To the Noobs, to Make Much of Time

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today Tomorrow will be dying.

-- Robert Herrick, To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Relaxing on the deck of Ad Astra (my NY-30, designed by Jacqueline Trudeau) off the coast of Appleberry in the Fruit Islands.

This post is in response to +Strawberry Singh's latest blog challenge, Advice for Second Life Newbies. I admit to having fun with the Herrick poem, but the advice is still good.

-- Don't waste a minute of your time in Second Life. This world changes fast, so there is always something so much to see, so many people to meet and fun to have.

As I thought this over, I realized that a lot of real life advice applies to Second Life.

-- Follow your passion. Search out the things you love, you'll find them in SL, and you'll also find communities of people that share the same passions, whether that be sailing, flying, photography, fashion or... you name it.

But there is advice that only applies to SL.

-- Denoob yourself. There’s nothing wrong with being a noob, we all started out that way. But you don't have to stick with the basic avatar, especially when there are lots of businesses offering freebies for folks under 30 (days, that is), so you take advantage while you can.

Start by getting yourself an animation override. SEmotion and Amacci both offer nice ones. Then think about getting yourself dressed. Berry has a lot of great links on her SL newbie resource page, but I would also recommend checking out Fabfree’s 30 days list.

It's important to remember that there are very real people behind those avatars, but don't forget this is a virtual world.

-- You can't be hurt. If your parachute doesn't open when you are skydiving from 4000 metres, don't worry about it. Just dust yourself off and try again. Try lots of things, even if you are convinced you won't be any good at them - you might surprise yourself.

I don't know if my final word qualifies as advice or is just something to keep in mind.

-- SL is about community. This is shared experience on a big scale, but the virtual world is just a part of it. Dive in. SLifers are present in just about ever social every media you can name: Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, Flickr and countless blogs.

So join us. And welcome.

B&W Portrait Challenge

I've not blogged anything in a long, long while, but it wouldn't have been right for me not to get in on +Strawberry Singh's Black and White Portrait Challenge.Here's mine, but you can check out the other responses on her original blog post.

Challenge: Windlight

Ocho Tango: soft and hazy

So  +Strawberry Singh, the mistress of windlight settings, wants to know how the rest of us use windlight in our images in her latest Monday meme.

Do you use windlight while taking pictures? If not, why not? Sure. I experiment with them a lot as well as having all the bells and whistles turned on: advanced lighting, ambient occlusion and so on. Usually though, I leave local lights turned off – I want to be in complete control of the light.

When taking a closeup snapshot for a profile picture, which windlight preset do you use most often? I don't often do portraits. I think my profile pic is more than two years old (and really kind of sad - it was an experiment) I do shoot a lot of images of singers and performers, but then, I usually follow the same pattern as when I am doing landscapes - it's all about the mood.

Which windlight presets do you use for full body portraits? Pretty much the same answer as the last question.

If you do landscape photography, which windlights do you use for that most often? Ah, here we go! My final images are almost always in black and white, so there are a few things going on in my head when I am working. First is “what is this going to look like without colour? So I tend to favour windlights that don't have strong colours to begin with: It's gonna rain, Amsterdam, Dusty Bright. Mainly for me, controlling the light is all about setting mood, so I am most concerned with contrast, shadows, clouds and intensity of light. For that, there is no substitute for just playing, especially with the haze level.

Ocho Tango again, after the fog lifted

Do you have any tricks or tips that you could share for using Windlight effectively? Not really sure if this is a windlight tip, but one of the biggest pains for me is spending 10 minutes experimenting and getting my camera angle and windlight synced perfectly, only to move or hit escape and bounce back to default. Pick up a copy of HUD CAM or the pushpin hud to lock your view down.

Have you created any windlights that you would be willing to share with us? Unfortunately no. I experiment a lot and rarely use the same settings twice. I can share a bit of advice I learned through RL photography, though; try to previsualise how you want the final image to look. Not so much in detail, but in terms of how the light will convey the mood of the scene. Then work towards that image. Easy, right?

MY SL MOVIE POSTER

I haven't done one of Strawberry's Monday memes for a while. She has been picking out some tough ones... and I have never been any good at poetry, especially haiku.

But the SL Movie Poster challenge was right up my alley, especially since I just created a poster for myexhibition space at SL10B. So here it is... that film noir classic, "Journey of the Lonely Man."

Okay, yes, there is no such classic, but this is SL. I can imagine that I am living out a black and white art film if I like...

You can visit my site at SL10B at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL10B%20Dazzle/237/153/22

Answering Berry’s challenge

Are you looking for a way to put off doing something? Because Strawberry Singh has issued another challenge/meme.

Bear and Derry hanging out at Artropolis.

I am not usually much of a joiner, but this one comes on the heels of Berry’s Seven SL facts about me meme and she offers good reasons for starting it: she’s nosy and she is trying to get everyone to procrastinate like her.

And since I can’t resist the temptation to put off writing a story, well, let’s just say it’s all Berry’s fault I got no work done this morning. Copy the questions yourself, and put something important off.

What is the rez date for your current SL Avatar that you use most often?

Bear Silvershade — March 22, 2010?

Where was the first place you made friends as a newb and got to know people in Second Life?

That would have to be the Buddha Centre. I am a buddhist in RL, so I finally wandered in there to attend a ceremony after wandering around for a few days without talking a lot to people — Hey, I am shy. They were very welcoming people, and still are.

Where do you spend most of your SL time now?

I don’t think there is one particular location, since I spend most of my time sailing or exploring. Probably either my home in Fruit Islands or my studio/workshop at Artropolis.

Who is your closest friend in Second Life? (only pick one)

Oh, that’s not fair to just pick one - lots of good friends, but my partner, Derry McMahon, has to rate as closest.

What is the most favorite thing in your inventory? (only pick one)

That great black duster mesh coat I picked up from Deco.

The last thing you purchased in Second Life?

Rain. Aye, you read that right. The Best Rain. Cool stuff and very realistic.

What color clothing does your avatar wear most often?

Black. Grey.

Do you prefer to walk, run or fly?

I generally walk. Flying all the time seems unrealistic, though I prefer that to running when I am in a hurry.

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done in SL?

Does friending Crap Mariner count? Turns out that’s not so crazy, so I’m not really sure what counts as crazy in a virtual world - maybe the time I armed myself with a teddy bear shooter and joined the Tinys in a battle against the Orks?

Who would you like to play YOU, in the movie of your SLife?

Humphrey Bogart. Or perhaps Cary Grant. No, Bogart.

My Seven SL Facts Meme

Tromp

I liked +Strawberry Singh and +Laurence Simon's (Crap Mariner) Seven SL Facts so well that I decided to jump aboard the meme.

So I moored the Windshadow at Tromp and relaxed while I gave it some thought.

1) Bear is my RL nickname - at least it’s the only one I admit to. When I signed up for SL, I was surprised that I actually had to choose a name for my avatar. I would have used my RL name, except all the last names for Steve were used up.

2) I am perfectly capable of seeing colour, I just don’t want to. 

3) In SL, I have so many sailboats that I have been accused of trying to keep Jacqueline Trudeau in business single-handed. The only time I have ever sailed a boat in RL was when I was a boy scout.

4) I get nervous whenever my inventory exceeds 6,000 items. That’s not a typo: 6,000, not 60,000. 

5) Speaking of typos, I can’t type two words in local chat without making three typos. And yes, I write for a living in RL. I consider myself job security for proofreaders. 

6) My favourite colour is black. And it is so a colour.

7) I do not say “aboot.” The last letter of the alphabet is pronounced zed.