This is a panorama composited from 33 raw snapshots in a prototype Second Life First Look WindLight viewer — soon to be available to our community at large! — using a custom-modded version of the "Pirate" preset. This was taken @ Waterhead, a region reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest.
Post-processing followed to sweeten tones and move this work closer to its final result: some "Soft Light" and "Overlay" layering was done to bring out the contrast, virtualPhotographer and Filter Forge were applied to enhance the analogue qualities, and some simple image correction was done. Namely, a minor retinting of the heavens above and the waters, lens blur at the vertical edges to soften the palette, and some recovery of blown highlights.
Beyond the technical details, one of the reasons why I love crafting an Alternate Virtual Reality is because it takes what is live and established, and embodies my hopes for an everyday future. For example, with WindLight, we already get some amazing sky + environment effects that don't need any post-processing. You can even tweak inworld gamma live, which is magical for sunsets. Second Life is so incremental and progressive; there's always more to come, so notice how I touched up the ripple water to be more shimmery than it normally is under the casting gaze of the sun. That's what I hope to see without any Photoshopping.
All these, luminiscent beads on a taut string with no end in sight — be sure to click-through and view the full version, in all its 4900×1600 glory. (And see how 0.25 Gaussian blur and adding 1% of monochromatic noise can add a subtle, real feeling to my preferred virtual world?)