011 - Penguins

Dim Sum auditions for the Penguin Rockettes.

This little bird is actually very easy to overlook, because it is relatively small compared to the children and other things. Plus, it was on steps with the same color.

It's the little details like this, the little surprises, that make great builds. You don't see everything the first time; the more you dig around, the more you see.

I also thought it was very cool that it reflected the penguins behind it, like a secret motif. Like the stripes on the stairs reflect the stripes on the children's shorts and on the rats.

location: LEA23 - "The Arrival" by Rose Borchovski

Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- Lo Light 03 (modified)

• I had to use Ctrl-0 to visually narrow the distance between the bird and the penguins; otherwise, the penguins would look really, really small.
• I retook the photo because the first one had clouds that were distracting.
• I had to click the refresh in the photo tool until I could catch it in this pose, which goes very fast.

010 - Drummer boy

/me stares down the striped prey and wonders if it's as tasty as its plainer and smaller relatives.


I've seen Rose Borchovski's work in many machinimas before, and I've been itching to come to this sim for a few days now.  I love the faces of her children.  I imagine them to be the Lost Boys.  But I'm not showing a face here.  Just the legs of one of the drummers (there are at least two).

location: LEA23 - "The Arrival" by Rose Borchovski

Technical notes

windlight: Midday 4 (modified)
water: [NB] Turbid Reflections

009 - Three arches to the knight

This definitely took more than an hour.  But I didn't care.  I had a disappointing day; I figured I deserve to take as long as I damn well pleased.  So there.  ;)

location: Seven Veils - The Heights

Technical notes

windlight: Pirate (modified)

I did something wrong while creating a new sky preset and I lost these settings, so I can't exactly reproduce this windlight anymore. 

008 - The scarecrow and the unscared crow

While I was looking for a spot to shoot today, someone else saw my avatar and wanted to know where I got it. She hates the freebie cat avatar that LL gives away, but she likes mine which I got from Zooby, and she was hoping it would be a freebie. I sent her the landmark to Zooby and told her how much it costs.

But we ended up having a long conversation, because, ... well, ...

She's very young and doesn't have L$ and doesn't have a credit card or bank account and won't ask her parents to buy L$ for her and doesn't want to be bothered with filling out job applications and thinks that greeting people at a venue as a hostess is too much work and doesn't know how to create products that people will buy and doesn't want to search the web for tutorials and doesn't want to take classes to learn how to create.

*sighs*

location: Seven Veils - Exteriors

Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- rara Fal

This definitely took more than 15 minutes. I don't want to get rid of that limitation though, because it keeps me focused.

007 - Are you food or will you feed me?

Hello, fish lady. Are you food or will you feed me?

location: Seven Veils - The Promenade

Technical notes

windlight: [TOR] SCIFI - Rimmenthal (modified)
water: SNAKE!!!

I definitely took longer than 15 minutes with this one. I was hoping I'd be able to do DOF again, but I kept crashing.

006 - Or better yet, which?

I was about to move on to another sim, then I found this hidden hall with beautiful arches and textures.  I wanted to capture the hall itself, but the more intriguing thing (I thought) was a white cat where this raven-man altar stood.  It looked very much like Dim Sum, and it was even animated, turning its head this way and that, once in a while.  Then I caught a moment when they were looking at each other.

So, today, the question is not "Where is Dim Sum?" but "Which is Dim Sum?"  :D

location: Seven Veils - The Promenade

Technical notes

windlight: PhotoTools- Lo Light 05

005 - Orchids

location: Seven Veils - The Garden - Temptation

Technical notes

windlight: [TOR] FOGGY - Peach Peche

Well, I couldn't do shadows, but, apparently, I can do depth of field, even if only long enough to take a picture before I crash!  :D  So, here's a play on DoF.

Depth of Field:
Camera F Number: 21.0
Camera Focal Length mm: 85.0
Camera FOV degs: 62.0
Camera Aspect Ration: 1.50
DOF Focus Transition Time: 0.50
DOF Rendering Quality: 0.70

004 - Gemini Guardians

A black cat is probably more appropriate in this setting, but because of the darkness, it'll probably be harder to find Dim Sum in this one anyway.

location: Seven Veils - Scenes

Technical notes

windlight: [TOR] NIGHT - That spells moon 4

Still in the same place as the last one and not too far away from the last position either. I found this courtyard by going through a dark arch hidden behind some rocks.

003 - Bird's eye view

location: Seven Veils - The Promenade

Technical notes

windlight: [TOR] SCIFI - 2013

I picked the location randomly from the Second Life Destination Guide.  I'll definitely take more pictures here; there's lots more to see.

I'm unable to do shadows because I keep crashing.  The shadows on the floor of the bird cage were baked into the texture, which was a nice touch.

002 - The waterfront

location: The Old Mermaid Inn - my neighbor in Dunbeath

Technical notes

windlight: Phototools - Hufflepuff 1

I went over the 15-minute mark because I kept crashing.

I love this windlight. It was an accidental discovery. I love the salmon-colored light against the lavender shadows.

001 - The mushroom forest

location: Opal's mushroom forest in Dunbeath

Technical notes

windlight: Analutetia - outdoor

Where's Dim Sum?

If you came here looking for Chinese food, sorry. If you came here looking for Opal's book called "Love,Like Dim Sum," well, you're getting closer.

The dare

This blog is actually a 365 project. You know, one of those projects that you do once a day for a full year to improve your skill.

To be honest, I hadn't really planned on this.  After all, a full year is a long time and I have issues with long-term commitments.  (Yes, one calendar year is a Second Life eon.)

It was January 19, 2013, I was chatting with Fingol, and he seemed to have lost his passion.  But I know that he loves to take photos in SL, so I asked him if he could spare 15 minutes a day.  He (unwisely) said, "i think so."  So I proposed a 365 project (and explained what it was).  But, it would be mean of me if I just threw him out there alone, so I said I'd do it with him.

So, here are the rules:

• No post-processing allowed on the photo at all.  But using HUDs to simulate filters is okay.  (We're also using HUDs to overlay our signatures on the photos as we take them.)
• No more than one photo a day.  Taking photos for a future day or a past day is not allowed.
• Missing days is okay.  So, we allow ourselves more time to finish the project, as long as we do 365.

The goal is to find beauty wherever we end up in.

The photos are stored in Flickr.

That's it.  Those are the rules.  Beyond that, anything goes.

Extra credit

Well, taking photos for the sake of taking photos is not really that interesting to me anymore.  After all, I've been taking photos in SL since I started.  So I was churning the idea in my head and I thought of doing a theme.  Ergo, "Where's Dim Sum?"

You've seen the "Where's Waldo?" illustrations.  It's the same concept.  "Dim Sum" is a white cat who will be camouflaged (or not) somewhere in the photo. 



If you would like to suggest sims, let me know.

If you would like to do the same project, let me know and I'll link your blog or Flickr set here.