#vp with no mods
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Tips For VP When You're Rolling Without Mods
I've just recently gotten into virtual photography (mainly for Cyberpunk 2077) and I don't use mods. I play on console and vanilla PC. (I've noticed images are much crisper on PC but I'm still using the basic photo mode.)
There are a lot of amazing VPers and modders out there who make phenomenal use of mods and put a lot of time and love into their photos which is fantastic! It means we get to see all sorts of beautiful and super cool creative photos of OCs and characters and enviro shots that we'd never be able to see in the base version of the game. It's great!
However, if you don't have access to mods it can be intimidating to start taking photos when all you have is a vanilla version of the game. Unfortunately, these tips will not solve the dilemma of trying to take photos of your otps... But I'm here to tell you that vanilla is a perfectly fine flavor and despite the limitations, with a little ingenuity and problem solving, you too can take awesome photos.
Now, do I take the world's greatest photos? No. But I'm having fun and I enjoy the challenge of having to get creative with the limited set of tools at my disposal and I like taking candid photos. There's something magical about capturing a moment as it's happening.
So, here's what I've learned so far. All the photos below were taken on PS5 and, apart from adjusting the in game camera settings, are unedited.
Lighting
Good lighting will do almost all your work for you in photography. However, unless you're carrying your own light around it's something you have very limited control over in game (and IRL), so you'll have to rely on what you find. There are going to be a lot of instances when you want to take a photo but the lighting just sucks. You learn to work around it. Once you learn to spot good light sources though you'll know them when you see them.
Portrait and character shots can be tricky without mods, NPCs don't always cooperate. But with a little patience and timing you can grab some really wonderful shots. You may need to hop in and out of photo mode a few times in order to get them though, especially if they're moving around.
For portrait style photos you're looking for radiant or diffused sources of light that'll highlight your subject, think ring selfie lights or when you walk into a naturally well lit room without direct sunlight coming in. Strong directional lighting works very well too, it's high contrast and can be very dramatic but you have to be more considerate of the angles and it's harder to utilize when you can't pose or move your subject. Color of light isn't so important (unless you're looking for specific mood lighting), you just need enough light to prevent your subject from looking washed out and blending in with the background.
For landscape or environmental shots you can change the time of day if you're looking for a particular vibe, and weather can add extra ambiance, so there's a bit more freedom with taking these kinds of photos. Different times of day have different types of light, different tones. Warm or cool. And lens flares and glare can make fun effects. Urban settings also generate a lot of their own light, which makes it much easier to photograph as a subject.
Take the time to get to know your light sources as well. Rotate your subjects or camera, if you're able, and check out what the lighting does at different angles.
Play with the sliders
Exposure, contrast, highlights, depth, focus, and field of view are your friends. Get acquainted with them and figure out what settings you like, what works best in what situations, and don't be afraid to push the boundaries! Crank the settings to min and max just so you understand what they do. Hell, even some of the preset effects and camera angles are stellar too depending on what you're trying to accomplish.
Since there's no way to adjust saturation in game, I will typically bump down the exposure and up the contrast and highlights to make subjects stand out more and give the illusion of being more vibrant. I also know photos have a tendency to export darker on PS5, so I've learned to err on the side of making them slightly lighter than I want them. And it's personal preference, but I bump the film grain all the way up. Makes me feel like I'm using an old school camera.
Take the same shot with multiple settings in case something goes wrong or if you don't like the way something came out, or just to see the differences. It'll also give you a reference point for later in terms of what settings work for what kinds of photos you're trying to take.
Find the right angle
Be prepared to do some goofy ass shit for the sake of your photos. Getting in NPC's faces, moving around so characters heads will track your position, cheesing poses, climbing on furniture, scaling buildings and billboards, stealing trucks to use as step stools. It's all part of the fun.
You're gonna look ridiculous playing the floor is lava on desks, doing the slav squat on light posts, standing on top of street sweepers, or crouching like a gremlin on a ledge; but hey, you got the photo. Different angles (high, low, close-up, far) can also help frame your subjects, tell a story, or provide extra visual interest as well. And don't forget you can incorporate the environment too! The landscape can help set the scene, tone, and mood of your photos. I did some kind of parkour to get the photos below.
Break the wall
The camera has a pretty limited range of movement, but sometimes you can break it or it'll break on it's own accord in certain scenarios. (Or V. Break V, your tripod.) Use that to your advantage. Phase through surfaces, rubber band off objects, utilize being able to pan farther than you normally would. Poke holes in physics and embrace the accidents. For instance, I've discovered that you can pan back much farther than normal when you jump onto the top of lamp posts. Like double or triple the amount you normally woud. No clue why, but it's very useful for landscape photos.
If you've played the game a few times and don't mind breaking your immersion you can also take photos during missions and gigs. You won't have the full range of camera options if you pull up photo mode during dialogue, but in between snippets of talking is a great time to snag photos of your favorite characters or places that become unavailable outside of quests.
The photo below was a happy accident and it's still one of my favorite shots I've taken. It looks like something out of a movie. I glitched through the wall, got stuck and ended up behind a fence way outside the range of where the camera is normally stuck around V. Total Bob Ross moment all because I was trying to see how far I could push the camera.
Don't force it
Sometimes you get an idea for a cool shot, but something in the execution is lacking. Maybe it's the lighting or the way it's framed or you can't time it right. Don't sweat it and move on. Or revisit it later. Save often. Not everything has to be a masterpiece and that's okay. Everything is practice.
The most important thing
Have fun! :)
#cyberpunk 2077#reference#for fellow vanilla game and console players#virtual photography tips#advice from a ghost no one asked for#night city streets#vp with no mods#virtual photography without mods
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#halsin#bg3 halsin#halsin bg3#baldur's gate#baldur's gate 3#baldur's gate iii#baldurs gate 3#baldurs gate iii#baldurs gate#bg3#bg3 screenshots#screenshot#my screenshots#photomode#virtual photography#vp#gaming photography#pc games#pc gaming#modded bg3
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this dark fantasy vibe really suits him, right? 😻
⟡ reshade amelie by @cedastarions ⟡
#baldur's gate 3#bg3#gortash#enver gortash#lord gortash#royalty au#bg3 edit#my edits#virtual photography#mine: vp#my stuff#bg3 mods#i'm obsessed with hiiim
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Dark Matter
#cyberpunk 2077#cp2077#kerry eurodyne#modded cyberpunk#cp2077edit#cyberpunk2077edit#cyberpunk photomode#cyberpunk photography#cyberpunk screenshots#virtual photography#my vp
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testing, testing...
#cyberpunk 2077#fem v#cyberpunk v#cyberpunk 2077 photomode#fem v cyberpunk#cyberpunk 2077 screenshots#virtual photography#vp#oc: vaye durand#glitchcaps#somehow i missed this mod and i think it's vibing for me#girly needed her other chest cyberware#this took six lights#and two crashes (because it's 83f at my desk)
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Arthur's Overlook
Part 2/2 of the gifset of my cabin. Sorry the dogs are kinda wonky, it's difficult to get the animations to line up since they're being played individually and not as an interaction lol
#red dead redemption 2#rdr2#red dead online#red dead 2#rdo#charles smith#red dead oc#oc x cc#arthur morgan#the bison and the bear#rdr2 character#rdr2 spoilers#spoilers#red dead#rdo mods#rdr2 mods#rdr2 vp#rdo vp#virtual photography#gif#gifset#arthur's overlook
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i have no caption for this i just wanted to go hogwild with all the mods i grabbed and ran with
#cp2077#cyberpunk 2077#cp2077 photomode#cp2077 screenshots#cp2077 edit#cyberpunk photomode#masc v#male v#maddox de vasconcelos schaeffer#vp#i keep on finding fire ass mods i wanna use and then i spend my evenings just taking the simplest pics featuring them#when i could be here doing literally anything else instead
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━ JULY of Passion | 2021/22/23/24
Looking back at some sets from past July(s) 👁👄👁
Everything was so damn orange in 21 HGHFHGF goddamn My fav from that bunch gotta be the third one 👀 popped off with those colors and that light ouuughhh hhh
#Cyberpunk 2077#Mitch Anderson#Valentin Da Silva#Aldecaldos#OTP: High Voltage#MLM#Screenshot#Virtual Photography#Taking a break from cp77 in general s'doing good for my brain#deep in dragon age rot and can't wait for DAV to drop#but!!!! also still strongly loving the bbs#I just don't feel the strong need to take pics or mods atm#I'll come back soon tho uwu#One thing I noticed tho is that when I'm not actively creating stuff#I have more energy to get invested in others stuff?? I appreciate VP and general OC talks way more#just something I've noticed 👁👄👁
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OC: Macha Richter | for @theviridianbunny 's new mod Mature Complexion for Fem V - out on Nexus now - give this a try because it looks so good!
#cyberpunk 2077#fem v#cyberpunk mods#imaginary vp#oc: macha richter#I took this as an opportunity to overhaul her older appearance and I am mucho in love#cyberpunk screenshots#cp77 oc#virtual photography#dailygaming#videogamewomen#on a personal note I wanna say congrats bunny on your second mod!!!
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Look at these lovestruck fucking tourists ~
#the last one still makes me weak ayndnrsfdmdndm Vince all cheeky#these were silly just for testing purposes :3#but literally the whole purpose of the poses is supposed to be for creating lil slice of life like scenarios#so yeh uwu#cyberpunk 2077#Cyberpunk2077#cyberpunk vp#cp2077 vp#cp 2077#virtual photography#my vp#kerry eurodyne#kerry eurodyne x v#cyberpunk v#vincent ezaki#otp: to bad decisions#elven tries modding cyberpunk#slowly getting better at it :D
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I'm in love with these upcoming heels by @aurorartz!
#cyberpunk 2077#cp 2077#cyberpunk 2077 vp#cyberpunk photomode#cyberpunk vp#cyberpunk mods#cyberpunk 2077 mods#oc:jvd#my oc#i love these shoes
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Raphael is not amused 👹
#baldur's gate 3#bg3#raphael bg3#bg3 raphael#raphael the cambion#the devil you know#bg3 edit#my edits#virtual photography#mine: vp#my stuff#bg3 mods
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“Hold fast to dreams, For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird, That cannot fly.” ― Langston Hughes
#cyberpunk 2077#virtual photography#queue me up scotty#my vp#cyberpunk 2077 photomode#cyberpunk2077#oc: venus#cyberpunk 2077 mods#photomode#my virtual photography#videogamewomen#videogame photography#fem v oc#female v#fem v#artistic photography#oc photography#my oc#venus “valerie” carter#video games#oc art
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i've had them for one day and i'd do anything for them
#oc: jordan bailey#cyberpunk 2077#nonbinary v#nbv#cp2077#cp2077edit#cyberpunk photomode#cyberpunk photography#my ocs#my vp#changed their tattoos bc the original ones were clipping so bad with the solo arms and some flat chest tops#these ones still do a little but not nearly as much and they still look so cool#tempted to try to learn how to mod just to make more flat chest content but i am so not good at stuff like that
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