Take a Walk on the Wild Side

LionSkins and AMS PhotoStage have teamed up once more to offer a new Photo Contest! The theme: Take a Walk on the Wild Side

We’re looking for photos that convey something savage, mysterious, tantalizing, dangerous. Go beyond the ordinary to find camera angles, poses, and looks that dazzle, startle or mesmerize the eye. See if you can capture the wild, untamed beauty of LionSkins.

Photos must be taken using the PhotoStage studio. Your background must display one of the PhotoStage textures, not just plain colours. You can use the PhotoStage upstairs at the LionSkins Main Store. Or set up your own PhotoStage and go wild whenever the mood strikes ,-)

Prizes for the winning photo:

• 5000L cash
• AMS PhotoTools Pro (includes PhotoStage, PhotoLite and PhotoStand II)
• Photo featured in advertising material for LionSkins

*Note: if your photo wins, and you purchased PhotoStage or PhotoTools Pro during the period of the contest (15 August to 15 September), you will receive a full refund (and upgrade to PhotoTools Pro if applicable).

Details:

• Images should be seductive, enticing, mysterious, and tasteful. Nothing lewd or pornographic, please.
• Models must be wearing LionSkins.
• Photos must be taken using the AMS PhotoStage studio. Your background must display one of the textures that come preloaded with the PhotoStage (including 15 exclusive textures by LeeZu Baxter of LeeZu!).
• You may use the poses in the AMS PhotoStand II pose stand, or bring your own poses.
• Photos may be lightly photoshopped, but the original image should remain clearly recognizable. Heavily photoshopped images will be disqualified.
• Photos will be judged for effective use of poses, composition, colour, camera angle and lighting. The winning photo will capture the exceptional quality of LionSkins, as well as project a clear idea, mood or emotion about how one feels taking a walk on the wild side when wearing LionSkins.
• Completed photos should be submitted with full perms to Devine Hunt, LionSkins Assistant Manager. Please note that by submitting a photo to the contest, you give LionSkins and/or Ananke Media Systems full rights to use the photo for display and/or advertising purposes.

Contest closes on September 15th. All photos must be received by 11:59 pm SLT on September 15, 2009.

Judges:

• dancer dallagio - Manager / Customer Service Rep / PR / Legal / Marketing, Stiletto Moody Shoes
• Frolic Mills – CEO, BOSL & CO
• Barbara Nicholls – Chief Operating Officer, [LeeZu!]; Co-Owner & Manager, Spork; Store Manager, Courtisane Shoes and Boots
• Jackson Vantelli – CEO, Q Media

The latest update for PhotoLite, PhotoStage and PhotoTools Pro has just been released. The new version 1.1.5 includes the redesigned PhotoStand II.

PhotoStand II comes loaded with features that make it a breeze to find the perfect camera angle, including nifty spin controls that let you spin your model continuously in either direction, using three different speed settings. The newly added HUD makes controlling the PhotoStand II quick and easy.

Also included are a set of eight new poses designed exclusively for AMS by Helianthus Mesmer of :::sunflower poses::: 

 The new :::sunflower poses::: brilliantly complement the 52 poses from the earlier PhotoStand, including exclusive poses from Myllie Writer and Kali Mead.

Brimming with personality, the :::sunflower poses::: will be a welcome addition to any photographer’s pose library.

PhotoStand II comes packaged with the much praised PhotoStage, PhotoLite and PhotoTools Pro, or you can purchase it separately for 490L. If you already own PhotoStage, PhotoLite or PhotoTools Pro, just go to your Options menu and click Update (Main> Options> Update). The latest version will be sent to you within minutes.

For all the details on PhotoStand II, please visit the product homepage.

You can also try out a demo of the new PhotoStand II at any one of the AMS stores: the AMS Store in Lady Vale, the AMS PhotoStage Store at LeeZu! , or upstairs at LionSkins.

The image in the new AMS ad is exactly what was captured in Second Life using PhotoStage. Apart from cropping, the image has not been photoshopped in any way.

Find out why top Second Life designers LeeZu Baxter of LeeZu! and Lion Jonesford of LionSkins have adopted PhotoStage as their photo studio of choice. Try out PhotoStage and PhotoLite at the the AMS Store in Lady Vale (124, 228, 301), the AMS PhotoStage Store at LeeZu! , or the AMS demo model upstairs at LionSkins.

Ananke Media Systems (AMS) is delighted to announce the opening of a new AMS store at the prestigious To the Nines sim, next door to LeeZu! 

Just up the hill to the south of LeeZu! the spacious new AMS store carries the latest version of the AMS PhotoStage, 1.1.4, which features 15 new LeeZu! textures designed exclusively for PhotoStage by LeeZu Baxter, one of Second Life’s foremost fashion designers . You can preview these exciting new textures in the demo backdrops available at the store.

The new AMS store also provides demo models of the newly updated AMS PhotoLite and the AMS PhotoStand, stuffed full of exclusive poses from Myllie Writer of Persona, Kali Meads and others.

Drop by the new AMS store soon to have a look at our new digs, and try out the grid’s finest photographic tools, all optimized for Windlight and specially designed for photography in Second Life.

Of course, you can still try out PhotoStage, PhotoLite and PhotoStand at the newly redesigned AMS store in Lady Vale.

More news on the latest updates coming soon!

It’s been a while since I posted anything here. Nothing wrong. Just been extremely busy working on a major RL project. And in SL, my main focus the last several weeks has been helping with the Makeover Magic event put on by the American Cancer Society and Faces Modelling Agency, as well as writing some articles for the soon to be released revival of GLAMWorld Magazine.

Over on my fashion blog, I recently posted a tutorial on using the lighting from PhotoStage and PhotoLite to complement the effects that can be achieved using the Environment Editor in Windlight. You can see the full post here. To whet your appetite, here are a couple of “before” and ”after” shots.

Photo using windlight settings only.

Photo using AMS light sources.

In the bottom photo, I used a soft front light together with a combination of cool and warm side lights from opposite directions. You can see how the additional lighting lifts the model off the backdrop and gives more definition and dimension to her face and clothing.

For the full post and credits, please click here.

One of the coolest features of PhotoStage and PhotoLite is the Position Editor, which allows you to position lights, effects generators and gaze points quickly and precisely anywhere on the X Y Z axes. The editor also provides intelligent positioning which finds the model and locates the selected element in relation to her.

The Position Editor can be accessed using either menu, chat or HUD controls. For the purposes of this post, I’m showing the HUD interface since it visualizes the editor’s functions most effectively. Here’s how the Position Editor panel appears on the HUD:

Once you’ve selected an element to move (light, effects generator or gaze point), you can use the intelligent positioning buttons to move the element around the model. The buttons showing a grey human torso plus a yellow circle indicate how the element will be positioned when you click the button. The available options are: (left to right, top row) Right, Left, Back, Front, Back Up, Front Up, Toplight, Footlight; (l to r second row) Centre, Closer and Further (these last two buttons move the selected element closer to or further from the model).

You can also use the X, Y and Z buttons to manually adjust the element’s position. Clicking the minus and plus icons will decrease or increase the element’s X, Y or Z coordinates. The distance that the element will move each time you click one of these buttons is set by the 1.00, 0.25 and 0.05 buttons, which correspond to 1 metre, 25 cm and 5 cm, respectively.

A very nifty and easy to use tool, and one of the prime reasons why PhotoStage and PhotoLite allow you to focus on what matters!

One of Second Life’s most talented pose-makers, Myllie Writer of Persona has created nine exclusive fashion poses for distribution only with Ananke Media Systems (AMS). The new Persona poses are included in PhotoStand, and have now been released in the latest update (1.1.3) for the AMS PhotoStage, PhotoLite and PhotoTools Pro.

When combined with the PhotoStand’s existing poses, the new Persona poses now provide AMS customers with a total of 52 high quality poses, most only available in the AMS PhotoStand. That’s a L$2600 value – free with the purchase of all AMS products!

PhotoStand allows you to add your own poses and to navigate through them efficiently. The stand also provides precision rotation and alignment. Menu and chat controls make it easy to cycle through poses, and then adjust or fine-tune your model’s position without altering the camera angle.

You can check out the new Persona poses at the AMS Demo Site or the Metro Models store, where you can also purchase your own PhotoStage, PhotoLite or PhotoTools Pro and start taking your Second Life photography to a whole new level today!

Other Credits:

Viela Flexidress in Spring Olive from .:LBD:.

ZuZu Monokini from .:LBD:. (top photo)

Nana Heels in Copper from ~enkythings~

Suzana Sun 6 Skin from LionSkins

Prairie Hair in Blonde from Detour

Second Life offers an abundance of amazing locations for great shoots. Yet optimizing the lighting for an on-location shoot can be challenging, which is one reason why many SL photographers opt for studio shooting. I recently took Ananke Media Systems‘ PhotoLite toolkit to the beach to see how this highly versatile system can enhance the look of images you capture inworld.

This first photo shows our lovely model (none other than moi – of course!) posing on the beach with the existing night lighting. Nice location – what you can see of it!

Here’s the same location with lighting and effects added from the PhotoLite toolkit. I’ve used lights to brighten certain elements in the background (the pampas grass and palms) as well as the model (isn’t she gorgeous? — okay, I’ll stop). I’ve also added a very light mist with two effects generators to soften the reflected light from the sand and provide another colour detail.

After hiding all the lights, effect generators and the pose stand with a couple of quick clicks on the  PhotoLite HUD or menus, the scene becomes a vivid yet still natural looking setting perfect for capturing the romance of LeeZu Baxter’s Noir line!

Moving in for a closer view, I made some minor adjustments in the positioning of the lights using the PhotoLite HUD – all without ever changing the camera frame! One of the beauties of AMS products is the ability to stay focussed on the specific camera angle you want while using the HUD, menu or chat controls to adjust lighting, effects and even the direction the model’s eyes are looking. (Click “More” to see the photo.)

And as a final reminder, here’s that close shot again… this time without the PhotoLite enhancements. By the way, apart from cropping and resizing for the web, none of these images have been photoshopped in any way.

So there you have it. With PhotoLite, you can take your on-location fashion shoots to a whole new level, anywhere on the grid! Stop by the AMS Demo Site to try it out soon!

Ananke Media Systems (AMS) has teamed up with the 2008 SL Footwear Expo to offer PhotoTools Pro as part of the Grand Prize in the Flickr Footwear Contest. A demo of the PhotoStage is now on display in the Contest Voting Station at the Expo.

You can read about all the prizes and rules at the official Footwear Expo website. Lots of great prizes and already plenty of amazing footwear photos to satisfy even the most ardent footwear fetish!

Be sure to visit the Flickr site to check out all the photos entered in the Footwear Contest! The Footwear Expo runs now to July 27th. Lots to see and do. Everyone’s there! Don’t miss it!

Ananke Media Systems announces the opening of a second PhotoStage display site in the new store at Metro Models. AMS is delighted to be the first company chosen by the Metro Models Agency to set up shop in their glamorous new headquarters. Agency Director Alaska Metropolitan has been a strong supporter of AMS from the beginning, participating in the beta testing of the PhotoStage and serving as one of the judges for the photo contest at our original Launch Event at Princeton University’s Alexander Beach sim.

At the new Metro Models store customers can try out a demo of the PhotoStage, and purchase all three AMS products:  PhotoStage, PhotoLite, and PhotoTools Pro.

For more information about Metro Models, please be sure to visit the Metro Models website.