Color Challenge: Week Eight - Green

This week's color is GREEN, a Spring-like color that warmed me up even while I was re-awoken to old pains.

Funny thing about thawing - it's a mixed bag, not exclusively pleasant or painful.

This is also a Studio Sidhe week. I'm gearing up to join another contest and probably fail, but who knows! I'll be looking at which pictures get the most attention and then either go with one, or refine it further. The sim I ended up on, Emerald Green, is a glorious spot for photography and romance. There are cute little dance areas everywhere, and you get to go up high in the sky or deep under the water (there's a whole underwater area, but it wasn't terribly green so I resurfaced!). I love the waterfalls, and the cute little houses, and there was an adorable mushroomy area but I floated above it, so pictures near it didn't work out. Woe.

Finally, I tracked down RAINBOWS. Now, anyone who has known me for, like, five minutes knows that rainbows are my favorite color. It's goofy and silly, but it's also true. Something about the colors, harmonious but each required to be itself utterly, brings me a great deal of peace. It's like fugues (which is the same thing presented in a variety of ways) or fractals (which is itself, repeated to infinity micro and macro).

So of course I had to take pictures with rainbows. Starting rainbows, against rainbows, around rainbows. I mean... come on.

I don't think they're my best pictures... but..... RAINBOWS!!!

( Full Set of pictures here. )

Credits:

Skin: Nomine, Sylvan Latte - pride 1
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusions, Mystic Ear - Fairy
Hair: La Boheme, Deae Matres
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle Recolerable (tinted green)
Dress: Studio Sidhe, Green Leaf Cocktail Gown
Necklace: Illusions, Rose Necklace - Black
Gloves: Bubble, Laced Corset - Green
Stockings: Kuri Style, One Piece 64 Dot
Shoes: G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes - Dark Green

Poses:
Top - Studio Sidhe, Ballerina 5
Bottom - Studio Sidhe, One more thing

Location: Emerald Green
Light Settings: [TOR] SCIFI - Gelatto - made slightly more green

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Seven - Cerise

I actually picked the clothing from Vexed up for this challenge (which I did THREE DAYS EARLY - can you believe it?) weeks ago, as one of the sixty linden weekend deals. I've read some critique of the long series of daily deals people have begin to take part in. Every day now has some sort of "deal" going on - though it started with Fifty Linden Fridays. The critique is that creators work so hard for really cheap deals, and that isn't fair since it means they can't make their money back.

I'm a fairly unrepentant freebie and cheapie hunter. I do a lot of hunts, I hit a lot of midnight manias, and I check a lot of the blogs for cheap deals during the week. There are a few stores I tend to spend more money at, but recently I've been pulling back as I organized my inventory and got a better handle on what kinds of clothes I'm missing.

I have a LOT of clothes, you see.

So on the one hand, I can understand creators really losing hope. We're still in a recession, and even those of us still employed are taking pay and benefit cuts to remain employed. Stores are closing left and right, and even those remaining open are tightening their belts or struggling.

There's a strong tendency in times like this to fight amongst ourselves, blaming people trying to get fun stuff for not much for all of the failures. If that's your target, I belong squarely on it - a lot of my extra money has been going to keeping the Sim of a friend open instead of to buying clothing (though I did splurge on some G Field shoes because G Field shoes are awesome). That means less money to go to other purchases because I'm having to tighten up on my spending to keep my head above water, too!

It's easy to let your anxiety take over, ruining your relationships and connections with other people. Anxiety can be light blinding electricity, freezing you or setting you against people you'd normally get along with. It's even more important, in times of stress, to remember that we're all in the same boat and reach out to each other - if we support each other, maybe we can all fly!

( Look for the rest of the pictures here. )

Credits: 

Skin: De La Soul, Mythos - Cream Neon Blush
Sparkles: Studio Sidhe, Faery Dust Body
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusion, Mystic Ears - Fairy Natural
Hair: Calico Ingmann Creations, Calico - Light Hot Pink
Straps: Vexed, "Urge" Latex Teddy - Pink
Shoes: G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes - raspberry
Bracelets: Begendings (my proto-store), Bracelets

Poses: Long Awkward Pose, Fantasy Faepose9

Location: Omega Point
Light Settings: AnaLu Studio 6

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Six - Yellow

The challenge is .... YELLOW!

This close to Goldenrod, I really wanted to go for something bright and over the top for yellow - to set it apart if nothing else. The lemon dress by Frick has always been a favorite - the color is so saturated and yet the style and texturing is still solid (though I remember fitting it being a bit of a pain, since my shape has a belly).

My Yellow folder is sadly thin on the ground, though, and I shook it a few times to get a wealth of accessories - taking full attention of the new feature where I can attack more than one thing to the same attachment point. Yay for two things on the spine!!!

Is it pathetic, or amusing, that I'm this excited by this feature? I loved Emerald's double attachment points, but anyone not on Emerald couldn't see it, so it seemed pointless. This can be seen by everyone, which makes it awesome.

Anyway, back to yellow. Once I had this obnoxiously saturated yellow outfit, I needed a place that could match it - even take it over the top. Given I was wearing a fantastic lemon key, I thought a candy store made sense, and some searching (and an inadvertent look at how other people interpret candy) later, I found Photon's Castle. It's actually a store, with fun furniture and decorations and some paintings upstairs. I had planned to take a couple pictures inside, then go to the grounds (which aren't photographed at all in this set) but I ended up being so charmed by the inside, and how seamlessly things were available for sale and yet didn't stand out jarringly against the decor (not that much would) that I took all my pictures inside.

And then it happened, right there in the store I leveled up!!! OMG! I'm a level four Virtual Photographer!!!!

Party at my place.

(Rest of the pictures here.)

Credits:

Skin: Curio, Petal [Dark] April - Rainbow 2
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Ears: Illusion, Mystic Ears - Fairy Natural
Hair: Ploom, Dot - Snow tinted Yellow
Dress: Frick, Lemon Lolly
Shoes: G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes - mustard
Monocle: Sanu, Greatest Love Monocle - Banana
Chocker: O!, Bleak Dripping Peal Chocker (large) - tinted yellow
Key: Violet Voltaire, Lollipop Guild Doll Key - Lemon

Pose: Olive Juice, Jumping Through Bubbles

Location: Photon's Castle - fantasy adventure park
Light Settings: [TOR] BIG SUN - Variaitonz

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Props Challenge: Paintbrush Week

One of the things I love about a huge inventory, and a tendency to do hunts and squirrel things away, is moments like this week when I type in the word "paint" and this lovely prop from Studio Sidhe emerges from the labyrinthine depths of my Second Life Closet. A giant flower with mushroom attendances, upon which a fairy might repose to paint a ladybug, this prop was absolutely perfect for both me and this week's challenge.

The dress I'm wearing was in my "To Photograph" folder - where I keep the outfits I particularly like as a reminder to do photoshoots with them. I found it when I was looking for an in character outfit for my darling Zoe to wear, were she ever called on to be, well... official in one of her in character rolls. The requirements were for a bare neck, shoulders, arms, and showing lots of cleavage. I think this outfit meets those standards quite well without, dare I say it, descending into the realm of the sluttish.

The ladybug part made me seriously giggle because the book I just started tonight, Blameless features homicidal robotic lady bugs. It's also a charmingly British book in a series about what it might have been to have vampires and werewolves in Jane Austen's England - and does Austen and the time period in general much honor by managing to combine a slightly snobby pretension, satire, and action adventure with one of the most amazing protagonists it's ever been my pleasure to enjoy the company of. I picked up the first book, Souless on a whim, looking for a book to transport me out of my doldrums without being horrifically sexist or racist, and it manages that plus making me smile like a loon and lose track of time.

This fairy, though, lives in a different world of the suburbs, where she's trying to prepare the insects for inspection on the sly, while children play nearby. Look down now and then when you walk, and you might catch sight of her!

( The rest of the pictures are here. )

Credits: 

Skin: Miasnow, Rainbow Tan 3
Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Hair: !lamb, Wild Nothing - Honeycomb
Dress: Nomine, Rose Red Dress - Red with Dark Red Roses
Stockings: Sn@tch, Ribbed Knit Tights - Black
Shoes, G Field, Ribbon Slingback Shoes - crimson
Ladybug Pose Prop: Studio Sidhe, Ladybug Painting (paintbrush and paint included)

Location: Falln Sanctuary
Light Settings: [TOR] BIG SUN - Slips through walls 6

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Five - Sepia

I have to admit, I quailed at this challenge and eyed my brown folder dubiously, but it only took a short time (my brown clothing is not numerous) to identify the dress I absolutely had to wear - and I had forgotten how beautiful it was. Timepiece 6, by PixelDolls, is absolutely gorgeous and an awesome example of how texturing and flexiprims can create what seems like a cohesive outfit, even when it's really more complicated than that.

I ended up going to the World's End Garden for taking pictures, after some dithering to find a place that was primarily brown. It was hard to get Windlight settings which worked - brown is not an easy color to work with - and the setting I ended up with, Siennarel, had the bonus of some brilliantly colored lights depending on which way you turned.

Looking for a spot for my final picture, I ended up literally falling through the floor, and fell into an area of World's End Garden which I hadn't seen before, which was where the carousal had disappeared to. Combined with the falling cages and fences, it formed the backlight for several more pictures, and the path out forced me toward picture ten. I can truly say for this serious of pictures that World's End Garden as a sim inspired a lot of the images.

This is by a large tree which appears in the background of one of the other pictures. Beside it, unseen by me until I approached, was a rising line of butterflies and I was determined to include them in the picture. This, my favorite image, was the result.

(The rest of the photoshoot is here.)


Credits:

Eyes: Tacky Star, Pride
Skin: Doux Petit, Rainbow Love - tone 2
Hair: Calico Ingmann Creations, Suzume - Burnt Golden
Dress: PixelDolls, Timepiece 006
Shoes: G Field, Short Lace-up Boots - Brown

Pose: Striking Poses, Camera Candy 4

Light Settings - [TOR] DUSK - Siennarel
Location: World's End Garden

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Prop Challenge: Week One - Umbrella

This challenge was a real challenge.

I have some umbrellas, but to be honest it's not an accessory I use often. I keep them because they're pretty, and I'm a bit of a packrat. I ended up using an old outfit I got from Dilly Dolls that came with a matching umbrella - Lexia. I liked the effect of the full match and the mixing of black, white, and blue together.

The hardest part was finding poses, though. I sorted through loads of my poses, over and over again, trying to find ones that work with an umbrella and that let me highlight that umbrella. I've been overall determined with these challenges to use things I already have in my inventory, or as much as possible, since it gives me a chance to delve into the depths of my inventory and bring some awesome clothes to light.

Editing these pictures, though, I've become aware of another influence on them. I've been feeling very conflicted recently - both personally and professionally I've repeatedly felt like the most abject failure. I've been beating myself up, trying to focus on other things, running away from my own thoughts and feelings. It's a sort of whitewash, much like these pictures put the essential darkness of how I've felt for the last month or so in sharp contrast with the careful way I've been covering up what I'm feeling.

I don't know if this is a sensible way to react to pain, but I've been managing to walk on the crust of snow and avoid the frozen depths beneath. I know, however, that under the darkness new life is resting and waiting for spring.

Credits:

Eyes: Miriel, Standard Eyes, Light Blue
Skin: Doux Petit, Rainbow Love - tone 2
Hair: Magika, Bow - Black A
Dress: Dilly Dolls, Lexia Blue
Shoes: Favole, The Nightmare
Accessories: Milk Hall Fair's Attic, Shawl; Sn@tch, Long Gloves Black; G Field, Halloween Spider-web Tights - Black

Pose: POSEbility, Attitude2

Light Settings - Original
Location: Calas Galadhon

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Four - Plum

I have to admit, the almost immediate jump to unusual colors makes me giggle.

It's week four, and the color is PLUM!. I literally came across this dress when a friend dragged me to one of the stores he likes and the color jumped off the wall at me. I bought it immediately, planning to use it for This Very Challenge.

The location is The Lost Gardens of Apollo, a place shown to me by former friends I'd fallen out of touch with. I'd kept meaning to use it as a place to take pictures (and honestly I likely will again in the future - it was really a lovely spot), so when I went through my old landmarks I gave it a try!

I even got chatted up a little there.

I ended up with a softer, pinker shade of plum - guided by the color on Luna's blog post and the dress I found. I worried continuously it was a little too pink, but I ended up loving the colors so much that I went with it. This is closer to the flower color of plum than anything found on a fruit - though I adore the fruits, too. The gold is reminiscent of the flesh of the plum, too, I think! Plum and god, dancing all across the garden.

Credits:

Eyes: Miriel, Standard Eyes, Light Blue
Skin: MVS, Xtreme Reality - Marie Plum Baroque
Hair: Raspberry Aristocrat, Berry Sassy - recolored more plum
Dress: RC, Knitted Lace One Piece, Pink
Shoes: G Field, Ribbon Slingback Heels - recolored more plum

Pose: Elisa, Giselle3

Light Settings - [EUPHORIA] Plum Sunset
Location: The Lost Gardens of Apollo

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Three - Goldenrod

I think this is my favorite photoshoot of all time. The golden, the surroundings, and the prop I splurged on all combine to make something that, well... I'm honestly proud of.

It's Goldenrod week and the world is seriously brightening up. I ended up going to Tol Narwa Vire, one of my favorite sims of all time, and rezzing a gorgeous rosebush from G Field with a plethora of poses involved. My favorite is Sunburn. I'm very fond of the effect of the light shining through and blurring things, and I think it really brings to life the color of goldenrod.

Also ironically, the color theme at my favorite roleplaying sim, Wood Bourne, for their Friday night dance was yellow. So in addition to the slew of goldenrod pictures for this blog that I took (twelve!), I also have a whole set of Fangbangers, the Vampire Club, decked out in the colors of sunshine. I didn't even have to change!

There's nothing quite like vampires in yellow. It suits them!

Credits:

Eyes: Miriel, Standard Eyes, Light Blue
Skin: MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3
Hair: Majika, Friday - Blond
Dress, Wings, Shoes: G Field, Rose Fairy Yellow and Ribbon Slingback Shoes Mustard
Rosebush: G Field (rezzed temporarily)

Pose: All in the rose bush
Light Settings - Peach Pesche - made more yellow
Location: Tol Narwa Vire

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week Two - Blue

Week two of the Weekly Color Challenge! The color was blue, and I went a little over saturated - which was very, very fun!

My mom came by this week and I showed her the pictures I'd taken. Her favorite is my choice for the week - Impatient. The other pictures are in their own set on my Flickr.

I took these on Falln Sanctuary, the home sim of two friends of mine in Second Life, Azriel and Tomoyuki. The former runs a divine series of stores called Falln Angel Creations. The latter runs a fantastic jewelry and accessory store called Little Boy Blue, and is my primary temptor on Second Life! He's always sending me pictures and links that make me melt into various puddles of goo. The latest is Prince Poppycock, who is a divine Operatic Singer who makes me freaking swoon. I highly recommend you check him out!

Credits:

Eyes: Miriel, Standard Eyes, Light Blue
Skin: MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3
Hair: Burning Chrome, Butterfly Caught (with blossoms)
Dress, Wings, Shoes: Evie's Closet, Whimsy - Blue

Pose:
Light Settings - Blue Midday - heavily modified
Water Settings - Glassy
Location: Falln Sanctuary

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Color Challenge: Week One (Late) - Gray

Luna Jubilee came up with an idea of a yearly color blog, and I thought I'd give it a try. Of course, in true me style.... I'm a week late.

So this is last week's. Shhhh.

The color is gray, and I had fun setting a windlight that would turn most everything gray, and my color lights for photography to gray and black (I don't usually have a facelight these days, but when I photograph I use a series of lights worn to highlight different things. It's literally the only light source in the pictures I took; the atmosphere is very dark).

My favorite is Up and Out.

I found the gray focus oddly cathartic. I've had a couple of pretty gray weeks as I coped with unexpected losses, and there's something about seeing the world in only gray that makes the colors all the more brighter.

( See the other pictures here. )

Credits:

Eyes: Miriel, Standard Eyes, Light Blue
Skin: MiaSnow, Rainbow Tan 3
Hair: Exile, Wild Thing - blackgold
Wings: Fancy Fairy, Azarelle - shrunk and recolored black
Dress: Hal*Hina, Flower Mini Dress, Dark Grey
Shoes: G Field, Short Lace-Up Boots, Gray
Gloves: Sn@tch, Long Gloves Grey

Pose: Leafy Hang
Light Settings - [Euphoria] Air Pollution
Water Settings - Glassy
Location: Spencer Museum of Art 

Photographed by Deoridhe Quandry
Post processing: Cropping only

Fall Twisted Hunt

I'm photographing the twisted hunt again this fall, because I am insane! This time I'm trying to take it in smaller bites, though. We'll see how it goes!!

Check out this flickr group for the updated pictures. So far I've photographed through 10.

Shiny Flickr Link of Doom and Candy.

The hunt is definitely a difficult one, but the new skills I've gained (particularly derender) are saving my butt.

I phail

Yes, I spectacularly managed to post ONCE for blogger challenge week... then not again.

I blame Bink.

Belated Blogger Challenge #1

Alicia Chenaux does a yearly blogger challenge - and this year... I shall try.

Today's Topic: Why did you become a blogger? How has it enriched your life?

I became a blogger to show off my pictures.

Getting dressed up and taking pretty pictures of how I look was one of my early second life hobbies. Self-aggrandizing, yes. Also enjoyable. One thing I'm a little sad about is that I much more rarely, now, do what I call "photoshoots," trying to highlight not only the amazing stuff I begged/borrowed/stole and if no other means bought along with placed I had found that I really liked.

I like trying to balance the two, to set them up so they fit together and yet set each other off.

As for how it's enriched my life... it really hasn't. I'm not a big time blogger, I have met more people through their blogs than through mine. ^.^

Murphy is my Co-pilot

I submit a post for 2 365.

Wordpress goes down.

Coincidence?

I think not!

Daily Shot: Caged!!!

Hopscotch released the cutest cage! It's so adorable.


Description: Deoridhe dressed in gold leaning forward in a gold cage on a cute little perch.

I'm wearing skin by Nomine, eyes by Tacky Star, hair by Magika, my usual Azarelle wings from Fancy Fairy, and an adorable outfit from WhoNose. And I'm in Hopsotch - new birdcage posing object! I didn't buy it, though. I know, I know, but I'm poor! I'm saving up for pretty skirts and trying to stretch my money. Plus, I'm at my prim limit at home; granted, my landlords are the most awesomest ever in the whole world, but that makes me want to not rez giant bird cages on the porch.


Description: Deoridhe hanging upside down inside the cage.

I do have my jar rezzed, though. I know it's odd for a faerie to have a jar - but I like it! And I recolored it all rainbow. Maybe if you're very good, I'll take a picture for you.

Virtual Time

Time is a funny thing.

I'm one of those trying people who will vanish for a while and pop up again, surprised so much time has passed. This happens even offline - long weekends lead me to lose track of the days, a sufficient "break" in the day will make me think two have passed by, and enough internal turmoil will make months seem like weeks.

Time is a subjective thing.

Description: Deoridhe in a green and red bustle dress (sadly Limited Edition) at DV8.

Time in virtual worlds tends to be similarly bizarre. I had, once, the odd experience of having someone express romantic interest in me after approximately an hour; I was flattered until I realized he had a woman-shaped hole in his SL experience, and any women would do - bland and regular preferable to weird.

Being weird, I went from flattered to annoyed. When, a week later, he let everyone online on his friends list know we had to audition to remain on his friends list, I dropped him with a sigh of relief.

Taking your time, moving slowly, and being careful are often treated suspiciously on the internet. From people sharing their deepest wounds in an open forum, to people seeking money and affection from virtual strangers (in both senses of virtual), speed is often expected. Quickly decide you like someone, quickly build a quasi-intimate relationship, quickly end it and quickly move on.

I have some friends that I have had experiences with over the course of more than a year. Some of them I was intimidated by when we met; some I felt instant affection toward. All of them I have a public and private familiarity with. They don't always mix well; many of my friends are very protective of me, which means they look askance at the casual treatment other friends have toward me until they're sure those people value me as much as they do.

These aren't relationships built of a few weeks, though - they're relationships build of months and years, which have included a lot of different experiences and moods. There's nothing rushed about them.

I don't tend to share much of my offline details online. I come from the paranoid past, and have had enough minor encounters with how vile people can be online to be glad of the protection, but there is a short list of people who I want to know my offline details so that they can find me outside of a single world.

There's nothing rushed about that desire, though. It's a slow, careful decision, and so far one I have never regretted.

Daily Shot #2

I told you these wouldn't be every day.

This is an out of character shot during a meeting of the Wilds Admin in the Sim of Karamoon. Karamoon is a quasi-historical fantasy roleplaying area made up of rather a lot of sims, actually. The Wilds is a northmost edge roleplaying Faction made up of the things which bedazzle the mind or go bump in the night. I'm a Fae and one of the ambassadors, and also the events coordinator. I do ok at it, but I'm bad, as always, at planning things.



The guy I'm lying on is Bink, OOCly a dear friend and ICly one of her only friends.

Daily Shot

I won't be doing this with any sort of regularity - it will be as whim holds me - but I thought it might be fun to take a simple snapshot of something I'm doing and what I'm wearing on a given day and posting it. Unlike my more formal photoshoots, where I'm highlighting a place and an outfit, this is more impulsive and singular and I'm not going to be trying to write down what I was wearing.



I was busy today roleplaying, managing to avoid any number of domestic chores I could have, and likely should have, been doing. But it was fun, and I've been stressed, so spending a day doing whatever I wanted to seemed like a good idea.

I am a short avatar in Second Life, though. I aimed for the height of 5'4" and, well.... most of the time I come up to peoples' waists. It's pretty funny.

P.S. I'm the blond.

Irony

Irony is someone castigating people for using a nom de internet while doing so themselves.

I think my favorite piece was from the "staying safe" page - which gives some good advice, but also reveals something rather, shall we say, revealing about the mindset of this person who isn't revealing their real identity while demanding others do so. "Many of these people are not functioning members of society."

And, of course, the "sex offender" bugaboo comes soon after. Just for once, I'd love to see something original. It remains true that children are at far more risk of pedophilia from someone who knows them, who is a friend of the family, and who has regular physical access to them in order to initiate the disgusting process of grooming them for abuse. All of this freaking out over people on the internet... is beginning to ring a little hollow.

So, yes, be suspicious on the internet - by all means. Be suspicious of people with slightly odd names, and people with incredibly normal ones. Be suspicious of people in the analog world, too, though. Just because you can see someone's face doesn't mean you can trust them.

Two sided

It's interesting how quickly time spent changes, even while the amount of time remains fixed. Sometimes it seems like I'm always bouncing after a long list of things I want to accomplish, and a longer list of things I have to accomplish.

One thing I've noticed on SL is how singular so many people appear to be, at least in their profile. Go to a philosophy discussion and everyone's an intellectual; go to a club and people are seeking good music or good romance; go to a BDSM discussion and people focus on their approach to power dynamics. The only place I honestly understand this sort of singularity is in roleplaying Sims, where all too often the person in front of you is not the main identity of the person behind the screen but rather one of many faces, specially tuned for a type of character.

I know I have a couple of accounts like that, where a few I'm close to know the names and their connection to me, but few others might even guess, much less know.

Online, identity can become such a fluid thing. It's a lovely place to play out the darker or lighter places in our soul, to take on other roles and see them play out to their fullest extent.

And sometimes, when I go to these different places and see these people who fit those places so well, I wonder if - like in roleplaying - these are faces made just for these events, to ideally fit. Not the full extent of a person, with all the variations and conflicts inherent in being a fully formed person, but facets of to return only the light we want others to see.