April may bring showers…

There has been numerous blog posts about etiquette. Especially blogging etiquette.

Don’t do this. Don’t do that. How should you present this? How do you do that? What is the right way? Who says this is wrong? WHO – in turn – makes these decisions on what is best for the “whole” in regards to blogging within Second Life? (I say this toward those who blog Fashion.) While compiling posts and such for [SL] Blogger Support, I came across many forms of what to do and what not to do. Neither one post was perfect, nor was it imperfect. Most said the same thing, while some regarded different ideas.

So what I wanted to do was this: Compile everything that WE KNOW on Blogging Etiquette. If you think about it, we are the ones that do the blogging – and that means EVERYONE. We all have ideas, and thoughts in how things should be done. We all do things in our own ways. Yet, when there is someone new to Second Life Blogging, we’d like for them to know the ins and outs, right? I know I had not a clue on how to do a thing when I first started, so I had to stumble and fumble my way through a lot of things. I forgot to credit items, or give SLURLS. I almost did put music on my blog, but decided against it!

So how are we going to do this? Well, you know I love Google Documents so I made it very easy! Click HERE and you’ll be taking to a form to fill out. Give us five things you THINK are things that we should as bloggers know to do, or learn to do. We’ll collect the data until April 15th, in which then we’ll compile the Top 25 Blogging Tips to make Second Life Blogging a breeze! Enjoy!

Photography 101: Crop Shop

One simple, easy way to take better pictures without buying a new computer to up your graphics, or spend time learning the ins and outs of Photoshop, is to learn how to crop things in a more visually pleasing way.

In all these examples, A is the more aesthetically pleasing way, while B shows the difference when the guideline isn’t exactly followed.

Rule of Thirds:

Chances are, you subscribe to the rule of thirds without even knowing it. The rule of thirds basically suggests that, while imagining your image divided into 9 equal portions, it will be more powerful and dynamic when key points of the composition are placed along these lines and intersections.

To create 9 equal squares, simply hit ctrl-shift-R on your keyboard while in Photoshop. This will cause a ruler to appear, and now all you have to do is divide the numbers into equal parts.

Lead Room:

Everyone loves those looking-into-the-distance pictures, but it helps if you actually have distance to look longingly into. Lead room is the space in front, and in the direction, of moving or stationary subjects

This is used because if extra space is allowed in front of the subject, the viewer can see that it has someplace to go; without this visual padding, the subject’s forward progress will seem impeded

Body Cropping:

While this won’t be found online anywhere, it’s something I learned as I worked as a photographer. In layman’s terms, cropping off a hand is like cutting it off.

When cropping around a body, never, ever crop through a joint, especially hands and feet. Instead, select a segment in between two joints, like a thigh, calf, or forearm.

While these guidelines are not rules, they do make your photography look clean and polished. Just remember that you can’t covered up poor composition with any amount of post editing!

Neva River Sim Photography Challenge

Neva Crystall and Alex Bader are hosting a wonderful Photography Challenge! If you love to take landscape photos in Second Life and enjoy playing with windlighting and angles, I highly suggest checking this challenge out. Neva has opened her sim up to the public again for the next two weeks, so the time is short! Good luck to you all!

Information about the challenge can be found on Neva’s blog
To join the Flickr Group:HERE
To check out the sim: Neva’s Sim