it's been SOOOOOO LOOOOONNNG.....

since I've posted here, regularly. Same is true of my lovely partner, Alysa, and her blog. So, we figured, why not join forces in one blog, where we can shame eachother into posting every so often. I'll still keep this blog open. Who knows... I may post here again. In the meantime, you can find my musings, and my muse, over at Pondering Pixels: http://pondering-pixels.blogspot.com

Hope to see you there.  We've only just started it, so I hope it begins to take shape in the coming days!

~Shye~

One Year

It's been a year since I partnered with Alysa.

Our love has evolved and changed.
We care for each other.
We listen to each other.
We learn from each other.
We share our thoughts.

She is the most important person in my Second Life. I think of her every day in my First Life.

I love you, Alysa. Thank you for being a part of my life.

-Shye

OMG.. It's Aliiiiiivveee

Hyang's blog, that is...

And since it's been a month since my last post, I thought I should post about SOMETHING...

Hyang has a new OS X port of Cool Viewer. Check it out.
http://hyangreflections.blogspot.com/2008/08/this-blog-still-alive-yay-and-now-here.html

Rouge

Codebastard Redgrave got a new sim.

It's quite a unique build, as you can see from this one aerial shot... and it has Codie's signature all over it. I tp'd in and checked out the club really quick, and wandered around the sim for a little while. The design is not one to explore, so much as experience. There aren't places to get lost or wander in... but the prim-light design is a marvel to behold. It was also lag-light with 47 people in the club.

This one is worth checking out. Visit the club. Look at and/or purchase some of Codie's artwork... and walk on the lovely girl-shape that is the terrain.

I'll be back again, when not so tired.

-SK-

Grand Opening for Blacklist: Cataclysm

Ok, so, don't "click for details" - this is a copy of an in-world poster.
Our grand opening celebration is Friday, beginning at noon SLT and running all day long... 4 DJ's, a live musical performance, and lots of contests, prizes, shopping, freebies.... don't miss it!

SLArt

One of my passions before finding my Second Life (tm) was working in digital media. I enjoy the creative flow of dipping into a virtual space and pushing pixels around to make something dynamic and interesting. My tools of choice were Photoshop, Poser and Bryce.

When I came into Second Life (tm), I largely left Poser and Bryce behind. There is a "social creativeness" to working in SL that you can't get in Poser. Even if you're just snapping pictures of scenery or people at random, there are (or can be) "people" nearby, communicating... participating in some small way. Building can also be collaborative. Whether the participants each get a few buildings to contribute to a sim, or two or more people work together closely on one build, the final whole is a collaborative effort born of the consciousnesses of different people... and in SL, those different people bring with them differing cultural senses of design that can make for a very interesting virtual space.

The candid "photography" in SL, though, leaves out that bit of control that I enjoyed in Poser. So I like to do more formal work, on occasion. It's easy enough to snap pictures of me, manipulating my avatar as needed. What is harder is getting others to be more participatory... to have a more true collaborative work. Posing, collaboratively.

I've been itching to do something more collaborative in SL photography for a while. Candid shots are all fine, but to make a picture tell a story you need props, poses and scenery. And of course, willing participants.

Alysa and I worked on some pictures on the docks at Blacklist: Cataclysm. Blacklist has always been a rough place... so what better setting than the docks to pose with guns? I had a lot of trouble with my SL viewer (thank you, Linden Labs). It made capturing frustrating. Alysa showed great patience for my troubles, as I managed to only capture about 6 useable images (the rest corrupted by poor viewer software). The image above was one of the first captures of the day... processed heavily in Photoshop to add some motion blur, alter contrast, add some muzzle flash, and paint in highlights and shadows. This is the kind of collaboration I enjoy... working together on poses and settings, each taking several snapshots to process and compare.

I do have some images of Blacklist which I will post very soon... but get there if you haven't and see it for yourself. Our grand opening party is this coming weekend. More info, soon!

-SK-

Building...

We've been busy...

First we laid the roads... then we tried them out.
Then we laid the bar... then we tried it out... ;)

I'm so happy to have a new, exciting project to work on.. and even happier to share the fun in building with Alysa.

Alysa, Lianna, and I have been busy since Sunday, starting to build on the new Blacklist, Cataclysm. The bar is done. Alysa did a nice job on it, and we were able to have a nice snuggle there when it was finished. Then, she resized it twice, as it seemed a bit too big. Now, I think its just right. Yay!

Lianna has been busy building shops, and doing a nice job.

I have spent FAR too much time making hilly roads, curving streets, building bridges, and coming up with texture sets for the build... I am eager to actually put up a new structure. I'm sure I will, before the week is out.

Hirundo has come around and offered to help build. She made a nice little lighthouse for our port.

More info as time allows.....


-SK-