Monochromatic

Monochromatic - literally one color - is when the shades of black and white are used in conjunction with a single color to create a rich field of view. These images aren't actually monochromatic, though - the Salamander eyes I chose from Rue's group gifts are of many colors, and that's perhaps why I'm not as happy with these as I might be (I'm already considering alternatives). One funny thing about how I do photoshoots, several pictures in a single location over space and time in a single outfit, is that while I have some artistic pretensions, I don't think about what I'm trying to convey as much as I might. It's more about the look and me, and how we both interact with the landscape; it's less about trying to capture a mood, or share a deeply held emotion, and I think sometimes that's a weakness to what I do. I am terrifically fond of this look, though; I think it's striking, almost overpowering, with subtle implications on oil and wildlife in the combination of Fallen Gods' dripping Coalborn with a much older Feathers skin of his, which I seem to return to now and then when I'm looking for white. My only wish is that he had adapters for the SLink hand system, as I would have loved to have superior hands, but in the end it's a minor point in an amazing look. I did augment the skin with a little cosmetics - lips from Rue and eyes from White Widow - but it was the blotchy dripping of the skin with the silkiness of the feathers which really dictated this black-on-white look.

The hair I all but backed into; a new, spiky, single sided hairstyle from Wasabi Pills. I didn't use the included texture for the skull - it doesn't work around my ears at all - and I think I like it better for being cleanly shaven. One of my favorite mandalas from my college years has a woman curving over the top, the long hair from one side of her head flowing around the circle of the mandala while the shaved other side mutely protests that extravagance. I was aiming for slightly unnerving, and I think the hair helps; it was pure luck there was a streaks addition to it, which enabled me to continue miking black and white as I went. From there, the outfit was obvious; I had picked up this new Moon Priestess silks from Deviance months ago, but never hit on a look which really called for it's opulent spareness. Since I had picked up the fatpack, I had a pick of the litter, and I settled on white, dark silver, and an opal gem texture available only in the fatpack. Something was missing on the ear, though, so I ended up copying and ripping apart one of the necklaces to make this dual-earring - I'm somewhat, but not entirely, pleased with it, but I wasn't in the temper to try to get the curving bands over the ear to work; perhaps another time. I really love the fit around the hips of the silks, though, and since the whole set is color-change on touch, I only had to fit it once. For the final touch of "priestess will cut u", I added this bindi from Souzou Eien after trying a few different options on. I think it well continued the trend of aggressive jewelry, for all that it is very simple.

All of these pictures were taken in world, in a sim with very muted textures which I further muted with the greying windlight I chose - you can see hints of green on the ground here and there, and a bit of other colors, but in general I aimed and cropped carefully. What I didn't do is apply any filters after taking the pictures - these are all possible in Second Life without anything more than cropping. Winter Moon is a fantastic place to try your hand at unedited black-and-white photography, as all of the buildings and such cooperate with a very monochromatic pallet with some nicely patterned trees. The only hitch is the waterfalls, which are plentiful and full bright, so when picking your windlight aim yourself at the waterfalls and make sure they work (or vanish). One thing I'm increasingly annoyed with, though, is the static nature of my expression in all of my pictures - that sort of calm, slightly smiley look which anyone who sees my photostream is well aware of. The actual facial animations available to us often distort and disfigure the face, being very extreme, but subtler effects can be gained by editing the shape, and now that I've adjusted my facial profile, I may start playing around with subtler emotions in the eyes, brow, and mouth to see how I can more subtly convey emotion. Yes, sometimes the snarling face above is fun - and even appropriate - but more often than not our anger and our sadness are concealed and quiet, not loud and distorted.

( More pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Fallen Gods, Feathers (promotional item)
Tattoo: Fallen Gods, Coalborn (promotional item)
Eyes: Rue, Pluto - Salamander (group gift)
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Eyeshadow: White Widow, Pisces
Ears: Illusions, Seelie Ears
Lipstick: Rue, Lip Service - Gothier Than Thou
Hair: Wasabi Pills, Morgan (promotional item)
Bindi: Souzou Eien, Precious Bindi
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle
Outfit: Deviance, Drown Moon Priestess
Shoes: Schadenfreude, Ivody Cygnette Shoes

Pose: !bang

Location: Winter Moon
Light Settings: Phototools - Mia Light
Water Settings: Glassy

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping, only