Friends Don’t Let Friends Shoot In Low Res.

If you’re a fellow blogger, SL photography enthusiast, or you just like clicking buttons and having pictures of your avatar, this may be a familiar, fateful fable. Maybe it happened like this…

*cue Scooby Doo doodle-ooh doodle-ooh doodle-ooh sounds and the wavy yet groovy screen*

You found the outfit. You matched the clothes, the hair…and of course, the shooz. Don’t forget the accessories. You have your smexy self and/or photogenic friend poised and posed with you. The camera’s ready. You take your shots. Hell, if it was anything like you see on TV, you’d be bustin a move irl with an expensive camera and looking ridiculously cool while doing it. You check your pictures on the hard drive. They’re made of awesome. That’s a wrap.

And then…

*cue more Scooby Doo music*

You take a break. Maybe grab a beer, an Evian, a diet soda. Snag a munchie. You come back to your ‘puter and you click open Photoshop. You’re in the zone. You’re ready to rock with your awesome pictures. You open the first one, and…

*cue the movie “Psycho” and the REE REE REE! music!*

IT’S PIXEL MAYHEM! Pixels are hither and thither, and your masterpieces are reduced to original Nintendo Mario Bros. quality. You realize, all of the sudden…

You forgot to click “Ultra” in your Graphics Preferences before you took your pics.

*headdesks*

And then, if you’re really like me, you convince yourself that it would be madness to simply retake the shots. Oh no. You’re going to be the next “Photoshop Picasso” and “fight the man” and “fix” these pictures, dammit! You get back in the zone. You smooth every little pixely edge and liquify the Hades out of almost every body part. You lean back with triumph when you hit save and upload to Flickr. Then…you look at the clock. And you realize you could have retaken about 20 beautiful, “Ultra” graphics enabled shots in the amount of time it took you to fix just this one and it would have looked 10 times better than what you were able to produce.

Now, you may be wondering by now…Adaire, why the heck are you going on and on about this? You probably wasted even more time crying about your original Nintendo-quality shots instead of just retaking them.

Yep. I sure have.

But here you have it anyway, and no extra charge for the pixel tragedy when I say that Sn@tch has got an awesome freebie out this week. It’s called “Backstage,” and the pants in particular are to die for. It’s among the regular vendors in the brand new Sn@tch City shop. Be sure to grab it soon, as I think it’s going to poof around Thursday-ish.

Annnnd…if you dig the fortune teller thing, you can score this outfit on the free too, called “Half Dressed.” The skirt is color and texture-change with a click, making it uber versatile.

Ooh! And there is a “Condom Quest” event in the Sn@tch sims that starts this Friday, April 17th and goes through the weekend. It’s apparently in honor of “STD Awareness Month,” so I’m sure all kinds of “love” will be spreading. Stay tuned for details. (But not gory details. I’m a mostly decent person. Mostly.)

And…while not free, all the hairstyles you saw above are a part of the Philotic Energy sale going on now. All styles (‘cept for the latest release) are between 25%-50% off, like the “Teagan” I’m wearing in the first pic and the gloriously sapphire “Dakota” in the second one. (Gecko has on Kannon and Kam, also on sale!) If you wanted to score some seriously amazing hair on the cheap, head on over before the sale is over!

And…if you put Philotic Energy in your profile pics, you can get “Shelly” in Mochachino for free!

So remember kids…friends don’t let friends take photos in SL in low res. Or, they’ll end up like me, hunched over a keyboard, nose an inch from the screen, yelling at Photoshop like it is a sentient being and it is somehow completely responsible for all of your life’s troubles.

Style Notes of the Free and Not-So-Free:
Picture 1 ~
April Skin (Freckles): Atomic Kitty (Group Gift – $250 to join, beautifully blogged by the Creamster here)
Teagan Hair (Charcoal): Philotic Energy (25% off!)
Starlight Tattoo: Sn@tch ($200L)
Smash Kicks Shooz (Black Canvas w/Scripted Texture Change Laces): Sn@tch ($250L)

Picture 2 ~
Daktota Hair (Sapphire): Philotic Energy (25% off!)
Misfit Platform Boots (Black): Sn@tch ($275L)
Modeling 15 Couples Pose: SEmotion ($210L)

Picture 3 ~
Shelly Hair (Mochachino): Philotic Energy (Picks Reward)
Butterfly Attack Tee: Kunstkammer (Albero Hunt Freebie)
Nana Choker: Ultra Kitty (Bunny Hop Hunt Freebie #76)
Rust Bracelet: Kosh (Bunny Hop Freebie #281)
Street Meat Jeans (Black): Sn@tch ($250L for 6 color fatpack)

Ssshhh, spot the green!!

As I’ve mentioned before on the blog, if you’re a hard core RP type, finding “your look” can be terribly hard on a budget. Recently there have been some incredible packs floating round the grid, covering all sorts of looks/avatars. So today it’s the turn of the vampire. Fitting as one of the terribly good looking undead has joined our ranks 😛

Lunas Boutique is a store I’ve blogged a few times, discovered through Fashcon around the New year. Do a search for the LL group, there are some super cool gifts in the archives. Including a pose hud stuffed full of poses, total must have. But these outfits are what I’m stoked about, a gift from Candy Shop (in the Lunas Boutique group archives). They are complete vampire avs, including skins (not shown) shapes, teeth, emote hud and all the clothes shown. So many options and stunning pieces, to say I’m blown away is an understatement! Skins! The skins worn with the red outfit are from the Imagen hunt. You’re looking for 20 teeny shamrocks, and you’ll get 19 skins and some eyes. If anyone needs a hand, drop me a line inworld and I’ll be happy to help. None are hidden in walls or anything like that, lets just say that sometimes the most obvious hiding places are the hardest to find 😛 The skin worn with the black outfit is a gorgeous dollarbie from Domestic V. There’s a huge sale going on also, and loads of freebs on the ground floor (you’ll find the skin shown upstairs).

I had to sneak a wee bit of green in here!! This beauty is a group gift from Fairytails. You’ll need your group tag activated, then snag this for an L. The skin I’m wearing here, and for the rest of the post are part of the Rockberry gift for the most random hunt ever. I love love love them!

I saw a small post about this store on the Freebie Telegraph, and had to go have a nose for myself. Nah! is a new to me store, and all these outfits are free from there, unbelievable! The brown dress also comes with super cute cowboy boots, not sure if you can see them too well. I can’t wait till the store is fully stocked so I can go spend, as at the moment, everything is free. Now I’m off to try and give mini Ash a bath, hard at the best of times, but the little princess is sick, so I anticipate much sadness! Ash Out.

Non Free Awesomeness
Hair
Gritty Kitty
ETD (still closed?)
Dejavu (some avail to buy, 2 are old group gifts)

Hoofies
Lazy Places

Ballet Boots
DXD

Brain Freeze

Ya know how your head goes when you eat ice cream too fast? That’s how my head feels after seeing all the amazing clothes on sale at Brain Restriction for 5L. Yup 5 lindens per outfit.

I got Q there quicker than she could say “sold”!

You’ll find everything from outfits, dresses, accessories and shoes, all for 5L, as well as the usual freebies which I’ve blogged before.

I don’t know how long the sale is going on for, so best to get there um..NOW!! Don’t feel much like talking so…..Ash out.

Other Shit
Hair (not free)
Boon

Jeans (old gift)
Girls Style

Finger Tape (not free)
Sinistyle

Shoes (not free)
Unique Needs