20130531

120 - Moonlit stream

Where's Dim Sum? #120 - Old stump


Dim Sum watches the moonlight flicker in the water as her ears perk to the sounds of the night.


This is the Studio Skye parcel in the Home & Garden Expo. I love this forest build. The paths fork and twist and turn and go up and down in gentle slopes. You can see many of Alex Bader's sceneries, but they are are so integrated with the rest, that you won't easily recognize them.

I think I'll be in this parcel again tomorrow.

location: Home & Garden Expo 2013


Technical notes

windlight: Alchemy Immortalis - Dark Misty Night (modified)
water: Default


20130529

119 - Cheshire

Where's Dim Sum? #119 - Cheshire


Dim Sum watches the giant blue cat as it fades in and out of view. "What's so funny?" she asks and wonders if she had something stuck between her teeth or on her fur.


Still at the Home & Garden Expo in the parcel for Meeroo. It has an interesting tea party scene on the ground, but it was too busy for a good composition, so I gave up on it. The whole parcel has an Alice-in-Wonderland theme, sans Alice.

location: Home & Garden Expo 2013


Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- Build 007 Light (modified)



20130527

118 - Circus dogs

Where's Dim Sum? #118 - Circus dogs


Dim Sum keeps her distance from the cage of strange dogs. Would the tiger dog and the cheetah dog regard her as friend or as foe?


The Home & Garden Expo is going on now until June 2nd. This is another Relay for Life event.

This particular plot is occupied by Amaretto Ranch Breedables, and it's the most creative display that I've seen in the expo so far. A few other cages are around the big tent with unusual animals. This one has four dogs who are spotted strangely. In the picture, you can see the giraffe dog, the zebra dog, and the tiger dog. A cheetah dog is hidden from view.

location: Home & Garden Expo 2013


Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- Thalia Light 02 (modified)



117 - Stand 4 Love

Where's Dim Sum? #117 - Stand 4 Love

Stand4Love Opal Lei et alts


Meow meow meow meow.... (I meow 4 love.)


I discovered this campaign when I saw this pic by Bouquet Babii, so I followed the links to the Stand4Love website and decided to do a pic with Dim Sum.

They require a square pic, so I did another one for the "Where's Dim Sum?" series at the usual size.

They also said a plain white or black background. And, well, ... technically, the background prim *is* plain white, but I was playing with projectors again. See the words on my arm and on Dim Sum? :D

Okay, since I'm playing around with this, I might as well do Strawberry's tutorial meme from the past week before she publishes the next one.

Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- Build 005 Light (modified) + projectors


Strawberry's memes - Teach Something

Strawberry says, "Teach me something." To be honest, I wasn't sure what I could teach, because almost everything has been taught out there. But I'll talk about how I used projectors with this photo and include tips as well.

The only reason I started playing with projectors is because I was thinking of using them for my SL10B build. This is the second photoshoot I've done with projectors. The first one wasn't particularly PG, but if you want to take a look: closeup, zoomed out, and combined.

It's really very simple. (I'm glossing over the details here.)

1. Change your graphics settings. Turn on Local Lights, Atmospheric Shaders, and Advanced Lighting Model and choose SunMoon + Projectors. Set your windlight to a nighttime one until you know your projector works.

2. Create a projector.  Or two or three. It's just a prim. Be sure to set the rotation to all zeroes, and the light would come out at the bottom (negative z-axis). You can rotate it again later to point it at your subject. Then go to the Features tab of the Edit dialog and check the Light box. You're essentially creating a prim light. You can choose the color of the light and choose the texture that would be projected. You can play with the FOV to blur the texture too.


Now the tips:
  • If you use a temporary texture, it won't work. (Trust me, it took me hours trying to figure out why it wasn't working.)
  • If you don't turn on the Advanced Lighting, you wouldn't see the second (texture) box to the right of the Light checkbox. You'll have to close the Edit dialog and open it up again, or edit something else and go back to the projector prim.
  • You can use the blank texture to get a plain square patch of light. Or create a texture with a white circle (or many white circles or even any shape you want) for a spotlight effect. A cylinder will not make a round-shaped spotlight.
  • If you stretch one side (x-axis or y-axis), the light (and texture) will also stretch.
  • You can get some cool effects, if you angle the spotlight against a wall (instead of projecting it straight on), and if you use several and overlap the projections, and if you add color to the light.
  • Browse the web for tips on how to position lights in real-life photography. Try them out or set up your own.
  • Try different windlights with your projectors. They can be daytime ones too, as long as they don't overwhelm the projections.
I'll continue playing with projectors for a while, so I'll have more samples to come.

20130525

116 - Where's baby?

Where's Dim Sum? #116 - Where's baby?

Where's Dim Sum #116b - Where's baby?


Dim Sum questions the bunny with the lone ear, "What happened to the baby?" But the bunny just looked down on the ground with his lone button eye, which would shed a tear if it could. And the baby carriage infinitely repeated its tinkling music while an invisible baby cried out faintly.


This is the baby carriage and the old stuffed bunny that I mentioned in my last post. See if you can find the spider. :)

Two again. After I completed the first one, I zoomed in to get a better look at the bunny and decided I liked that pic better.

location: Gehena Vampire Clan


Technical notes

windlight: [TOR] SUNSET - Damage down (modified)



20130523

115 - Garden triptych

Where's Dim Sum? #115 Blacks and whites triptych


Dim Sum attempts to start a conversation with the Siamese cat, who seemed too preoccupied with grooming herself. Dim Sum jumps off the ledge and walks over to the black cats instead.


I think this is my most favorite spot in the entire sim. It has a lot of very interesting and very unexpected details, besides the two black cats and the Siamese cat... a bird cage with books inside it and butterflies coming out of it... a toppled blue-and-white ceramic teacup... a worn chair with a bloody handprint... a ball of yard with bloody knitting needles... candles inside a teardrop-shaped cage... three tables each with a tea set and wrought iron chairs... an old wooden wardrobe... a baby carriage occupied by a black spider... a dirty stuffed bunny... pink antique rose vines rising above brambles....

It's almost like poetry in the form of a garden. Or a maybe a mystery novel.


location: Gehena Vampire Clan


Technical notes

windlight: [TOR] SUNSET - Damage down (modified)
water: Default


114 - The requisite castle

Where's Dim Sum? #114a - The requisite castle

Where's Dim Sum? #114b - The requisite castle


Dim Sum listens to the leathery flapping and wonders how those rodents got their wings....


I completed the first one and decided it was too cliche; I'm sure it's the most photographed structure in the sim. So I did a second one.

location: Gehena Vampire Clan, (a) and (b)


Technical notes

windlight: [TOR] SUNRISE - Turtle island (modified twice)
water: Raymond's Water At Night (only for b)




20130522

113 - White steads

Where's Dim Sum? #113 - White horses


Dim Sum meows at the creature towering above her, and the horse exhales noisily at her. She tilts her head curiously.... Hmmm, these things purr too....


There are actually three horses, but this is a better composition. I found the link to this sim while browsing Flickr last night, but I lost the page and I can't find it again. Anyway, this doesn't really look like a vampire place, except maybe for the little cemetery across the water. But I haven't really explored much, and I'm right by the landing point here. So I'll know more in the next few days.

And, with these many white horses around, the knight in shining armor must be nearby.... Oh, wait, Dim Sum is not a damsel in distress. Wrong fairy tale....

location: Gehena Vampire Clan


Technical notes

windlight: [TOR] DUSK - Siennarel (modified)


20130520

112 - Herbs on the window sill

Where's Dim Sum? #112 Herbs on the window sill


Dim Sum meows at the cat on the windowsill. Her name is Mamie, she said, and, no, the herbs don't taste that good. The tulips are promising though.


I think Mamie is a relative of the grey-haired librarian. This spot is actually in a narrow alley so I couldn't zoom back too far.

location: 1920s Berlin


Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- Cloud Credit Light (modified)


20130519

111 - Poor orphan Friedrich

Where's Dim Sum? #111 - Poor orphan Friedrich


Dim Sum meows at the forlorn boy with the dirty face and keeps him company after all the kids have left the school.


Earlier, I was at a hotel restaurant, where a trio of musicians (not grasshoppers) were playing. I was still deciding on the windlight and only took one test photo when I had to go. They were gone when I logged back in, so I had to find a new subject.

Friedrich didn't respond to my OOC IM. Probably because his avie is just parked or he really doesn't speak like his profile says. So I hope he's okay with being the most popular orphan boy in Dim Sum Land.

While I was at the hotel restaurant, someone (Crispin Sturges) threw Dim Sum a string of sausages. A string of sausages! If this happens too often, she's gonna have to go on a diet.  ;D

Oh, oh, she could share it with poor Friedrich, except she already ate it all. *burp*

model: Friedrich Zepp
location: 1920s Berlin


Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- Thalia Light 01 (modified)


20130518

110 - Piano on the second floor

Where's Dim Sum? #110 - Piano on the second floor


Dim Sum watches the vehicle in the window as it goes around and around and around.... "How much is that car i-in the window? Beep, beep."


Typically, apartment buildings don't work in SL. Why would you want to live so close to other people who could overhear everything you say. So, they are mostly empty. But in a roleplay sim, it works. And this building is well decorated inside as well. In fact, many of the buildings in this sim look lived in.

So, I couldn't resist peeking in after discovering this apartment building with big windows. And the rooms are fully furnished! How delightful!

location: 1920s Berlin

Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- Dorm Light 01 (modified)


20130517

109 - B 6236

Where's Dim Sum? #109 - B 6236


Dim Sum looks around at the bustling city she stumbled into after accidentally hitching a ride on the wrong train. The first thing she wonders about is what the city food tastes like.


I've been to the 1920s Berlin a long long time ago. (No, not during the 1920s, silly. I'm not that old!) It was still in the mainland somewhere up in the sky. It's in a full private sim now.

Even during my first visit, I was already impressed with the project, and Jo Yardley has expanded it even more. How steadfastly she sticks to the theme is very admirable, so you get a truly immersive historical experience. She has staff (bots?) that stand in as intriguing characters -- a woman sweeping the sidewalk, a young boy with cotton candy, a train ticket agent asleep at the ticket window.

Well, during my visit, maybe I'll learn a few more words besides "Gehsundheit" and "Danke". (That poster on the left says "public telephone". Google said so.)

location: 1920s Berlin


Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- Lo  Gun Light (barely modified)


While I was browsing through the windlights, this one struck me. It's kinda surreal, but I love the happy colors, and I thought, "Why not?" :)

20130515

108 - Steampunk hovercraft

Where's Dim Sum? #108 - Steampunk hovercraft


Dim Sum climbed into a half-bubble, thinking that the chairs looked nice and comfortable. Then she heard a whirr as it lifted up in the air.... "Not again!" she thought.


More color this time and a bit more scifi-y. I derendered a bigger steampunk vehicle and a few things.

location: Avedon Park


Technical notes

windlight: Incongruent Truths (modified)
water: Default


107 - Why is she crying?

Where's Dim Sum? #107 - Sniffles


Dim Sum: Why did you make her cry?
Bunny: I didn't.
Dim Sum: Then why is she crying?
Bunny: She was that way when I got here.
Dim Sum: Maybe you dug up the carrots in her garden.
Bunny: Maybe you scratched her furniture.
Dim Sum: Maybe you stole the eggs from her basket.
Bunny: Maybe you ate her pet mouse.
Girl: Maybe because I'm half buried in the ground!


:D

location: Avedon Park


Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- Lo Light 03 (modified)


20130514

106 - Smoky jars in a foggy morning

Where's Dim Sum? #106 - Smoky jars in a foggy morning


Dim Sum sits up, stretches, then licks the morning dew off her fur.


These are actually white jars but they went gray with this windlight, which is a good thing because it was hard to get some contrast. No shadows in this and I turned off the local lights, which were flickering anyway, so I couldn't get consistency among the jars.

location: Avedon Park


Technical notes

windlight: Alchemy Immortalis - Foggy Morning (modified)


20130513

105 - Three friends

WheresDimSum-105_002


Dim Sum looks out at the setting sun and quietly reflects on the events of the day.


This is the deck at the back of a pretty houseboat. I love houseboats. Living on a houseboat was one of my dreams. But I discarded that dream because I love books, and I figured that all the books I owned might cause the houseboat to sink. Then, they invented e-readers. And the dream is back on my wishlist.


location: Avedon Park


Technical notes

windlight: Fine Day (modified)
water: Default


20130511

104 - Mom's hammock

Where's Dim Sum? #104 -  Mom's hammock


Dim Sum enjoys the gentle swaying of the hammock. Now, she understands why humans like these things so much. Cats can nap pretty much anywhere, but humans are just so spoiled....


It's Mother's Day in the US and in several other countries this Sunday. So this post is dedicated to my mom Lucy, who is still in the hospital recovering from a triple bypass. Unfortunately, my printer didn't print it well, but she likes it anyway. Or she just says she does, like she did when my sister and I gave her macaroni necklaces to wear to work when we were in early grade school. I still don't understand why macaroni necklaces never came in style.

To all you mothers out there: Happy Mother's Day!

Mehgan, the TimeKeeper from The End of Time, was actually the one who gave me this landmark. (Thank you, Mehgan!) At first I wondered if it was a private sim because there were houses all over, so I looked up the owners. Karma Avedon's profile pick said that Avedon Park is a "public park open to all ages." Yay!


location: Avedon Park


Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- Angles Light 01 (modified)


103 - Just your imagination

Where's Dim Sum? #103 - Just your imagination


"Drake, my dearest.... Does my behind look fat?"
"No, Ducky, my darling.... It's just your imagination."

"Drake, my dearest.... Are you bored with me?"
"No, Ducky, my darling.... It's just your imagination."

"Drake, my dearest.... Did you hear a meow?"
"No, Ducky, my darling.... It's just your imagination."


I have a less innocent version of the story (to go with a less innocent version of the pic), but I thought I'd better keep this blog PG. Out of four sims, this one is Adult, but it still looks pretty benign.

Drake and Ducky's conversation is very loosely based on an actual conversation. Well, actually, just the middle part. And he did say it was just my imagination. But when I asked the first question, he simply said, "Yes." So I went into Appearance and adjusted my butt size.


"Drake, my dearest.... Are you paying attention?"
"No, Ducky, my darling.... It's just your imagination."


location: Wabe at the End of Time (Adult)


Technical notes

windlight: Phototools- Lo Light 03 (modified)
water: Phototools- Ship Light



20130509

102 - Saturday night

Where's Dim Sum? #102 - Saturday night


Dim Sum watches the sunlight play on the waves. If only cats could walk on sunlight-dappled water, ....


There's another white and blue boat that I derendered to keep the focus on the sailboat. I also derendered a couple of rezzers, so it looks like you can ride the boats. Cool!

The beach and both boats are named "Saturday Night"; ergo, the title of the post.

location: The End of Time


Technical notes

windlight: Fine Day (modified)
water: Phototools- Ship Light


20130508

101 - Just in time

Where's Dim Sum? #101 - Good camping ground


Dim Sum rests and listens to the birds chirping, after a squirrel skittered away when she came close. Such a nervous creature! Well, it is a rodent with a fancy tail....



Soon after I teleported there, I got a ding-ding:
MehganWelsh: Welcome to End of Time, Dim
Dim Sum the cat (lovelikedimsum) meows.
MehganWelsh scratches your ears with a long finger
Dim Sum the cat (lovelikedimsum) moves her head to get more scratches.
Mehgan said she's a "Time Keeper," which is "a guardian of the Fabric and Culture of the End of Time Estate."

So, I said OOC-ly, "Can I ask a rhetorical question?... If it is the end of time, what is there left to keep?  ;) "

Well, she didn't answer my question. (It was rhetorical after all.) Instead, she sent me to a webpage where the legend of The End of Time is written. And it is a charming and gently humorous read. :D

location: The End of Time

My response to Strawberry Singh's meme of the week is way down below.


Technical notes

windlight: Fluffy Big Clouds (modified)
water: Default




Strawberry's memes - My SL haiku

Strawberry's meme of the week was a suggestion from a designer to “ask people to sum up their SL lives in a single haiku.” Well, Dim Sum's haiku is easy. Opal's will have to be an epic poem. Or a collection of limericks.... There once was a redhead named Opal....

Traveler am I - haiku meme

Another version of the photo without the haiku is entered in the SL10B photo contest.


20130507

100 - Unwitting accomplice

Where's Dim Sum? #100 - Unwitting accomplice


A milk thief? In our little community? That's hard to believe!
And your prime suspect is .... 
Oh, ho ho ho! A cat?!?
Officer, you must be kidding me!
No, Officer, I have not seen a white cat....


This was one of the scenes I considered yesterday, and I already had the story in mind, but I couldn't find a good a composition for it. And the policeman is floating. I could have angled it so that his shadow connect with his feet, but the shadows have an important role in this story.

And, ... #100!!!!

location: Solaria


Technical notes

windlight: [TOR] SUNRISE - Desert (modified)



20130506

099 - Opposites attract

Where's Dim Sum? #099 - Opposites attract


Dim Sum sighs. Why does she always fall in love with the bad-cat types? And he's not even paying attention to her meows.


I discovered another section of Solaria with beautiful homes in them. And well-made mannequins all over, including this black cat.

location: Solaria


Technical notes

windlight: [TOR] SUNSET - Garrigal moscheles 1 (modified)


There's a "bug" in this photo but I can't do much about it. The chairs are floating slightly above the floor, so you might notice that the shadows of the chairs don't touch the feet of the chairs.

370 - Eggs and bunnies and peeps (360°)

Dim Sum joins the peeps who wanna be bunnies. At least for Easter. For non-US folks, "peeps" are marshmallow candies shaped l...