VP Interview: Ghostly Fog Crawler

 

The world of virtual photography is as diverse as any art form. People take to it for different reasons and also have various ways of approaching the hobby. Today we have an interview with Ghostly Fog Crawler who was featured for both her Fallout 76 work here and her Red Dead Redemption Online shots here. 

Below we get a greater insight into the person behind the shots and discover what drives that creativity!

All shots on this page were taken by Ghostly Fog Crawler for more of her wonderful work check out her page here.

Fallout 76

What got you into Virtual Photography and why does it mean so much to you?

I was not into virtual photography as my page was starting off as a story platform. Later on I took more photos rather than wrote. I was told the Fallout 76 is an ugly game so I decided to prove them wrong. Now I have found an amazing amount of stunning scenes in other games too, which has got me to expand my page into other games too.

Most of your shots come from online games with a lack of photo mode. How do you get past that obstacle and embrace the medium of virtual photography?

I take screenshots with no visible hud if no photo mode, or if there is a cinematic mode. They usually provide nice angles for shots. I end up using these sometimes even there would be a photo mode! Again it requires me to explore the world with friends or alone, and the situation I feel would be great for a photo happens along the way.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Online

Out of all the games you have played and shot. Which mean the most to you and why?

Fallout 76 most likely on this account means most, as my page was built around the characters in it. The game is really much fun with friends and the community amazes me daily with stunning shots.

Later came other more aesthetic games like Red Dead Redemption 2 (the Online version), and then also the Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint with amazing photo mode and scenery, which I do adore a lot.

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint

It is clear that you have a love for Fallout 76, How has the journey as a photographer and a gamer treated you in the post-apocalyptic world?

Very nicely. I get all my ideas for my photos as we quest or mess around with friends. Luckily I am also surrounded with people with similar interests, and they allow me to just suddenly 'hop' off from the main event and go taking photos.

Currently the actual virtual photography has become more and more stressful, so I'll be going back to my story telling. It was fun while it lasted, but I need to enjoy this hobby rather than start feeling anxiety over every post I make.

What draws you into creating your own characters and narratives within the worlds you play in and out of all of your original characters, who is your favourite?

I love writing stories, starting the Fallout 76 story page was something I had never done, as previous stories I had written were not in English, but in Finnish as the MMORPG I played contained a massive amount of my countrymen. (1200 people in the guild I was in). So also this 'new' way of finding a way to play with words in this foreign language, has been a challenge, and a joy to do. 

I fail often, and am grateful to some of the people in the community to point them out, allowing my grammar to grow in the right direction, and motivating me to write more. I enjoy bringing my characters to life and getting many messages of inspiring people to start writing their own stories also warms my heart tremendously.

My all time favourite character is - who else - than Aster. I also had worked the longest with my Enclavist Julia, and fell for my Communist sisters Lilith and Svetlana. But still Aster holds a special place in my heart and therefore she is the most commonly written character of my stories. In the PDF book I am working on, all my characters will be working together/against each other, around Aster's story, who is starring it. We'll see how that works out.

Are there any other games that you would like to explore or any that you are looking forward to the release of?

I am currently playing Borderlands 3, continuing my Forza Horizon enthusiasm in the 4th game, Ghost Recon, and soon diving into Sea of Thieves too as some of my friends are playing it. 

The only release date I have been keeping my eye out is for Diablo IV. I will have to actually most likely take a time off from Instagram as it comes out, and just feast on the new chapter of the legendary tales.

Being an avid virtual photographer who doesn't use a photo mode often, do you have any advice for those who are reluctant to explore without that kind of setting?

Many games nowadays have the actual photo mode, of some sort, but the ones that have not, usually the HUD is hideable, which allows you to take clean screenshots of even action moments, views, sunsets, starry skies only the sky's the limit!

Playing on consoles sometimes the HUD is not completely hidden, so skills in cropping and having high quality photos is sometimes needed in games where photo mode is not a thing. Also patience and exploring the possibilities of the game is always good for the skills on virtual photography, even when using the photo mode.

I play through all platforms Fallout 76 and Red Dead Redemption 2. So what I have learned is that on PC (as my PC is getting old) and I have no 4k screen on it yet.The photos taken on PC require a lot eye for lighting and backgrounds to make the character or item to pop out even remotely clear. As I do not mod any other than Minecraft from my games on PC, I have to really work for the photos. Sometimes I might get lost for hours on trying to get exactly the photo I want even on my PS4 and XBox One, which requires my friends to have a lot of patience when it comes to taking photos with me, and I am blessed to have such friends. I just can not take a pose and snap a photo. I mean I can, but it usually ends up something I don't feel good about. 

So whatever platforms you're playing I am sure the photos you come up with are amazing! The Fallout Community has phenomenal, actual virtual photographers, who most likely could give tips on editing and apps to use, as I don't use anything else than my phone's photo gallery edits to mainly crop if ever needed.

Fallout 76: Atom_X

Today we have the wonderful work of Atom X. I first came cross Atom when he was prolifically shooting Skyrim. At the time I was solely shooting that game and his work inspired me. The softness of his shots and the dreamlike qualities really set the scenes.

Now he shoots a wide plethora of games but I decided to make his first showcase on here Fallout 76. A game despite its poor reception does have a rather large dedicated fan base. 

As you can see from these shots, Atom is not afraid to change the focus of his subjects or experiment with different styles of photography. I hope this work inspires others out there to try their hand at something new and bold. To see more of his work check out his Instagram page here.

VP Interview: Gamezyscreenshotz_

One of my first followers on Instagram and a constant source of inspiration to me in the Virtual Photography community is Gamezyscreenshotz_. Not only is he prolific and experimental, but likes to shoot games that aren't the flavour of the month or necessarily the popular choices. Passion is his focus and it shows in spades. Due to this, I decided that he deserved to be my first interview on V P Vibrancy. 


Welcome to the blog Gamezy!  My first question and possibly the most straightforward: What brought you to the Virtual Photography hobby?

In all honesty I never heard of virtual photography before. I was just randomly gaming on Horizon Zero Dawn and taking some photos on it, so I thought why not post them? Later on I thought: I think I will do this as a separate thing to my art as I had nothing going for me. I dropped out of college due to difficult circumstances. I then later found more people who were doing the same thing and Skydragengames put something on his story about partnering up, so I clicked yes not knowing what this was. It took me some time to understand what partners were, but slowly after that I fell in love with virtual photography.

Your journey started with Horizon Zero Dawn. Where did that take you? What did you learn and where did it lead to?

Well I was just learning the basics of taking photos. I honestly got tired of posting photos of Horizon Zero Dawn, as I felt like I was being very plain and that I wasn't challenging my creativity. I'm a big believer in pushing yourself, having fun and being creative. 

Later I went on to getting several games like Jurassic World Evolution and posting here and there, which was fun, but later as time went on I went to DOOM. This isn't popular in the VP community at all, but me, I'm all about going risky with something that isn't popular at all. I set out to show my love and passion for this game. I connected to it in when I was in a negative way, angry and depressed. I would play DOOM to escape and release my anger. I was once silent and angry as a person, I found I connected with the Slayer in a deep and dark way in how I was mentally. Not wishing harm on others but due to the bleak nature of life. I decided to revisit the game that I had so much history with, I researched to see if DOOM had a photo mode and I found out that it did, so I bought it. 

At first I was apprehensive about going back to something that I had such a negative connection with, but going back into it and challenging my creativity, turning that negative energy into something new and possible. It brought out something great and I pushed myself each time further, trying new things and feeling happy playing the game again. 

I set out with the goal of playing the game to be creative not angry, I don't think many people have connections with violent games, but this game franchise helped me a lot in the end and I am glad I came back to it.  It has made me more creative and I've inspired other people on here to join in on DOOM. I might not be very popular, but I don't really care. I want to show the ugly side of games and hopefully inspire more people to come to horror and enjoy ugly games. 

I've led to creating and co-creating weekly themes, one which encourages everyone to be creative and one to show off monsters. Now it leads me to push myself and hopefully inspire and push others too.

My creativity has evolved a lot and I'm making sure to push it each time. I've learned to always try something new and to adapt and push my creative limits when I can.



DOOM is unlike most games with a photomode. As an up to date version of the hyper-violent FPS classic, it is an ugly, brutal and bloody experience. What is it about this world you love so much and what inspires you to stay shooting it?

I love that its different to the other games. Its of a much darker tone and I'm inspired to keep at it because I know there is so much I can do in the game. Its smaller than others and it has got a personal level of feeling to me, connecting with my past and playing it makes me see that something that was so negative can be a positive for me. Sharing the ugly side of virtual photography brings me joy and I hope that it inspires others to do the same and show that darker side of their photos.

Hopefully this will inspire others to give DOOM a try. The game is often on sale and with the arrival of Eternal, I am sure it will raise the games profile again. What tips would you give other VPs wanting to take photos of the game?

The tips I would give to anyone wanting to try out DOOM is to taker your time with your photos. Mess around with the settings to get a feel for them as it can be overwhelming compared to other virtual photography based games. My tip would be experiment each time you take a photo, it doesn't matter how many you take. Even if it doesn't look great, post one. For one you can see how to improve upon it and you can later look back at your journey and how you've improved.  I started off and I was terrible, but I kept at it and I am still improving. Also, take photos of things that just happen that are surprising. Always challenge yourself when you take your photos, it makes taking them more fun and rewarding when you look at them. I've found with DOOM its difficult getting the photos at times but honestly its rewarding. Out of any game I have played so far it is the most difficult to get it right the first time. 

My advice is: be persistent, challenge yourself and have fun with it, don't be discouraged because the photos you find bad may actually be amazing. 

It is baby steps finding your footing. Find what theme fits for you, but always challenge what you choose to do creatively, it is left for you to do something with it. If needed, anyone new to the game can always come to me for advice.

There is no hiding that you must be hyped for DOOM Eternal, but are there any other games out there that you are looking forward to? Or perhaps there are other games that you would like to try your vp skills out on?

I am super excited for Eternal as its more lore intensive and everything has been upgraded by the looks of things. For other games Eternal would be one regardless even if it had no photo mode. It doesn't matter I like the challenge. For a game I'd like to be posting, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, I briefly posted some shots of, but it has no photo mode. It is a challenge. Also, I love Undertale, which I own and that is something I am excited to post but it also has no photo mode. I would like to show everyone that you don't need a photo mode to have good photos.

The skills I have learned I want to apply to every game I play. It could be any game, I just want to challenge myself.


Thank you for your time Gamezy and I implore readers to give DOOM a try. It is on PS Now and Game Pass, equally it can be found dirt cheap in online deals, thrift stores/second hand shops.