The hardest things are always said last… ( going on hiatus ).

As I push the 100 and something blog post threshold I feel myself losing interest. Perhaps it has a little to do with how hectic/busy my rl has gotten since this semester’s began. Like for example, I took pictures last week and I am not entirely satisfied with them but, I figured to achieve the ‘looks’ I want, I’d need to dedicate more time to the process… more time, which, I certainly don’t have.

So, what’s the basis of all this? Is it a subtle hint into the near future? Maybe… because, as it is this year will be an eventful one. I am graduating in the summer and making plans for grad school or pursuing a second degree. I’ll be leaning towards the latter but, I am certain my performance by the end of this semester will be the defining factor all around.

Oh, and not to mention, I’ll be moving in less than a month. Now, not to put my entire reallife out there because, I’ve always strived to maintain a certain amount of anonymity but, I think it is important everyone who cares understands the reasons behind my prolonged absences hence! the explanation…out of respect mostly… Because, I just think it’s rude to disappear without a word and not to the mention, the speculations that might arise as some people have no problem blatantly impersonating others ( e.g the never ending copybot crisis and the things in between) ~ of course, that’s another story for another blog post.

Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed my short ado about absences!. When I am officially back, you’ll be the first to know!

and as always,
xoxo
~Mia

Video :: Heartbreak warfare by John Mayer
“Lightning strikes
Inside my chest to keep me up at night
Dream of ways
To make you understand my pain

Clouds of sulfur in the air
Bombs are falling everywhere
It’s heartbreak warfare
Once you want it to begin,
No one really ever wins
In heartbreak warfare

If you want more love,
why don’t you say so?”

Let’s get it over and just get naked!.

I appreciate unique skins, the beautiful ones, the creepy, interesting, hand drawn and so on. Fact is, trying on skins and making shapes for that particular skin is fun!.I may not change skins often since there is something familiar about wearing the same skin everyday ( that of course is until i get tired of it ).

Anyway, so most of you have probably heard of the skin line Esuga by Eilfie Sugarplum. I discovered her flickr stream last year (2010) and was intrigued by her unique skins. At the time they were in early stages and she was still doing a lot of tweaking.

Long synopsis short she released another skin recently, named DASH inspired by the gorgeous actress Stacy Dash. I took one look at those lips and RAN over to her store to pick them up. I can positively say I love this skin!. The lips are just completely adorable and the entire skin appears to be seamless. I do however wish the bottom eyeliner was on the eyeline and not outside of because, it made adjusting the eyes a bit of a challenge.

Anyway, because I liked this skin so much I went ahead and created a shape for it!. I have set the shape out at Jumphearts ( the blog shop ).

Hope you like it!
xoxo
Mia

What I am wearing;
Skin :: DASH by Eilfie Sugarplum
Shape & style credits :: 002 by Jumphearts ( Blog shop )

Video :: Spaceship by Puddle of Mudd

“So let’s get it over and just get naked
With sweat dripping down your little back
I’m a Holy roller and I own the spaceship
So let me take you for a little ride”

I let my heart go.

Windlight settings :: [TOR] SUNSET – silhouette by Torley Linden
Location :: City of Einar

Hey! So, I was away for a few days on vacation, I don’t know if I should even call it a “vacation” since that term should be defined as a period of recreation. Without going into much detail let’s just say going on “vacation” with family to visit family is like deliberately committing one’s self to an asylum with a window view of a lighthouse. Sound exciting? Yeah, I know.

Anyway, there is however, always something exciting to come back to on the grid. I have on one of lelutka’s latest releases and I have to literally restrain myself from gushing all over this outfit, I wish my pictures could have done it enough justice.

I have also been listening to paramore’s song, monster. After rewinding it a few times I began to wonder if the lyrics are referring to lady gaga? I really hope not, I love both parties and it will be hard to take sides.

Anyway, on to what I had on, enjoy,
xoxo,
Mia

What I am wearing;
Pose :: Sexy Pose 013 & Walking 003 by Apple Spice
Hair :: EDITORIAL01 in Marilyn by [LeLutka]
Scarves :: EDITORIAL scarves w/ belt by [LeLutka]
Bikini :: Micro Bikini Net version in White by Luck inc
Pasties :: Transparent Tape in Semi Sheer by .:A&M:. ( acid & Mala )
Shoes :: INNA in (White) V2 by [Diktator]

Video :: Monster by Paramore

” I’m only human
I’ve got a skeleton in me
But I’m not the villain
Despite what you’re always preaching
call me a traitor
I’m just collecting your victims
And they’re getting stronger”

Windlight settings are your friend!.

Windlight settings :: Elysiumeilde – Pinkpurplesunrise.

Camming your avatar and taking a snapshot is a piece of cake!. But manipulating your environment settings can make a significant improvement in the way your image turns out. Most of these tips or tricks are general knowledge ( at least I think they are ) but, I wanted to share them anyway because, I am hopeful they will be useful to someone out there who is interested in giving their snapshots an interesting edge. Playing with your settings is heavily recommended! Here are some examples of different windlight settings I have used in the past.

( I started sharing my windlight settings recently so if you click the image it will take you to my flickr page where you will find a direct link to the post and the windlight used. )

While I still have a lot to learn when it comes to taking snapshots, I thought I’d share with you guys a few helpful tips I’ve picked up along the way. First things first!. You wanna collect windlight settings and install them. I suggest looking through one of the following.

1. Visit Linden Lab’s wiki page . There you will find an extensive overview of windlight settings and how to install them. Be sure to watch Torley Linden’s wonderful tutorials to see some “ need to knows” about windlight settings.

2. Visit Strawberry Singh’s website for an excellent collection of windlight settings along with links to other websites and downloads from other residents.

After you have installed your windlight settings and you are ready to experiment a little further begin here;

Step One.

( ZOOM )

I am using Kristen’s viewer S21 Version 6 ( See here; Mac or PC or LINUX ). You can also use any other viewer!. You will need to be able to pull up the environment editor menu on your viewer. Try, World >> Environment >> Environment editor ( or see the screenshot! ). Here you can manipulate your windlight settings to achieve the most out of your them.

Step Two.

( ZOOM )

In this step you will need to select Advanced sky from your Environmentor Editor’s window. Another window will pop up as seen above. Here is where you get access to all the windlight settings you have installed so far. For this post I will be using Elysiumeilde – Pinkpurplesunrise. Sometimes depending on the time of the day or where you are taking your snapshots in world you may or may not get the full effect of your windlight choice. That is where the tweaking comes in!.

Step Three.

( ZOOM )

In this step you will need to select the “lighting” tab from your advanced sky editor. Sometimes even after selecting your perfect windlight setting the environment may appear either too dark or your avatar’s face may end up looking harsh due to the lighting. I have found that using the Scene Gamma slider tends to either lighten ( higher than 0 ) or darken (at 0 ) your surroundings. Sometimes when it appears brighter the harsh lines seem to either blend in or disappear slightly.

Step Four.

( ZOOM )

This step is just a brief demonstration of what Scene Gamma can do. As you see, the image appears slightly clearer and brighter. Here is a little excerpt from Secondlife’s Wiki page giving you a brief description of what Scene Gamma really is/ does;

” This control functions similarly to the Gamma setting in the Graphics Hardware Settings (formerly Adv. Graphics) tab. It adjusts your screen’s distribution of light and dark output. Lower settings will cause everything to appear dim, while higher settings may make the scene look gray and “washed out”. Scene Gamma is more precise than the older Gamma in that it only affects your rendered view of the SL world- not the menus and rest of your computer’s screen.”

So, playing with your gamma is highly encouraged!!

Step five.

( ZOOM )

In this final step you can edit your SunMoon Position as well as the East Angle without actually “walking around to find good light or the sun“. Make the sun come to you! If only that were possible in realife. In this shot I had shadows enabled hence the shaded look. So viola! all in a days work! and no Photoshop needed except of course if you will be adding on text and cropping your images. That of course, is another entirely different tutorial.

Thank you so much for reading and following along. If you would like to know what I had on in this post, see my previous post here.

xoxo,
Mia

P.s :: Feel free to play around with your DOF at the sametime too. You never know what yummy goodness you’ll come up with in the end. Good luck! and have fun as always.