064 - When I'm 64

Will you still need me?
Will you still feed me?
When I'm 64.


Okay, seriously, this is why I use a cat for these photoshoots. Shooting human avatars just take up too much time! Trust me, I've been doing avatar pics since 2006 and fashion pics since 2008.

Anyway, I wanted to do something special for #64. :D  (Scroll down to the bottom for a closeup of the elder couple.)

models: Opal Lei, HiHo Silvera
location: Neva River

Dreary story about why this photo took too long

I needed these characters for a machinima project anyway. I had done HiHo's character earlier. When I saw this post on Harper Beresford's blog, off I went to get the same skin at the Skin Fair. Then, yesterday, I was told of a nice nautical freebie from Ydea. Perfect!

For Opal's skin, I explored the Marketplace and picked up demos. And somehow this one "spoke" to me. She looked more Latina/Filipina in the product picture, but I used my own shape. While I was updating the shape to better match the skin and to look older, there was a point when I thought she looked kinda like my late grandmother. The body shape is actually more saggy and bottom heavy, but the mesh outfit covered that up.

I needed to match HiHo's nautical theme, so I had to research what an older woman would wear to go sailing, for example. *sigh* I realized two things: 1) Most of my clothes are for younger women and are seductive, either blatantly or subtly. 2) I'm apparently not ready to grow old gracefully. But that's okay. As long as I wear purple, I'll be dressed appropriately. ;)

So, avies done, I needed a nautical spot. I found a great little boat on a beach with cuddles at a sim I found under the Romance section of the Destination Guide, but when I tried to tp Dim Sum there, I kept getting a "No valid parcel could be found," which didn't make sense because Opal and HiHo were there. I later realized that the sim only allowed residents with payment information. Aha.

But the boat was created by Alex Bader, who makes wonderful textures and mesh products. I figured he might have it rezzed in his sim, but when I went to his website, I discovered this photo contest for the Neva River sim and it was already the last day to enter. And -- tada! -- I found the same boat there. :D

Fashion notes

HiHo:
~ skin: Ruby Ezra
~ outfit: Ydea Nemo
~ shoes: Kalnin SlipOns
Opal:
~ skin: Elegant Mature Shirley
~ hair: Ingenue Torch Song Updo
~ outfit and shoes: Inga Wind Jacqueline
~ scarf: BeNoir Jasmin
~ hat: Meli Imako Summer Floppy Hat Fashion Kit

Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- Lo Light 3 (modified)
water: Phototools- Ship Light (modified)

Depth of Field:
View angle: 0.606
FOV: 6.5
F-number: 3.12
Foc Length: 302
Foc Time: 0.5
CoC: 10.0
Resolution: 1.0
Aspect Ratio: 1.0

Glow Settings:
Quality: 8
Iterations: 1
Strength: 0.142
Luminance: 0.85
Warmth: 5.0
Width: 1.3
Alpha: 0.25

Of course, I also found out that Radegast can't handle alphas, so if I log in with Radegast, the system bodies peek through the mesh clothing, so I had to log everybody in Firestorm. All three of them! That in itself is miraculous! I logged Opal in last when I was almost ready to shoot, but I needed HiHo early to adjust his shadow and the DOF focus.

For some reason, the invisiprim on HiHo's hat didn't work, so the top of his head is actually sticking out (you can see it, if you look closely). And thank goodness for the Derender option, which works great on avatars who suddenly appear in the background.

I was trying to decide between the lighter version above or the more colorful version below. But the brighter one kept the focus on the couple and the the pelican, so I thought the lighter version was a more sophisticated version.

And here's a closeup of the couple, taken with a different windlight (Fairy blue (Paulina)), because the wrinkles get washed out in too bright light. No shadows, no DOF, and no processing on this one either.