“We’re staying up
We’re gonna watch the sun come out
Everyone’s here
There’s silver slipping through the clouds
I pull this moment close
To stop me running out of hope”
James Bay – Everybody Needs Someone
Well well, here we are again. I’m going to be honest and tell you that this post was originally -not- going to be this. Not a single a piece of it was in my plan for the next post. I had already started writing one but hadn’t shot a photo yet that fit it. I tend to work that way as I’ve said before. The order of operations varies from post to post. This time the words and music were in place but the photo idea was up in the air. Eventually I arrived at this photo, but there was one problem, it did not fit the post at all. So that post is sitting over there in timeout while this post gets to play instead. We’ll see the other one when the idea is fully formed.
First and foremost, Mike these are shorts, not underwear, just checking that box before I get the inevitable comment. I will probably still get it from him but you can’t say I didn’t try. With the trips to Las Vegas and the general summer vibes on a majority of my recent posts I ended up falling back into that lane and I do not hate what came of it. This photo was a lot of fun to work on for a myriad of reasons. One being it’s quite simple so making it stand out enough in my mind was an interesting experiment. The second challenge is those curtains, we won’t talk about the amount of time it took to get them where I was content with them. I love the sheer look but SecondLife is not always kind to that when it overlaps another. Thirdly, and this is the last one, I turned the materials for my hair on, and while that seemed like a good idea in the beginning, I hated it by the end. Those white/grey strands are where the materials picked up and while I love the hair the materials failed me on that. I ended up just leaving it be because where wasn’t much to do to it and I sure as hell wasn’t taking the photo all over again. Lesson learned.
I’ve really enjoyed getting back into doing more photos and posts lately too. Not only has it felt good to do and feel like I’ve actually accomplished something when it comes to these, but the response has been encouraging. When I sat down to edit the slide photo you all know so well by now I was just doing it for fun. I think there came a time in the past where I lost track of that “fun” when it came to doing this and when that happens the work you do suffers. At least in my opinion, we’re all different so I won’t apply that across the board. I would do a post or photo here and there and while I always was happy with my words, the photos always made me wonder. I put time into them and I liked them, but they didn’t really do much.
If you know me at all, you know how against the “you need X amount of favorites/views on Flickr” to be successful or to get chosen to blog for X brand or whatever it may be. But when you spend time working on something that -you- are proud of and happy with, and then it kind of does nothing you naturally start to wonder if there’s a point to doing it. I found myself there a few times and you can figure out when those were by the breaks between posts here on this very blog. I took a couple of them because I didn’t feel like what I was doing was where it needed to be. My tagline on this blog since it started has always been “Whatever I Want, Whenever I Want.” and I have stayed true to that. I do not post something that I am not in love with or have a feeling about. If it’s here on these pages it’s because I want it to be. The freedom to write about things that not everyone will or does is one I enjoy.
Not everyone has to agree with the post or my thoughts either. I respect the opposing viewpoint as long as it’s done right. I recently had that come up with the post on mass shootings, and while even I initially thought that the comment I got was going to go in a different direction, it did not. It started a dialogue between myself and Jaxon and we came to the conclusion that we both agree there needs to be change. What change that is we don’t know for sure, but I respect the fact that he and I could have the discussion and not be hateful towards one another. That is the kind of conversations we need more of in all facets of life.
I know that if I had a ton of sponsors or I didn’t feel comfortable writing about anything I want to that it would be a lot harder to do that. I also know that it will turn some people off really quickly just because they disagree or don’t read past the beginning paragraph. I can live with that because at the end of the day I write for me and anyone who wants to read it. Now that doesn’t mean I don’t want sponsors or have no interest in that. I would certainly be open to it but I am honest about how I do things. I write what I feel, what I believe. Would I do that on a sponsored post? Probably not, but the sponsor should know that there will be posts that are me being true to me. Maybe that happens down the line. We’ll see, but either way I’m going to keep doing this.
I’ve gotten sidetracked a bit here but I care about this stuff. The point is the writing is the one part I have always been happy with. Am I novelist, hell no, but I can intelligently put together a post and say what I feel or need to say and do it in a sense making format. But, the photos, analytics be damned, really did not have much traction and I could see that. It was something that I often just ignored and kept doing my thing. If people want to favorite the photo or comment awesome, and if not, I still got to say what I felt. I was and still am okay with that being the case.
Since editing our slide photo (which was never going to be a blog), photos have taken a drastic shift for me. Both in terms of the way I feel about them and the reaction they have been receiving. The slide photo shot into another orbit. I mean I still do not really believe it, but I appreciate everyone who has loved on it, shared it, faved it, commented on it, or anything else. I really don’t care about the analytics side of them, but it had another effect that I didn’t think it would. It made me look at what I’m doing and why I’m doing it. You all showing love to that photo and the ones that followed it made me fall back in the love with photo taking part of this whole blog thing. A picture is worth a thousand words right? We all know I can do a thousand words in my sleep so the motivation to maximize the photo part just adds that much more.
It’s pushed me to try some different things, to challenge myself in different angles, lighting setups, the way I edit, and any of the numerous other ways you can think of. It’s because of all of you out there who took that time that I’m striving to be better at what I do with these, I want that challenge and embrace it. Thank you for “a simple twist of fate, a little spark” that has reignited my passion to do this. I appreciate you all endlessly and I hope you keep coming back and I will keep cheering you all on as well. I try and make sure I am ever mindful of reciprocating the appreciation shown, pay it forward always. In that same vein I’m always open to collaborate, talk photos, posts, sponsorships, whatever it may be. If you made it this far, thank you for reading.
For this photo I went back and forth a lot before settling on what I thought might work out. I first knew I needed to find a place or backdrop that had the right vibe to it. After a lot searching I landed on FOXCITY and their Sunset Lounge photo booth. It gave me just enough of that vacation vibe that I was looking for while not being too much in any way. Check that off the list. Then I had to figure out what to wear. I had a few ideas and while I tried some of the other ones they just did not achieve the look I knew I needed. So I went for a bit of a shopping trip. I hit up the various Men’s events around the grid but still was not finding what I felt resonated with the shot I had in my head. I knew shorts were a good call with it being summer and the Sunset Lounge being very summery, so to THIRST I went. Now my first sentence is to clarify to Mike that these are shorts not underwear because he has gotten a lot of speedos lately and well I wanted to be very clear on this fact. The Summer Vibes jogger shorts had the look I wanted and the quality I needed. I ended up fatpacking it because it was worth the cost and I’ll end up using them again for sure. The rest of the look is pretty much my daily summer deal which you can find below. I’ll see you in the next post, whatever it may end up being!
“That’s all it takes
A simple little twist of fate
A little spark
Some strength to keep your heart from
Breaking when you get so close
‘Cause breaking comes and breaking goes”
James Bay – Everybody Needs Someone
Credits:
Head: LeLUTKA.Head.NOA.3.1 ~ Jaden Nova
Head Applier: STRAY DOG – GREG – LELUTKA – TONE 04 ~ Gac Akina
Beard: [MAGNIFICENT] THOR Bun – Grooming Hair – LeBarbier Alpha
Hairbase: LeLUTKA.EvoX.Hairbase.044 (BOM) ~ Jaden Nova (Comes with the LeLUTKA NOA Head)
Ears: ^^Swallow^^ Gauged S Ears ~ Luciayes Magic
Beard: [MAGNIFICENT] DUCKY SKUNK – Beard – LeBarbier Alpha
Beard Layer: Volkstone Rey Facial Hair // 004 TINTABLE (BOM) ~ Daves Hexem
Body: [LEGACY] Athletic Edition (1.1) ~ MeshBody Resident
Skin: STRAY DOG – Legacy Skin – TONE 04 (BOM) ~ Gac Akina
Abs: {Baecraft} Abs SD Tone 04 ~ Kriztal Moonites
Tattoo Top: DAPPA – Zugai Tattoo. [FRESH] Lelutka EvoX. ~ Devil Fae
Tatoo Lower L: IDTTY Body Shop – Secret Fate ~ Melissa Hindrabar
Tattoo Lower R: IDTTY Body Shop – Lonely Road ~ Melissa Hindrabar
Shorts: THIRST-Summer Vibes Jogger Short-L ~ AlexanderPowell83 Resident
Rings/Bracelet: *RE* Aeon Bracelet & Rings ~ Crashnoww Resident
Earrings: = DAE = SXD1 ~ Naomi Darkheart
Pose: ACT5-766-Male Model Leaning 8 ~ Shakilyn Peppermint
Backdrop: FOXCITY. Photo Booth – Sunset Lounge ~ Satomi XOXO
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