Meet SL Photographer: Sixx Yangtz

I still remember the very first time I saw a picture developed by Sixx Yangtz. I was looking through an online album of a friend, Sinnamon Aries, and came across a breath-taking photograph of her avatar. After she introduced me to Sixx’s work, I simply could not resist going back every day and looking at how his craft was developing. Finally, last week, Sixx and I had a chance to meet at his gallery, which I unequivocally recommend everyone to visit. This is where Sixx’s photo studio is, and where you can see samples of his work and will be able to grab his card for pricing information.

I found Sixx’s photo processing impressive and was surprised to learn that his introduction to SL was not only an accident – he used to frequent There.com, and along with many of his fellow Thereians he migrated to Second Life when There closed its world – but that his migration had no photographical interest attached to it neither.

Leda Carter: Did SL photography evolve on its own then? Tell us a bit about the path that took you to where you are now.

Sixx Yangtz:  I remember standing around at some sim and noticed a profile picture. That’s what I used to do mostly, looking in and out of everyone’s profile.  I found myself not caring much about what the profile says, but rather looking at the interesting pictures everyone had.  I remember the moment very clearly…I saw someone’s profile picture and was absolutely floored!  Having been such a newbie at the time, I asked the person how the hell did they get that picture?!  I guess because I was such a terrible newbie they didn’t even bother to respond.  So, my journey started from there; asking questions until finally someone pointed out Flickr.com.  THAT’s when it all started!  Oh my god, I was infatuated with all the wonderful artists out there, especially the close up profile pictures; they were and continue to be my favorite.  I had to learn this stuff! It became my mission and continues to be it today. 

Leda: How did you learn to use Photoshop to the degree that you do?

Sixx: I knew nothing about Photoshop before SL, other than what the program was for.  This is all because of one person: Gabrielle Sinatra.  She’s the one who started it for me.  I noticed her Flickr page and was just set back.  I can recall hours on end that I’ve spent just looking through her stream, simply amazed at the perfection and quality of her work.  Like anything else that I become so obsessed with, I had to learn this.  I probably bugged the hell out of her; she probably shivers when she hears my name! hehe. I consider her a mentor to me whether she knows it or not.  She gave me some great advice and direction, and I took it to heart.  I owe everything to Gabrielle; she’s a wonderful person with a great heart and love for others to grow and learn.    Her greatest advice to me was to never do this for the lindens or to be famous – do it because you love it and the lindens and fame will eventually come.

So, she shared some good tutorials.  I made a goal to master ONE tutorial a week; mostly online tutorials.  There are several great tutorials out there specific to “cleaning up” SL avatars, as in the rough edges and such.  Believe it or not, I didn’t even know how to crop out a green screen background!  Even that took me a while to master, it shows where I started out at.

Once I learned most of the things I wanted to learn I kind of stopped.  There’s so much more out there though; I probably only know 20% of what Photoshop will do for you.  If you wanted to learn how to do this, I would first direct you to some of the tutorials I learned on, e.g., on cleaning up SL avatars.  But to be honest, for me there isn’t an A-to-Z step by step process.  I approach every picture differently, depending on the picture.  I could give some pointers and some common techniques that I use, but honestly it’s hard to say what I do on each picture.

Leda: So, each picture is different, depending on what it depicts?

Sixx: Depending on the skin tones mostly.  The skin tone is such a key element; if you had a cheap freebie skin tone with no texture, there’s really not much I can do for you.  It’s sad; I feel sorry for skin designers because so much of their work is beautiful and so real, but you don’t see it much unless you can bring it out with Photoshop.

Leda: Do you have any suggestions for what types of skins to use during a photo shoot?

Sixx: Yes, get a good skin!  Don’t skimp on this purchase; skimp on your shoes or your pants, not the skin!  When clients get upset and ask why I didn’t make their picture as good as someone else’s, my first question is “where did you get your skin?”  My goal, when I Photoshop my pictures, is to capture and bring out the wonderful skin textures, not add or Photoshop skin textures to it.  I think skin designers are the unsung heroes in SL.  The skin, in my opinion, makes or breaks a great photo.  When I get an avatar with a freebie skin or one where you can tell there are no realistic skin textures, I tell them upfront: “there’s not much I can do, please don’t be disappointed because if there’s no texture in the skin, there’s not much for me to work with.”  Also, spend some time and get your accessories (e.g., jewelry, eyelashes, hats, hair) attached correctly!  I do my very best to Photoshop the minor imperfections caused by SL, but major displacements of attachments can just ruin a picture.

Leda: This issue of skin is very interesting. Do eyes have the same impact? Or can you do more with eyes?

Sixx: I actually work mostly on an avatar’s eyes.  I do use some other textures to bring out more realism into them.  I think that’s why it takes me long on pictures; I blow it up and really focus on the small details: less is more in my opinion.  I will admit that hair is my weakness.  If I had to be critical of my work, I would say I need more study on hair.  Skin is probably the most important thing I would get before a photo shoot, second is hair, and then eyes.  I don’t want to belittle the eyes though, because since I do close up the eyes are going to be very important.  I wouldn’t skimp out on cheap eyes; I would shop around for the best.

Leda: And what do you do with hair?  Do you draw it in, during processing?

Sixx: Honestly, I don’t do very much with the hair.  I do have some hair brushes that I use for certain areas, but I won’t do a complete overhaul. It’ll just be some small additional strains to throw in, in order to give it a more real look.

Leda: What is a typical procedure for producing a portrait, from start to end? How long does it typically take?

Sixx: That’s a difficult question. In general, it of course starts in SL.  I always use a green screen with Redgrave windlight settings.  After a few shots, I take it to Photoshop and start what I call “scrubbing” the picture: work out all the edges and imperfections caused by SL or graphic incapabilities.  From there, the fun begins! I zoom in using the various tools provided by Photoshop. I probably only know 1/3 of what Photoshop is capable of doing, and I love when I find a new shortcut or trick, just love it! All in all, I tell my clients to give me 3-5 business days. Right now, due to backlog I have, it’s a 7-10 days processing time, just because I work full time with a child and I can’t spend a lot of time on this; I consider this a part time “hobby” for me.  If I were to sit down and work non-stop on a picture I would estimate around 4-6 hours at the most.

Leda: Are you planning on expanding your focus from portraits to full body shots, or couples, or fashion shots, and so on?

Sixx: Recently, since I opened up the new studio, I’ve been overwhelmed with portrait shots.  For now, that is all I’m doing: strictly portrait pictures.  I don’t consider myself good at full body or pose shots.  There are certainly more skilled artists out there.  Until I’m able to explore this area more, I’m only doing close up portraits. I would like to actually get better at fashion shots.  SL clothing is difficult, in my opinion.  Once things settle down, I’ll be checking out some more tutorials and experimenting more with full-body designer shots.

Leda: When you take a picture, do you try to produce results that reflect the style of the avatar? Or the style of the photographer? Or is there a happy marriage of the two?

Sixx: If the client tells me I have free reign to do what I want, I try to capture what I see in the avatar.  I notice my pictures come out better when they allow me to be free with it.  When they dictate the background, style, etc., it makes me more restricted.  Sometimes I pull it off, sometimes I don’t.  I can’t win them all, of course.

Leda: Is photography the primary reason that brings you back to SL?

Sixx:  I would probably say yes.  If I wasn’t doing photography, I’d probably get bored of SL.  I’m not much of a gamer; even though I tried and spent a lot of lindens on guns and other weapons, they just sit in my inventory now.  I tried a motorcycle but my avatar looks weird when it’s on the bike, so that bothered me, hehe.  Now I only log on to take a client and then log out, unless I have some shopping to do (I love to shop!)

Leda: Does anything in SL relate to your RL? Do you keep them separate, and if so, how does it work for you?

Six: Wow, the million dollar question!  I do keep them separate, as much as possible.  I don’t think anyone can keep them 100% separate.  I am pretty private, however, for a number of reasons, but that doesn’t mean I’m too pompous to talk to anyone.  The summer months are always a busy time for me, and RL is especially hectic at the moment. I enjoy meeting people, but it’s difficult to maintain friendships as I’m not always there and that usually upsets most. I think I’m misunderstood by most as I’m only in SL at the very most 2 hours every other night it seems.  And when I am I usually am with a client; so, I put myself on busy in order to concentrate on them, as it should be since they are paying me. This means it’s hard to carry a conversation with anyone if I’m with a client or trying to get something done.  I know that may seem like I’m selfish but I’m not.  I just don’t use SL like most people do, I guess.  I always encourage clients or potential clients to email me; I can talk better that way since I have access to email while at work.  You’ll find I don’t bite.

Leda: Does what you do in RL relate to what you do here?

Sixx:  Not at all.  I work in boring finance.  This is what I love SL so much; SL for me is a venue whereby I can escape the RL, and it allows me to break out of my RL mold. I explore other interests, and enjoy a SL full of things I don’t do in RL.  Photography, for example.  I’ve always been the artsy type, you know. I took art classes in high school, and then some in college, but never really built on those things I learned.  In fact, I lost a lot of those skills I developed because of not keeping up on it. SL has allowed me to revisit those interests and is allowing me to grow and learn as I continue to use Photoshop with the pictures that I take.

Leda: I am interested in how SL affects our RL experiences. You said that you dabbled in the arts in school, but never followed through. And now that you have a creative outlet in SL, I wonder if it has impacted your RL world in anyway?

Sixx: Not yet, but it has made me have the “itch” again to possibly take up a class.  I used to paint watercolor and a couple oil paintings; up on the 3rd level of the gallery, I have some samples of my RL work, as well as on flickr – very amateurish though.  About a month ago I uploaded to flickr some of my HS, mostly watercolor, and one oil painting I did in college.

Leda: Do you feel that SL experiences can have this transformative quality? even though yours has not completely affected RL yet?

Sixx: I guess if you’re in SL more frequently and depending on what your purpose is in SL.  If you are seriously involved in doing something in SL, sure, absolutely!  SL has made me more “fashionable” than I was in RL.  It has also motivated me more in the arts; that has been my experience.  I see too many people in SL just doing nothing really, with no purpose.  I often wonder about those who comment: “I’m so bored in SL.”  I just don’t understand that.  There is SO much to do; there are so many classes to take and learn and try.  I honestly wish I had more time in SL than I do.

Leda: That reminds me, you mentioned you were in the finance world…which has been an insane ride this year. Does SL act as an escape from all that, even if you come in to work?

Sixx: Absolutely!  SL allows me to live my “artsy” side of me.  My RL is more strict, rigid, and scheduled.  I love to come into SL to just shop even.  I hope I didn’t come cross stuck on myself.  I’m really not that way!  I hate that, I’ve met some photographers who think they are ALL THAT and won’t even talk to anyone or help anyone.  My downfall is time.  I just lack the time.  If people would email me though, if they had questions, I would respond better with that.  When I am in SL, it’s really just to take pictures and when I have my busy mode on, some assume I’m stuck up or something.  I consider myself down to earth and would be happy to talk to anyone with questions; just email (sixxy@ymail.com) is better for me is all.

Leda: What inspires you and your art in SL?

Sixx:  Flickr is my original source of inspiration.  Seeing artists turn a terrible looking rough, edgy, pointy avatar into something *realistic* amazes me.  I love realism.  My favorite artist has been and always will be Norman Rockwell. He has a way to bring out emotions and feelings into his art and make the viewer relate to it.  I would also add that another source of inspiration is surrounding myself with other artists who have the passion.  When I first started out, Janaina Delvalle was a huge encouragement for me, always motivating and sharing ideas, tutorials, tips and tricks.  She was a big motivating factor during that period when I was learning/experimenting. So, everything I did felt like it came out looking blaaaahh.  I owe a great deal to her.  I’m sure after telling me “great job” on a few experimental pieces I did, she would turn around in another breath and throw up. Hehe, I guess that’s what friends are for.

Leda: Sixx, I want to thank you for having been generous with your time and knowledge. And I absolutely love your picture of my avatar.

Sixx: Well thank you for the opportunity; I’m honored and flattered!