The Last Week

Well, this is the last week of our online Photography class in the virtual world of Second Life. It has been quite a trip...an enjoyable one, at that.

Last week we finished our group work on the news article. It was interesting to see how other group members worked. Our team leader Stiletto was an excellent leader and was able to help keep us straight on what we were to do for our assignment. We submitted things for each other to critique and then we posted our final photograph and inside magazine cover for her to submit for our group. She had everything turned in right after class on Monday, so we all got credit for the assignment. Our group really did appreciate all of her effort as our fearless leader.

Last Monday we went to Cae's Swept Away Studio after class and enjoyed seeing her wonderful photography in Real Life and in Second Life. She also has two other floors which display the photography of others in Second Life. Then on the third floor there was a surprise birthday party for our teacher. Cae had a big birthday cake and played "Happy Birthday" for the occasion.

This week we are to pick out six of our photographs that have been submitted over the summer sememster. Last night after class I was able to choose the six photographs to submit. Then this evening I was able to take them into Photoshop to resize them and put them on a blackground that was 512 pixels. After putting the photograph onto the background, there was room to put the title of the picture and our name.

I was able to do that and to save the photographs as Jpegs and as Targa files. It seems that Second Life prefers Targa files, according to some professional photographers that I have met in Second Life. That was easy enough.

Then my character Texanna went into the Sandbox at the T.S.T.C. classroom area and created some canvasses. She learned that is is important to have the desired canvas size before putting on the texture (photograph that was uploaded to Second Life). So I had to delete the first ones and then make one that was sized as large as I wanted it. Then I made copies by holding down the Shift key and dragging another one to another place. I went ahead and made seven copies and saved the original as a blank canvas. Then I put the Photograph "textures" on each one. I put them along the back wall of the Sandbox and added a plaque with "Texanna Schumann" above the group. It feels good to get that much done.

Oh, I just remembered that I need to go back and edit my Photograph objects to "full bright" because the lighting in Second Life is not all that great for photography unless there is extra light on the subject. Our teacher arranged lights to shine on our photographs in our Student Galleries on the Brown Classroom and in the Commons area of T.S.T.C. The lighting was really nice there in the galleries.

Oh, and by the way, our teacher said that he would give each student L$70 to upload photographs, because it costs L$10 for each one...(that is $10 Linden Dollars).

Next Monday we are to gather around the photography that will be displayed in the Sandbox area near our class. I suppose we will critique on the spot, and that will be nice.

Well, coming to the end of the semester is bitter-sweet to Texanna. There have been some wonderful learning experiences inside and outside of class. There were many learning challenges, most of which were very enjoyable. We have enjoyed visitors who have stopped by our class, and feel that we have been enriched by the whole experience of our virtual class in Second Life.

Snapz Photo Studio Camera

Just this week I was revisiting the Snapz Photo Studio on the T.S.T.C. Commons area and noticed some things I had not seen before. For several weeks I had tried taking pictures with the backdrops and so many times I was wanting to move the camera to the right or left, or up and down slightly.

Well, this last time I visited the Snapz Studio I found that the camera was not just for looks, but that it actually had a menu for taking various camera shots.

[10:13] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Say '/7 procamon' to start using the camera.
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Pro Cam is now on.
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Up arrow: Moves the camera forward
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Down arrow: Moves the camera backward
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Left arrow: Rotates the camera to the left
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Right arrow: Rotates the camera to the right
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Shift+Left arrow): Moves the camera left
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Shift+Right arrow):Moves the camera right
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Page Up: Moves the camera upward
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Page Down: Moves the camera downward
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Pro Cam is now on.
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Up arrow: Moves the camera forward
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Down arrow: Moves the camera backward
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Left arrow: Rotates the camera to the left
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Right arrow: Rotates the camera to the right
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Shift+Left arrow): Moves the camera left
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Shift+Right arrow):Moves the camera right
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Page Up: Moves the camera upward
[10:14] N30 Public Camera Model N1A(b) whispers: Page Down: Moves the camera downward


So I found out that the camera does have a menu for moving to get better pictures. I am really glad to know about these features.

360 degree Surround Background

At last it seems that there may be an answer to the background problems for protrait photography in Second Life. It has been my experience that sometimes the background picture was just not large enough to get the angles that I was wanting. The pose stand quite often is set right in the middle of the background picture, so only close-up bust shots are just about the only choice. It is very hard to get the rule of thirds with the person standing over to one side. Sometimes the ceiling would show if the shot were taken from a low angle. Sometimes the pose stand showed up in full-length shots. I guess the owner of the pose stand could move it up or down, or from side to side, but casual users of a public studio may not have that capability.

Anyway, I was delighted to see a 360 degree surround backgound with even the ceiling and the floor covered. It is an experiment by TeeBee Paris and his friend, who put photographs on large prims and make them into an enclosed box with a clear floor. It was a wonderful experience to be virtually standing in Paris and other places such as a seashore. There was no pose stand in the way and the background was all the way around, so portrait photography could be a great possibility from any angle.

TeeBee and his friend are looking for ways to use this environment and seemed to be happy about the idea of photography being done there. Then the discussion was about permissions for designated ones to be able to use this setting.

I am hoping that this idea can be used for photography in Second Life. It seems almost like a green room that is used in Real Life when a scene can be shot and then another virtual background can be placed into the picture.

Note: There are a couple of pictures showing the 360 degree background with no pose stands.







Just a few days ago I met someone interested in photography.

Photojournalism Unit Continued

This is the second week that we are working on the Photojournalism unit. We have an Addedum to Unit 3. Each person in the group is to create three different cover designs using one of our own photos as the main graphic element. Then one design by each group member will be submitted with the final submissions.

The cover is to contain these elements:
1. Title (header)
2. The authors name (by-line)
3. a magazine name
4. either a sub-header or part of the article
5. and a photograph

We are to submit these for the discussion thread on Web CT. Each member of the group is to critique or make comments on each of the designs, incating which one is the most favorable and applicable for the assignment. The final selection is up to each student, who will refine the design based on feedback from group members.

The final submission will be done by the group leader and the elements required are as follows:
1. the article in Word format, which will iniclude the title, author at the top, and URL, and date retrieved at the end.
2. One finished photograph from each group member will be included. The photos will be in jpg format with a size of 800 X 600 or 600 X 800, or as close as possible.
3. A separate Word document with captions for each photo will be included. The caption is NOT to be added to the photo.
4. One finished magazine spread cover design from each group member will be submitted by the leader. The design should be in jpg format, highest quality with a size of 8" wide x 10' high (or in pixels 576 x 720) at 72 resolution.

All materials are to be zipped and submitted to Web CT for Unit 3.

Each team member will be given individual grades for Unit 3. It is important for the materials to be submitted on time.

Well, this afternoon I was working on my submission for the WebCt discussion. I resized the photographs and found captions based on the article. I decided to use a colored photograph instead of the black and white one for the Coke bottles, because the article refers to the carmel color of the drinks promoting resistance to insulin.

The title of our article is "No Calories, Same Taste (and heart risks)" and the sub-title is "Diet Soda linked to same health risks as sugary drinks in bubbly puzzle." It was on MSNBC News Services on 7-23-07.

I can see that this assignment could have some practical applicatons in the real world and in the Second Life magazine. I have really enjoyed going to lots of events in Second Life and it might be a good idea to try writing some articles with accompanying photographs to submit to the magazine. I also go to many events in the real world and from time I have submitted articles to the local news papers. They seem to be happy for local people to submit things. The pay is not all that great, but it is nice to have published articles with byline credits.