More Than Meets the Eye

Look of the Day, May 30, 2010, originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz.

Clothes:
Jacket & blouse (including scarf) Voyage by June Dion @ bare Rose
HighSkirt by Onyx Leshelle @ Maitreya
Mercy shoes by Nut Barak @ Orange Creation

Jewelry:
Earrings l’Isle Joyeuse by Ruriko Jewell @ U&R Dogs
Ring Petrouchka by Ruriko Jewell @ U&R Dogs

Body:
Skin Grace (caramel, simplicity 1) by Ivy Graves @ Atomic
Hair Siri (bistre) by Onyx Leshelle @ Maitreya
Hair base black by Iki Ikarus @ Dutch Touch (SL2.0 only, not separately sold but included in the newest skin packs)
Eyes Allure Cocoa 3 by Launa Fauna @ L.Fauna.

SLurls are listed here.

A reader commented that she felt cheated because I edit the pics on my blog, that in reality the textures looked all wrong and not looking alive. I am actually glad she commented this because truth is… I do… sometimes, edit pics that are featured on my blog. Like yesterday when I bloggged the Mercy shoes from Orange Creations, but I think you’d have to be blind not to realise it is edited.

What I never edit though are my LOTD pictures, other than that I crop them and add a border. I simply lack the PS skills to edit all my pics (it would take WAY too much time, and suck the fun right out of me) and besides, I think that products featured should reflect the actual quality as much as possible.

So to illustrate how I work when I take pictures, here is… a picture:

Yes, it’s cropped, I added a border and.. omg.. letters!!  :-D Lets go through it, ok? NB: I take all my pictures running SL in the official LL 2.0 viewer on ultra settings.

A) in my studio, which isn’t more than a rounded white wall, with default mid day light settings. No other in world lights for funky effects.

B) in the same studio, but now with the WL settings provided by Caliah Lyon. You can see the massive difference, the textures in general looking way more vibrant

C) still the same studio with Caliah’s settings, but here I have added a 0.02 glow to the white wall behind me. The effect is that there seems to be a light shining through and the av’s edges get smoothed a wee bit.

C is how I take 99, 9% of my pics. So, yeah, that’s my secret. No editing, but making use of the in world tools that every resident has (provided they have a decent computer and can run more than basic shaders).  It’s not my intention to make my readers feel cheated, ever. But I don’t think using in world tools for photography  can ever be considered cheating. However. In the rare occasion that I will use an edited image, from now on, I will mention it.

[UPDATE 100531]  since many have let me know how much they appreciate these little tricks, I figured, I’d add a little bit more about the technicalities of  taking photo’s in world. Tips:

1. Make sure that taking high resolution photos is enabled (open advanced menu -ctrl+alt+D- and check high res photos);
2. Antialiasing is set on 8x (open preferences>graphics>hardware and set to 8x. I find 16x not working better for me, but maybe that depends on the system you have running, so play a little with that). Antialiasing wil make the image look smoother;
3. Take your photos as a bitmap (JPEG and PNG will lessen the quality in my opinion)
4. Take your photos as big as your system will support. For me, it’s ” safe” to take photos at 4000 x 4000. Anything higher will likely crash me in the process. This will leave you enough possibilities for cropping your image, and make it smaller so the image will look sharper.

<3

Whippet & Buck Bonita Eyelet Dress, originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz.

It is no secret that I am a hard core fan of the work of Twiggy Whippet and Dakota Buck.  Kota is a long term friend of mine and I have been following her designs from the beginning ( I actually still have my Savvy? collection neatly tucked away in my inventory, and if it weren’t so mean to use items that are no longer available on the grid, I would use them in my outfits as well, because the designs still rock) and since Twiggy joined Kota in their current bran Whippet & Buck, the quality of said designs have only improved. The ladies have found their own, unique, style of laid back casual fashion, with amazing textures and a great fit of prim parts.

This is also the case with their latest release, the Bonita eyelet dress and blouse. Available in 6 beautiful pastels (wearing ivory here) , the dress is girly and always a good pick. Available as a separate is the blouse, also in 6 colours, but with a neatly finished hem so that it looks great on a pair of slacks as well.

The jewelry is also from Whippet & Buck. the pearls are small and the broad necklace has a really good fit.

Other than Whippet & Buck, I am wearing the latest work in progress from Hart Larsson @ PXL Creations and my favorite Clawtooth hairdo, True Betty in classic brunette.

SLurls can be found here.

Mercy!, originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz. Image edited in photoshop

RAWR!!!!!! Have Mercy indeed.. these are the new heels from Nut Barak, owner of Orange Creations. The previous heels were great already and these are better yet! On Mercy, Nut has enhanced the foot texture, adding a bit of a sheen, which makes the match with most skins better and there is an updated skin preset notecard available as well. These heels come in 14 colors and oh well, what can I say… I’m having a really great shoe weekend!

Look of the Day, May 29, 2010, originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz.

I was checking out Lelutka’s new collection today, and therefore this style du jour is mainly about them. I’m wearing the lovely Ornella pants in “perky” with the Nouvelle Top in electric blueberry. Also from Lelutka are my saffron pumps in neutral navy and my skin Lola (light make up 5 and lipstick orange -only for SL2.0-)

The other items I’m wearing are Lamb’s new hair Lost (butterfinger) and Desire, the cropped,all prim sweater from Sweetest Goodbye in khaki as well as alaMood’s Siddean cuff turquoise (shape Lola by /GEEZ/).

SLurls, as usual, are listed here

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Rosamund, originally uploaded by Grazia Horwitz.

Adam ‘n Eve has been closed for a couple of days to give Sachi and Damen the chance to put the new build in place and set the new shop up. They are back now, and there is lots of new stuff as well. Diferent look, same trusted quality!

Among the new things is Rosamund, shown in red and black here. Rosamund comes with a big skirt and a sleek skirt option, a veil, stockings  and the possibility to wear the bodice as a teddy!

Other need to knows: Skin Jade by Tuli, hair Amelia in Jaded blond by fri.day, shape Grace by /GEEZ/ ( I promise, I’ll be back in my own shape soon, but I’m a bit in love with the Grace shape myself right now)

Aren’t these  just gorgeous? The Ginger Boots are new at Shiny Things. Flat, short boots in 5 different, natural colors. In the pics below I’m wearing “oil”, “cinnamon”and “toast”.

other need to knows: Skin by Atomic, shape by /GEEZ/,  hair by Lamb, shirt by Michami and skirt by Leezu

So, I think this week’s 50 L$ Friday is going to be a series of must haves again. Yesterday I showed you Casa del Shai’s contribution already, and today I am wearing 5th  & Oxford‘s Seaside Sweetie, which is a preview of their upcoming release in an exclusive 50 L$ Friday colour (will not be part of the release). Roslin has really nailed the butt shading on these high waist shorts, and to make a stripe pattern look this good on the SL avatar mesh, is a pain in the butt and also the other contributions I have seen so far from Artilleri and Arcade tell me that it’s worthwile braving the lag this week!

On a whole different subject, Luth Brodie from Reel Expressions has released new poses again. It’s been quiet for a while at Luth’s, but the last few weeks, she’s on a roll again. I couldn’t resist the new stool poses with prop. Hers remain some of the best poses in SL, though it really irks me that for some poses, my legs seem to be not long enough, while for others in the same set they are. I’ve picked only poses which are really good for me for this pic though .

Enjoy, <3 Grazia

Other need to know: Hair by Clawtooth, skin by Fashionably Dead, tote by BOOM, glasses by GOS  and shoes by Maitreya.

SLurls are listed here

Well, maybe I should have given this entry the title Look of Tomorrow, since this gorgeous maxi dress will be a 50 L$ Friday item from Casa del Shai and also the skin, Dael, from Exodi (Nuit, 7 dk) is not yet released (ETA June 1), but yeah, it’s a preview and I am wearing it, so it’s my LOTD. Scheduled for release later today are the every day bangles and earrings from alaMood (scripted for metal change).

Immediately available are Thruth’s Eloise in Espresso and Pixel Mode’s Baby T’s in lime.

Slurls are listed here.

Tomorrow, Tuli Asturias will launch her new skin, Jade.  Jade will be available in 5 skintones and 10 make ups each. You are already used to Tuli making her skins available in 3 eyebrow options, but now she has also 3 cleavages for you to chose from (small chest, medium chest and push up) I love this as I keep my boob sliders way down, and it can look a bit weird sometimes with busty shaded skins, so I’m all for the small chest option!

Visit Tuli

Other need to knows: Hair Valerie by Truth, swim wear by Nyte ‘n Day