The images I create take me a lot of time and work. They’re not miraculous or marvellous by any stretch of the imagination. They’re simply photos I create for these words, sometimes I am creative and other times I’m desperate for a photo that doesn’t look desperate.
I struggle a lot with that side of blogging; the images. Yet it’s potentially the most important part. Don’t get me wrong, the words are nice and all but the words are not what draw people in. It’s those beautiful images that look effortlessly breathtaking.
Oh how I wish that talent came easily to me. Of course, I understand this is something that can be learned and practiced just like any other skill. I’m one of those people that wants to be good at things without having to do the work, even though I know that’s not how it works!
In honour of my struggles I thought I’d break down my process a little bit. This is for the people that think they’re never going to be able to take awesome photos or get the mood the same or any of that stuff. You can. Take a breath, let it out. The hardest part is starting in the first place.
To begin you’ll need to forget everything you know about SL photography. Forget it. Right now, you don’t need it. That’s not to say all those rules and guides and depth of fields and rules of thirds aren’t useful. They definitely are, however, when you first start taking photos it shouldn’t be about technique. It should be about you and how you feel when you create the scene.
Get a feel for what you like. What do you think looks good? It doesn’t matter why it looks good, you have plenty of time to analyse that later. Just look at your images and really notice the things you like, then keep it in the back of your mind. Nothing is certain yet, you’re not trying to recreate anything... At this moment it’s just an idea that feels and/or looks good to you.
Take photos.
Take so many photos you fill your hard drive (okay, don’t actually do this as it’s a pain in the arse to sort through that many). Create three folders:
Love - these are the photos you want to keep, little to no work needs to be done
Okay - photos that need some work to look the way you want
Dislike - don’t like the photo then jam it in this folder but don’t delete it!
Go through your “Love” folder and do you minor adjustments if you feel the photos need it. Publish them, show them to your friends, put them in an album just for you. But get them out there, you did this!!
Look through the “Okay” folder. Is there a particular element that would make a photo great? Maybe the colours are a little bland and can be fixed with photo editing software (Photoshop, Gimp etc). If it can’t be improved, or would require more work than you’re comfortable doing, move on to the next one.
Now look at your “Dislike” folder, this is the one that you won’t be trying to improve. Instead analyse why you don’t like the photo; awkward body angles, weird lighting, items not rezzing or people photobombing (you’d be surprised how often it does happen in SL!). Once you start to get an idea of what really doesn’t work for you, go ahead and empty this folder. You may want to use it a few more times with different sets.
When you publish your photos, get feedback and don’t be afraid of the occasional critique (ignore outright rude comments as they’re not constructive). Try new things like poses, locations, lighting effects (windlights) and backdrops. Try changing some of the photo settings, increasing your graphics (for photos only if you have an older computer like I did) or change the time of day to see what different sliders do.
At the end of the day, taking photos in Second Life should be fun. Well, sometimes it will be a pain, but you know what I mean. The process doesn’t have to be stressful as long as you remember to do the things you like. Eventually you can add in those ever-so-slightly-more-than-beginner ingredients for technically beautiful and well composed photos.
Love, Kirinyth
What I’m wearing
Tailor Made
Romper: Apple Blossom Turin Romper
Shoes: Addams // Zoe Combat Boots
Jewellery & Accessories
Necklace: Cae :: Kitten 2 :: Necklace
Tattoo: .: Vegas :. Tattoo Applier Seductive Flower
The Beauty Department
Hair: Stealthic - Plush
Skin Face: Not Found - Azzy Skin Sorbet (Lelutka)
Skin Body: [theSkinnery] Maitreya Skin Applier TUMMY - sorbet