MVW 2013 and SL photographers

The announcement is out. MVW 2013 has the first entries' photos at BOSL blog.

I read the press release and public announcement. The document also explains how to apply and the kind of photos the candidates must submit.

I particularly like point 9.

9. Photoshop is allowed, but please keep photographs realistic so that it reflects how you actually look in Second Life.

And if you take a good look at all entries, you'll see that most of the photos have been heavily editted in PS. Some entries are just SL photos - quite unprofessional, I must say - others are skewed and twisted. Bottom line, if the idea is to actually see the avatar's face, heavily editted photos make their all faces look alike. So, we have several entries with avatars looking 'similar', sometimes because the photographer is the same.

Don't get me wrong, some of the photos have been taken and worked by SL photographers that are considered to be the best. But, in a case like this, a simple, tasteful photo, showing the avatar's face should suffice.
What matters is not the skill of the photographer , but the face of the female avatar.

Let's see some? I do declare, hereby, that I do not own any rights over the photos below. The names of the photographers are clearly stated on top of each row of photos and are used here, to illustrate my opinion .

Photos by Elle Ahren (view her work)




Photos by Julie Hastings (view her work)





Photos by Skip Staheli (view his work)







Even though the photos are very well done, they are heavily editted and we don't actualy see the real avatar behind it.

In RL, a model that goes to several agencies for castings takes her own book, however frequently, the agency they cast for takes a quick snapshot of their faces, as they are. No makeup, simple hair, etc.

To be eligible for MVW, these ladies hired some good photoshop editors in SL. It's quite frustrating, because we actually love the quality of the photo, but how's the avatar really like?

You may say, that's what live auditions are for. That's a fact, but before the live auditions, the first pre-finalists are going to be chosen among this group of photos. Are they going to consider the quality of the photographer or the beauty of the avatar? Because in the photos you see above, they all look 'the same'. Different eye color or hair color, but they all look so much alike!

There are very good photos though. Photos that really show the avatar's face, they stand out for me, because they are so simply worked, that 'what you see is what you get' and this should be the whole point, right?

Another year, another round at MVW. I'll be watching, as usual ;)

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