The purpose of this thread is to help people who are wanting to get into photography in GTA V and to also share tips and tricks with others who may be looking to learn something new. If you have any questions you want to ask or any advice you would like to give, feel free to share it here!
Learn about important aspects in pictures and how to capture, edit, and upload a screenshot using the R* Editor.
Lighting: The lighting is the most important aspect of any photo you take. Having a good light source will help bring out the color and details in the subject you're photographing. I find it best to take pictures at sunrise (about 6:00-9:00) and when the sun starts to set (16:00-19:00) since the sun is stronger and catches the side of the car better.
Photo taken on unlit side: Makes the paint look bland, right?
Photo taken on the lit(lol) side: Notice how the colors improved and how the pearlescent is more visible now.
2. Setting Up and Recording: First, you need to find a good setting. The setting is very important, because it shapes the mood and tone of your photo. Having a good setting will help the viewer immerse themselves in your picture and make it look and feel real.
You're relaxing under a tree, sipping on a glass of wine and enjoying life...
...But then you wake up and realize it was all a dream. You got kidnapped by a killer clown and taken to a railyard where nobody can hear your screams...
Once you've established your setting, you need to set up your scene. Place your subject in a position so that its properly lit from the position you plan on taking your picture. I would recommend that if you don't want your character to be in the photo that you find a place to hide him/her behind an object. This helps especially if you plan on taking pictures from multiple angles. Don't move too far away though, the camera can only move a certain distance from your character.
Here you can see my character hidden behind the wall but close enough to the car for the camera to reach.
Once you are in position, start recording a clip to use in the R* Editor. If you are in a wide open area with no cover, run in a large circle around the car while recording. 3. Capturing and Editing: After recording your clips, its time to create the final product. Once you load up the R* Editor, you will need to create a new project. Create a new project, select 'Add Clip', and then select your clip. When you select your clip, it will be placed on the timeline. Press X to edit the clip. Once the clip loads, you will see an options menu and a bar at the bottom.
The bottom bar is for setting markers for editing specific frames. You can set a marker wherever you feel like. This is useful if you ran around your car while recording, so you scroll to where your character is out of the frame.
After you place a marker down, go to Cameras>Free Camera>Edit Camera. This gives you the ability to move the camera into any position you like. While doing this, you should also use the zoom function to give the picture a more realistic appearance. Usually anywhere from 2.5x-3.5x works fine. Here I used 2.65x
Next, go to Depth of Field. Depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear sharp in an image. The custom>manual option gives you full control over the DoP, which is the Intensity and Focus Distance. Focus distance lets you set where the focus area begins from the camera. Intensity affects the size of the focus area. The higher the intensity, the smaller the area is. If your subject is positioned at a hard angle from the camera, you should use a lower intensity so the focus area reaches front to back.
A good way of checking if your DoP is good is to cycle between the custom and default focus to see a before-and-after effect.
Picture with DoP applied.
Final step is to edit the effects. Here you'll be able to add filters, adjust saturation, contrast, brightness, and vignette. For filters, Thermopylae is my go-to. 2-6% gives the picture a warm feeling and brings out the colors more. Each filter has different effects though, so use what you believe is best. Try to avoid filters that warp the image or make it blurry.
Saturation refers to how intense the colors are. Negative saturation makes the image appear more grey, while positive saturation makes the colors brighter and more intense.
Contrast is the amount of difference between colors. Negative contrast makes the colors more dull and faded, while positive contrast will give your picture darker shadows and brighter highlights.
Brightness is lol jk.
Vignette reduces the brightness around the outside of the picture.
Picture with effects added.
4. Uploading: When you're happy with your photo, press R3 to remove the HUD, then take a screenshot. Do not use Socialclub to get your picture. SC lowers the lowers the picture's resolution. Instead, Save your photo from the capture gallery on to a usb and use Imgur of Flickr to upload it from there.
