstem Red Rose modifyable by Mistress Midnight (map would not load)

Build: Trompe Loeil – The Cortona Villas V1.1 (with greenery) by Cory Edo (available at Collabor88 April 2014)

*Pose in photo 1 fri.day – fri. – monday.pose 1 by Darling Monday (available at Pose Fair 2014)
*Pose in photo 2 fri.day – fri. – monday.pose 5 by Darling Monday (available at Pose Fair 2014)
*Pose in photo 3 fri.day – fri. – careless.pose 1 by Darling Monday (available at Pose Fair 2014)

Photos taken using the LumiPro HUD

Strike A Pose Challenge: My Heros

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1 aDORKable Rug Burn

I am really pleased that this week Miss Berry chose to do a pose meme. Before I started blogging myself, I often read other blogs and would scour the credits for the name of the pose, or at least the posemaker. Sadly, more times than not, the information was left out. So when I started crediting my posts, I made sure I included the pose.

Posemakers really are my Second Life heros, especially the ones that make posing look natural. I discovered, recently, when I made my first pose that it isn’t that easy to do! It is available free in my marketplace store and quite a few people have grabbed it. I haven’t gotten any reviews on it yet, but I hope that the folks who use it enjoy it. While I made one more for a post, I can’t see me entering the posemaking business anytime soon!

Ah, but this isn’t about me; it is about my favourite posemakers. Here is what Miss Berry has asked us to do:

Meme Instructions: Share a picture of your favorite pose or a list of your favorite posemakers on the grid! Don’t forget to leave a link to your post in the comments (of this post) and share your picture in the blog memes flickr group.

My photo isn’t necessarily my favourite pose, but it is by my favourite posemaker. Time after time I find myself turning to aDORKable Poses by Adorkable Peapod when I am shooting. Sadly, this store is closed in world, but a lot of the poses are still available on Marketplace. I have so many that I can’t put all of my single poses in a single HUD. Occasionally, Adorkable will put out a set of poses for an event and I am always first in line to snatch them up. I do miss her quirky yet natural style.

I have done recent posts on two other of my favourite posemakers. First is Eternal Dream Poses by Fata Boa. I love Eternal Dream Poses for the same reason I love aDORKable – the poses are natural, joints aren’t contorted and they are the types of poses I use every day. You can visit the Eternal Dream Poses Mainstore to see what I mean.

For couple’s poses, my new favourite is Kuro in Motion by Luana Dawg. I do use a lot of Exposeur poses for my couples shots, but what I love about Luana’s poses is that each one works equally well for full-body shots and closeups. If you visit the Kuro in Motion store, you can see this in practice with the vendor ads. Bodies are positioned so that once you have done a wide shot you can just zoom in your camera and shoot the close shots. This is especially helpful with couples if you use pose balls, as adjusting those suckers can be a real pain!

Receiving Honourable Mentions are !bang by Luna Jubilee, oOo Studio Poses by Olaenka Chesnokov and another retired posemaker, Katey Coppola who still has her GLITTERATI poses available on Marketplace.

One last note: if you visit Pose Fair this year, make sure you stop by Kuro in Motion to see Luana’s “Shattered…” pose. I have made three attempts at shooting this pose with the mirrored image – the last today, in hopes of using it for this post – and I have failed miserably each time. Don’t let that discourage you, though. I believe I have gotten too ambitious with my sets and unfortunately, I have ended up with “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” images or funhouse mirror shots. Keep checking back, though…I’m going to do it if it kills me!

Pretty stuff I’m showing off:

Shirt: [[RH]] Design house – [[RH]] Ladies Men’s Shirt (White Stripe) by Ryo Ixxel
Jeans: Maitreya Boyfriend Jeans Slim – Original by Onyx LeShelle
Hair: *Dura* JAPAN FAIR Limited hair A-3 by Chiaki Xue (colour modified) – this was for Japan Fair and may no longer be available for sale.
Skin: [PXL] Creations [PXL] JADE NAT PetalPink MEB C2 by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Feet: Slink Mesh Feet (Av) Flat by Siddean Munro
Hand & Feet appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hand & Feet Appliers NAT by Hart Larsson
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Bed: [ARIA] Adelaide bed by Yelo Uriza
Bed tray: [ARIA] Adelaide decorative tray by Yelo Uriza
Trees and flowers from *Happy Mood* by Sasaya Kayo

Pose: aDORKable Poses : Rug Burn II 7 by Adorkable Peapod

Photo taken using the LumiPro HUD