SL Vogue! How Do You Do Fashion Photography?

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 hour ago, Laurel Aurelia said:

The last time I went in, BD automatically noped out  (crashed) so I need to do a little research on what is going on there and familiarize myself with the controls. It honestly feels like going from a point and click camera to an actual SLR  . Tons of new shiny buttons , but lots of opportunities to turn something on/off that will either wreck or make an amazing photo.Thankfully all fixable things I just need to take the time to educate myself . Have there been any guides you found especially helpful when taking your BD pics?

This thread, although a bit old now and probably somewhat out-of-date, has links to others, lots of good advice, and some contributions from Niran, who is the maker of Black Dragon.
 

 

[NiranV Dean]

18 hours ago, Laurel Aurelia said:

The last time I went in, BD automatically noped out  (crashed) so I need to do a little research on what is going on there and familiarize myself with the controls. It honestly feels like going from a point and click camera to an actual SLR  . Tons of new shiny buttons , but lots of opportunities to turn something on/off that will either wreck or make an amazing photo.Thankfully all fixable things I just need to take the time to educate myself . Have there been any guides you found especially helpful when taking your BD pics?

When did it nope out exactly? What did you do when it crashed or right before it did? And most important question, did you use *Cthulhu speaking* P̷̤̯͖͍͕̥͇̌̈́̍̒̏͂̄̚͠į̸̛̳̣̖͚̭̖̣̜̻͌̈͑̏̃̐͝ĕ̶̝͆́̾̓͊̈́̓̓͠ ̸͍̮̟̳̲̩̞͂̌͝M̴̡̠͔̟̼̻̖̟͋͂͊̇̾͊̌̐ͅe̸̞̱͊͗͛̽͜n̵̡̤̳͕̬͚̦͋́̊ũ̴̟͆s̶̫̱̭̝̗̊͋͛̔͊͘͠?

[Laurel Aurelia]

I logged on this morning to take look before I went to work, and it seems to be working very smooth now. This happened a few weeks ago so it literally could have been anything, but I suspect some sort of id-10t error (missed a finger gunz or a fist explosion at the secret handshake when logging in) . No pie menus that I remember. On that day, I got it to log on for a second- just long enough to half load my surroundings, and  Black Dragon scoffed at me "How dare you!" and quit straight away. If I ever have it happens again, and I can't figure out why, I'll post about it .

I had forgotten how pretty everything looks in there. I was making circles around my avatar watching how the light hit when my home region decided to restart, and I figured I better go to work. Tonight, I  will attempt a picture of my alien look I created for a party today in Black Dragon, and I will report back.

 

[Bagnu]

Could someone please help with me Black Dragon? When i opened it I couldn't find the basic controls for movement or camera, or even chat. I'm dying to see what I can with it image wise!!!

As I sheepishly ask myself why I haven't brought this up with Scylla yet....

Edited October 2, 2020 by Bagnu

[Rowan Amore]

1 hour ago, Bagnu said:

Could someone please help with me Black Dragon? When i opened it I couldn't find the basic controls for movement or camera, or even chat. I'm dying to see what I can with it image wise!!!

As I sheepishly ask myself why I haven't brought this up with Scylla yet....

https://niranv-sl.blogspot.com/p/introduction-manuals-and-other-stuff.html

[Bagnu]

4 minutes ago, RowanMinx said:

https://niranv-sl.blogspot.com/p/introduction-manuals-and-other-stuff.html

Brings me back to old days. It involves a bit of "unlearning" though. I'll have to spend a bit of time with BD to become comfortable with it..

[Eva Knoller]

On 10/1/2020 at 10:40 AM, Laurel Aurelia said:

One thing I detest about blogging an outfit is writing out credits because it is often very tedious work, and if I try to add some html , Flickr seems to HATE it. So even if I write it in notepad and paste it, I ultimately have to spend some time fixing it in that weird little window.

If you don’t already have it, I highly recommend the What Is She Wearing HUD. Free on MP! I scan myself and copy/paste for my credits. Little to no typing involved! I don’t include links on Flickr because I have a basic acct.

I look forward to seeing your BD pics!! I bet once you get the hang of it you’ll love it. It takes amazing pictures. The BD Discord server is helpful for pic settings, and I’d also be happy to share some settings if you’re interested.

 

 

 

[Rowan Amore]

15 minutes ago, Eva Knoller said:

If you don’t already have it, I highly recommend the What Is She Wearing HUD. Free on MP! I scan myself and copy/paste for my credits. Little to no typing involved! I don’t include links on Flickr because I have a basic acct.

I look forward to seeing your BD pics!! I bet once you get the hang of it you’ll love it. It takes amazing pictures. The BD Discord server is helpful for pic settings, and I’d also be happy to share some settings if you’re interested.

 

 

 

They also have a HUD at Black Nest (I think, I'll double check when I log in) for bloggers.

[Bagnu]

35 minutes ago, Eva Knoller said:

If you don’t already have it, I highly recommend the What Is She Wearing HUD. Free on MP! I scan myself and copy/paste for my credits. Little to no typing involved! I don’t include links on Flickr because I have a basic acct.

I look forward to seeing your BD pics!! I bet once you get the hang of it you’ll love it. It takes amazing pictures. The BD Discord server is helpful for pic settings, and I’d also be happy to share some settings if you’re interested.

 

 

 

OMG Thank you!!!

[Scylla Rhiadra]

4 hours ago, Bagnu said:

As I sheepishly ask myself why I haven't brought this up with Scylla yet....

I can maybe help a bit, Pearl, but it's been a while since I set mine up, so I'm not sure I remember offhand how to customize the interface. But I'll take a look when I get in next. One thing you can do, for certain, is fix the keybinding so it's what you're used to.

You should ask Eva for her settings. They're good.

[Rowan Amore]

3 minutes ago, Bagnu said:

OMG Thank you!!!

That one is nice too since you can check to see what other people are wearing since some people get upset when you ask.  I never understood that but with that What's she wearing hud, you get all the info.

[Bagnu]

11 minutes ago, RowanMinx said:

That one is nice too since you can check to see what other people are wearing since some people get upset when you ask.  I never understood that but with that What's she wearing hud, you get all the info.

Anyone can ask me what i'm wearing and I'll be happy to tell them. I don't get why some people would get upset.

[Rowan Amore]

1 minute ago, Bagnu said:

Anyone can ask me what i'm wearing and I'll be happy to tell them. I don't get why some people would get upset.

I always tell people if they ask nicely.  I've had people message with, "Tell me where you got that...."  which is rather rude.

"Hey, I love that dress, hair, skin, whatever.  Do you mind if I ask where you got it?" Not rude and always answered usually with LMs if I have them.

[NiranV Dean]

4 hours ago, Bagnu said:

Could someone please help with me Black Dragon? When i opened it I couldn't find the basic controls for movement or camera, or even chat. I'm dying to see what I can with it image wise!!!

As I sheepishly ask myself why I haven't brought this up with Scylla yet....

All controls for movement and camera can be found (and customized) in Preferences - Keybindings.

You will notice that Turning and Moving are swapped by default. This is intentional but its there to change for anyone. Apart from those only the Jump and Stop Movement controls differs from other Viewers (it's default Space instead of E and Stop Movement has been moved to X since it was Space before)

[Laurel Aurelia]

@Eva Knoller I'd love to see your settings. I'm all about reverse engineering things to learn how they work. I do actually have that hud so I will try that next time too.

@RowanMinx It's a bummer that people don't like to share.  I probably over share. I get  excited when people ask and would practically handhold you to the store in question if allowed.

 

[Eva Knoller]

11 minutes ago, Laurel Aurelia said:

@Eva Knoller I'd love to see your settings. I'm all about reverse engineering things to learn how they work.

 

You got it! I’ll send to you when I’m home from work this evening.

[Laurel Aurelia]

I hit a few buttons in BD got this. I took this sideways and flipped it. I cropped it a bit but otherwise untouched in the editor. 

[NiranV Dean]

7 hours ago, Laurel Aurelia said:

I hit a few buttons in BD got this. I took this sideways and flipped it. I cropped it a bit but otherwise untouched in the editor. 

How i imagine my users:

*pops out pictures like crazy*

[Bagnu]

8 hours ago, NiranV Dean said:

How i imagine my users:

*pops out pictures like crazy*

I can be like that, but somehow my random strikes become a pattern of what works lol!!!

[NiranV Dean]

On 10/3/2020 at 6:12 PM, Bagnu said:

I can be like that, but somehow my random strikes become a pattern of what works lol!!!

Carefully planned randomness.

[Bagnu]

27 minutes ago, NiranV Dean said:

Carefully planned randomness.

Subconsciously perhaps lol!!!

[Scylla Rhiadra]

Soigné

I thought I'd try something a bit more conventional for this one -- an actual location (which is actually my bar, La Dolce Vita) rather than a simpler backdrop. I think the contrasting light of foreground and background, as well as the use of a bit of depth of field, ensures that the outfit itself is front and centre, while at the same time communicating something about the imagined cultural milieu that it occupies.

it's also, perhaps, not always a bad thing to see an outfit "out in the wild," where it might actually be worn.

Valentina E. -- Modern Love Gown (Fawn)
.:Ryvolter:. -- Black Monster Rabbit Coat
Kibitz -- Nebula Choker
Zibska -- Liqui Blush 01
Velour -- Selena Eyeshadows #5
[MJN] -- Essentials (G3) (Lipstick)
Carol G. -- Breast Black Rose

[manoji Yachvili]

15 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Soigné

I thought I'd try something a bit more conventional for this one -- an actual location (which is actually my bar, La Dolce Vita) rather than a simpler backdrop. I think the contrasting light of foreground and background, as well as the use of a bit of depth of field, ensures that the outfit itself is front and centre, while at the same time communicating something about the imagined cultural milieu that it occupies.

it's also, perhaps, not always a bad thing to see an outfit "out in the wild," where it might actually be worn.

Valentina E. -- Modern Love Gown (Fawn)
.:Ryvolter:. -- Black Monster Rabbit Coat
Kibitz -- Nebula Choker
Zibska -- Liqui Blush 01
Velour -- Selena Eyeshadows #5
[MJN] -- Essentials (G3) (Lipstick)
Carol G. -- Breast Black Rose

what I love more of your photos is that each time they have an emotional mood.

I'm waiting to fix the problem with my mac for take some shot too, this is an interesting post for people like me that loves either fashion and photos

[Scylla Rhiadra]

3 hours ago, manoji Yachvili said:

what I love more of your photos is that each time they have an emotional mood.

I'm waiting to fix the problem with my mac for take some shot too, this is an interesting post for people like me that loves either fashion and photos

Thank you so much, Manoji! I do try to highlight the "human" behind the avatar, sometimes even successfully! And I've never liked fashion shots in which the model is little more than a passive manikin over which to drape clothing.

You definitely need to fix your computer. Your photos are wonderful, and your sense of style is, quite literally, a touchstone for me: I pay attention to it, and have learned from it! So, HURRY!

[Laurel Aurelia]

@NiranV Dean That is exactly how my creative process works, and how I learn anything in general. I wish it could be less chaotic so that when people ask me what I did, I could do more than blow glitter in their face and whisper "magic". I understand some general concepts of how photography works, but I am always reading and learning. I am actually okay with an image not being super perfect as long as what ever effect I am going for is a style choice and not because  I don't know how to fix it.

I tried Eva's settings and they were beautiful, but my machine is on the older side with an integrated card (I think) that I know needs upgrading.  I set things back to default, and I got shadows to still look pretty nice in BD with a decent frame rate. I still think I can push things to improve image quality in a lot of areas even with my limited hardware. I just got to get in there and tinker.