I’ve blogged in the past about the importance of creative expression for me. Capturing light is one of the means by which I practice that, and though recent records don’t show it much, I love photography. When I travel or in some way engage a non-everyday activity, photography is a means for me to capture the moment/adventure/atmosphere/emotion of being in that place at that time. While i’ve let things get in the way of having those adventures I’ve always found joy in the imagination of adventures though fantastical worlds made possible with video games. As game consoles (and PC game launchers) build-in first class mechanisms for capturing shots of game experiences I’ve gradually come to embrace that ability and what I’m finding is a joy in capturing moments/adventures/atmosphere/emotion in those experience similar to how I do those in my own life.
Capturing and framing moments/renderings in games which help showcase the creativity of their developers is a rather exhilarating feeling as a photographer
What I find to be at least as gratifying as having an eye for recognizing a moment and “framing” it is the idea that my efforts in doing so have the potential ability to promote and celebrate the creativity which has gone into producing those moments, captured in all their aesthetic beauty. It feels like paying homage to the hard work of developers while finding an outlet for my joy of photography, in whatever form that may take.
As part of capturing the moment, I create memories of fantastical adventures
What I can foresee now, just as I can already feel, is years down the line I can look back on on albums of gameshots and travel through time and memories of fantastical adventures that in ways can feel indistinguishable from live ones. The limits to how I can fill the albums will only be the opportunities I have to focus on capturing them during gameplay and the methods by which I do so. One thing I love about the Nintendo Switch is the dedicated capture button on the controller affording quick and seamless snaps during gameplay. PC game launchers like Steam offer similar means, but as I’m now discovering, being blessed with the means to game in HDR apparently means moments cannot be seamlessly captured in HDR, and if it’s one thing I’ve come to appreciate from my experiences in games like Doom Eternal and Resident Evil 3, is the big, significant difference HDR makes.
My photography portfolio is currently showcasing gameshots moreso than my live light captures, something I wouldn’t have imagined when I launched this site. I don’t anticipate that always being the case but it’s a reflection of a surprising enjoyment and opportunity I’m finding in capturing them. Again, as I’ve unfortunately allowed my normal photography activity to take a hit, I feel great appreciation for this type of photography giving me an opportunity to remember and keep in touch with what I enjoy about it.