Kristal Tricks & Pixel Hair

Vista | Zoe bento head |

Cocoon

*YS &YS* - YourSkin & YourShape | Pink Bangles|

LeLUTKA | Lilly Head, incl. eyeshadow |

Vista | Zoe bento head |

GAS | Ladies Shorts Kensi |

[. CULT .] | EMMA TIP TOE PACK Sneakers

::Body::

 LeLUTKA | Bianca Head | 

MINA Hair | Romy blondes pack | 

Maitreya | Mesh Body - Lara |

::Story::

Another one from the archives, Flickr says I uploaded it in September 2018. I realise that's it's a pretty innocuous snap, but for me it was a landmark. Firstly, I had started to use GIMP for image processing. Here you can see that I've done a very rough layer mask on the background to blur it and give a 'depth of field' effect. Crude, but I'm still doing the same thing now, although I employ gradients on the mask to get a more realistic 'near to far' blurring. 

I've also started to use the environment sliders to give a nice bright, neutral light effect. I love the 'bleached' look it gives me, so much that I probably overused it for the next couple of years (check the next few blog posts for evidence of this). I'm trying to be more aware of composition now, but I do miss the simplicity of some of these earlier images.

Despite the problems with this picture (don't look too closely at my eyes) I really like the 'feel' of it. After this, I started to actively pursue SL photography as a hobby using the tools that both SL and GIMP offer, and it remains one of the three big hooks that keep me coming back to Second Life after all these years. Maybe I'll write more about the other two hooks in future posts.

::Style::

::Body::

 VISTA | Zoe Bento Head |

*YS&YS* - YourSkin & YourShape | Miki Tone 00 Skin | 

Maitreya | Mesh Body - Lara

*store sadly defunct 

::Location::

::Style::

::Cameo 6ixx:: | Vinyl dress |

::Body::

Maitreya | Mesh Body - Lara

Navy+Copper | Pancake Hair |

LeLUTKA | Bianca Head |

::Story::

This is quite an old photo, from 2018, taken at Cocoon, which is a beautiful dystopian sci-fi themed region in Second Life. I love this look, and still wear it now. The dress was an event special. I didn't find it on the Cameo 6ixx marketplace store, but they have similar ones. I can't find the tattoo in my inventory anymore, sadly - I think I threw it out with a bunch of other stuff before I properly understood BOM and Mesh! The skin is just the Lelutka and Maitreya default, which match because they both used to provide a set of Glam Affair skins as a base. Ah, those were the days!

GAS | Ladies Top Kensi |

*COCO* | Side Stripe Wide Leg Pants Black |

Vista | Zoe bento head |

*YS&YS* | Tone 00 Body Applier v2.0 - Maitreya |

::Story::

Exile | Lysa Hair |

[Heaux] | Zoe Skin - Honey Tone |

Izzie's | Summer Blush (LeLutka Evo X) | 

Izzie's | Izzie's - Face & Neck Moles (LeLutka Evo X) |

LeLUTKA | Fleur Evo X Head, incl. eyeshadow, lips, lashes & eyes |

Maitreya | Mesh Body - Lara |

Vista | Zoe bento head |

Vista | Zoe bento head |

::Location::

Backdrop City

::Style::

Cynful Clothing & Co. | For the Crew Top |

Oubliette | Muertos Skirt | 

Mangula | Leila Heels |

-David Heather- | brass choker |

NativeUrban | -NU- Handmade Bracelet |

::Body::

  ..euphoric | ~Fem Mesh Eyes~ |

BODYTOPIA | CASEY SHAPE  |

Maitreya | Mesh Body - Lara

AsteroidBox | Farren Earrings - FLF Gift |

Kaithleen's | Universal Thong |

PHEDORA |  ~ Crystabel Heels ~ |

 tram | K0310 hair |

 [Glam Affair] | Eloise [LelEVOX] Ivory + blush & freckles |

 [Glam Affair] | Maitreya Body Skin - Ivory |

LeLUTKA | Fleur Evo X Head, incl. eyeshadow, lips, lashes & eyes |

Maitreya | Mesh Body - Lara |

LeLUTKA | Lilly Head, incl. eyeshadow |

::Location:: 

-Narcisse- | Lacuna - Alice lingerie set pink | 

zOOm | Keily Outfit jacket | 

~Nerido~ | Kate Heels-Blush | 

Pure Poison | Leah Necklace | 

MINA | HarperV2 Blond hair | 

ROUGE | LILLY SHAPE | 

7 Deadly s[K]ins | LEVITATE - Cotton Candy | 

LeLUTKA | Lilly Head, incl. eyeshadow, lips, lashes & eyes | 

Maitreya | Mesh Body - Lara |

LeLUTKA | Lilly Head, incl. eyeshadow |

::Location:: 

| [NEBULA] Fantasy Hangout & Furry Sandbox |

::Style::

ROUGE | LILLY SHAPE |

7 Deadly s[K]ins | LEVITATE - Cotton Candy |

LeLUTKA | Lilly Head, incl. eyeshadow, lips, lashes & eyes |

Maitreya | Mesh Body - Lara |

::Location::  

| [NEBULA] Fantasy Hangout & Furry Sandbox |

::Style::

LeLUTKA | Lilly Head, incl. eyeshadow |

Vista | Zoe bento head |

[VALE KOER] | V-3 TRAINERS | 

*BLITZED* | Plugged Belt |

BUTTERSCOTCH | Noah Jacket {Jacket No.4} |

Truth Hair | Meadow Hair |

••• PUMEC | LOLYA (LELU EVO X) - MARCH tone |

::Story::

I have some lovely men's clothing items in my wardrobe. I've blogged these trousers and this jacket before separately, but realised how good they look together when I was putting together some looks out of various of my older wardrobe items. Of course, the problem with men's clothes is that they are not (usually) rigged for women's mesh bodies - although I have come across an increasing number of nice unisex items, particularly in the fetish fashion scene. Anyway, all this necessitates much fiddling with alpha's and resizing of items, but I hope the effort was worth it. 

I love wearing jackets and coats, but they are so difficult to fit, and also to match with tops (unless you use BOM or system layers) - it's hard to find a good one. I adore the Bomber jacket from [VALE KOER]  (whose trainers I am wearing here, although you can't see them), I have bought the demo so many times, but fitting it, even the Maitreya version, involves so much adjustment, that this one from BUTTERSCOTCH is actually slighty easier - at least I don't have to change my body shape! It means I have no bust in this shot, but I do have a liking for the occasional androgynous look.

::Location::

 Storybook  | Tymina in Blush dress |

CATWA | Freya incl eyes, blush & lipstick