Hello Virtual Gods and Goddesses!

The reason this blog exists is because I love SL photography. To that, I wanted to add some practical writing practice, that would be sparked by the photos I take in Second Life. And thus, this blog was born. Imagine my glee when I stumbled across a new SL photo contest while browsing the photos over on Flickr. Woot!

Junk is a great big sim store. That is, a store that has a whole sim to show off it’s wonderful wares, and which created an amazing build to accomplish that mission. A wander around Junk is a stroll from awesome photo spot to awesome photo spot. For builders, it’s an inspirational walk from scene to scene, an example of what can be done with all their awesome junk, and lesson in how to make junk look simply fabulous.

Please Help Me Pick the Photo to Submit to the Contest

I took a crapload of pics there, because contest or not, it’s just a brilliant place to do so. But now it comes down to it… which photo should I submit to the contest? I have no idea. Honestly, I don’t believe there is any chance I would win the contest – not after gazing through all the AWESOME photos over in the Junk Flickr group’s photo stream. But I won’t let that deter me from entering anyway, because browsing that awesome stream is both an inspiration and like having free photo shoot lessons. I learn so much from the beautiful shots submitted there, about finding interesting points of view, to different lighting effects that enhance the images, to compositions that show off product displays.

Of the pics I took, I am leaning most toward this one for the contest submission:

I like the one above because I think there is so much wonderful junk in it – it shows off the great stuff that can be found for sale in this sim, and it is displayed so brilliantly in a scene that paints a mysterious story. The cigarette butts on the ground, the guitar half submerged in water, the discarded newspaper that I imagine has an ad for some wonderful blues concert that either never happened, or came and went in time.  The Faery is sitting there, eyes closed, imagining what this spot might have been like years ago before it crumbled into decay, when the chair she sat in was occupied with a guitar player, and the dock just out of frame might have had couples dancing under swaying string lights. I love the mood set by this build, the story that can be imagined behind each piece of junk in it. I like that the Faery in the pic is not really a strong focal point so much as part of the story. She doesn’t detract from the junk, but rather ponders it, leading the viewer to ponder it as well. At least this is what I see in this pic.

The pic I like next best is this one:

Again, I think this pic shows off a lot of junk very nicely, and in the background we see that there are stalls and stalls of junk to be found should the viewer wander around a bit. As in the first pic, I think the Faery helps to show off the junk, not steal the spotlight from it. Like a trailer park Vanna White in shorts and tube top, showing off a prize showcase of great junk.

However, over in my Flickr stream, this next photo has the most faves:

And yes, I do love this pic – it’s a lot of fun! – but I don’t think it shows off and tells the stories of all the fabulous junk, so much as it’s just a great, fun pic.

This pic below has some merit, because it features the giant “JUNK” while managing to also show off some interesting and offbeat junk:

Disco balls and discarded Ferris Wheel (or as I call them, Giant Wheel of Death) cars, and is that a swan boat in the water there? Why yes, yes I believe it is. This photo has a touch of creepy crawly in it, a tinge of “abandoned amusement park that got washed out by a giant wave” sort of thing. ::::shiver::::

Last but not least, well, unless I go take some more pics after I hit the “publish” button for this post, is this next pic, which I think shows a lot of great junk in it but really there is too much focus on the Faery and what is her story, when the focus should be what is the story behind all the great junk:

Admittedly though, I do love this pic, and it’s a good thing too because it took waaaaaaaay too long to capture, and by the time I finally did, I was ready to throw something through something else. This pic was a real pain in the ass to take, but that makes it just that much more gratifying when it’s finally done, lol.

So, Which Pic Do You Think?

Ok if you are so inclined to actually look at these pics and share your thoughts, please do so. Let me know which one you think would make the best contest entry submission. I do have a lot more pics from Junk in my Flickr stream, but I’ve narrowed it down to these, and again I’m leaning towards “Bayou of Broken Dreams” for the submission. But I’d love to hear your thoughts if you are willing to share them, and please feel free to cast your vote for any of the other pics found on Flickr that are not shown in this post 🙂 Either leave a comment below, or over on Flickr – click on the pic to get to its Flickr page, where you can view it at larger sizes too.

If you are so inclined, you can still enter the contest, I believe Junk is accepting entries until August 8th. For the entry form, go to the Junk sim, there is a big sign in the landing zone with all the info.

More Goodies

And now, just because I like to share the fabulous bargains I find, that lovely little Bloom Dress by !gO! that I’m wearing in the “Rebel” (keep off the lawn) pic is only L$1 on the MP.  And that cute little purple Exposed Top by SAKIDE shown in the “Screaming in the Swamp” and “J is for Junk” photos is currently a freebie on the MP. I say currently because they change up the freebies they are offering, so do go check them out.