Vintage Mists: Field of View and You

In Second Life we have exquisite control over our images, and one tool is modifications to the field of view (FOV) using ctrl-8 through ctrl-0. The normal Field of View is good for full body to knee's up shots, but a fish-bowl effect starts to show up if one zooms in any closer to anything due to the default FOV, and your background will be broad, encompassing the whole screen.Narrowing the FOV works both for close-ups, where it removes the fishbowl effect of a portrait, and for distance shots where you want to minimize the sense of depth. Above, I used Ctrl-0 to narrow the FOV once, leaving room for an expansive and deep image while squaring off the sides.


I find, even for slice-of-life shots when I'm roleplaying on a sim that the default FOV - perfect for moving around - is insufficient for images establishing fore, mid, and backgrounds. Any time you have a figure up close to the camera, Ctrl-0 can help make thing slook rounder and more even. However, if you want an image with extreme foreshortening, where you make use of the distortions of a broad field of view to give a sense of distance or dynamism, you can use Ctrl-8 to increase the field of view.

This isn't an effect I usually employ, but check out the effect of it above - my entire body is foreshortened and the background seems to bend to include itself into view. You'll see it most noticeably in how my fore-wing appears to be bending up and toward the top of the image - the same curve can be seen in the doorway beyond it. I specifically wanted this FOV to give a sense of depth and distance, and to make the image vertigo-inducing, as if one was spinning in circles with the subject.

I returned to my usual use of quite a lot of narrowing of my FOV in the image below because I wanted to minimize any fishbowl effect on my feet. Notice how the combination of a narrow field of view and careful angling of my camera makes the walls seem very vertical, maintaining a sense of space. In all three images I'm working with very deep views on a sim, which means even with this narrowing of of my field of view the sim still appears quite deep.Under other circumstances, though, one might want to background to be very shallow, or to blow out the backdrop with depth of field - in that case an extreme narrowing of field can make your background blur together artistically and highlight the figure you're focused on in the foreground.

Field of view is a very useful technique for Second Life photography. Play around with Ctrl-0 to narrow, Ctrl-8 to widen, and Ctrl-9 to return to default and see what you can do!

Credits: 

Skin: Izzie's, Irene
Hair: Doe, Peri
Eyes: .:Soul:., Oculos Eyes
Eyelashes 1: SLink, Mesh Lashes
Eyelashes 2: Flugeln Brise, 05-A
Ears: .:Soul:., High Elf
Lipstick: Mock, Lucir LipColor
Wings: Deviance, Sidhe
Body: SLink, Body, Hands & High Feet
Nails: La Boheme, Abalone
Outfit: W-ZERO, Sweet Princess (Creators Collection Box)
Stockings: Blacklace, Basic Classic
Shoes: Glamistry, Azalea Heels

Poses: Grafica
Location: Basilique Town
Windlight Settings: Phototools, Epi Vintage Light
Water Settings: Mirror Water

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping