Sky: Children of the light is a calming and peaceful game that lets the player go on a quest in saving the spirits exploring the fallen kingdoms in 7 different realms. Each realm represents each stage of life which the player can see in the game later on as the story progresses. For this activity, I decided on capturing my shots in Isle of Dawn, Daylight Prairie, and Hidden Forest. The three realms had different lighting, making me shoot between day and night. Because of this, I planned on doing landscape photography and angle shots. Using my Asus Microsoft Windows 11, I downloaded Steam and tried out 3 different games; tiny glade (demo), panorama, and Sky: Children of the light. As much as I wanted to play the first two building games, it lacked visuals and camera settings for me to choose from. The camera setting of Sky: Children of the light was adjustable using the scroll button on the mouse where the player can adjust how close or far away the camera is to the character. With moving the RMB and LMB, it allowed me to shoot at certain angles like by the shoulder or a drone shot. The video attached above is a reference on how the camera in the game adjusts. My shots were captured by pressing the PrtSc button. Comparing it to a real-life camera/photography, I was not able to adjust any camera settings such as the shutter speed, aperture, and ISO along with composition tools, which made it harder for me to capture when there are moving elements and bright lights. I wasn’t even able to pause mid-game if I wanted to capture the action of the character which made it harder for me to achieve the shot I desired to do. Regardless of the limited tools in the game, the skills I learned from this activity can still be applied in real photography regarding angles, shots, and technique composition.
Another reason why I picked this game to photograph, even though the graphics are heavy on storage usage and might make my laptop heat (especially this month's summer heat), I love going back to what I played before. So, I can say that I am already familiar with the game and its story. I played the game almost 3 years ago but didn’t finish it because of how boring it seemed to me. Since the past few days have been stressful with midterms, I found the game relaxing and chill. Even though this is an activity from MMS 173, I still enjoyed playing the game as it brought back old memories.
Applying the rule of thirds, the emphasis of this shot is the character flying to the temple in the realm of Daylight Prairie. The diagonal composition can be seen in the trail of clouds from the character's cape that served as wings leading the eyes to the temple and the sky. This is one of the hardest shots I took from the game because there is no pause or steady feature, so I had to reach for my PrtSc button at the same time hold the movement of the character.
I really like this shot because how complicated it was to take making me proud of it. Aside from that, the silhoutte of the temple, the shadows of the clouds, and the soft colors have rhythmic composition.
One of the reasons I picked this photo out of the rest is because it reminded me of looking at Mt. Mayon in Bicol. The foggy clouds beneath and the hills beside where you can sit, it gave me peace. Empasizing the destination (the mountain) of the game, the eyes also leads to the character sitting on the hill and next to the far way that seems to look like a stone archway to another realm. The overlapping of elements such as the hills and the clouds implied togetherness and can tell which is farther and closer from the camera.
Something to know about this game is that in order to save a spirit or make new friends, you have to share the light from your candle. In order to fly high, you need to collect more fire from other candles in different realms. Here is a shot of my character in the realm of Dawn collecting her first light to save the spirit of the pointing candlemaker. This is the first and my favorite shot I took from the game. The blur of the fire that's closer to the camera focuses on the bright character. The rainbow prism reflection of the fire shows how light affects the lens of the camera.
Although there isn't a teaparty visible in the shot, I titled this shot "teaparty" because while playing the game in this realm, there were several activities and one of them is a teaparty which I find pretty cute. In this shot, symmetry and balance is found. The symmetry of the overlapping trees and the two lamps between the character and the stone archway, it all unities the shot. The glowing tree from the right stands out to the rest of the trees but is still part of the balanced frame because there isn't unwanted space to be seen.
The whole point of this game was to follow the light and save the spirits using it. That's why it's called Sky: Children of the light. Applying the rules of thirds emphasizing the character more, she looks powerful and unstoppable. With the light reflecting to the camera, it created a lens flare that fits the whole aesthetic of the shot.
From the first to this last capture, the only editing I did was minimal cropping to better focus on the emphasis in the picture.
Reflecting while playing the game, I have forgotten how enjoyable it was to play these types of games. From the eye pleasing graphics to the concept of the story, I like how it all comes together and how creative it was for the developers to create a world like this. Although the game is big and heavy in storage usage, I can definitely say it was worth playing. The virtual world in this game is good practice in shooting from different angles and learning more on how to handle lighting when reflected in the lens. Like I said before, I found the game quite boring because back then I didn't appreciate the graphic and was longing for more adventure. However, this time, because of this activity, I enjoyed exploring the different realms and elements in the game allowing me to focus on what I should capture next. From the technique compositions I learned in Unit I and the lighting compositions in Unit II, I was able to apply them in capturing the shots I took while appreciating the landscape graphics in the game.
The comparison between game photography and real world photography can be told apart easily. Real world photography needs you to bring your physical camera to the spot you want to shoot while game photography just lets you roam without the feeling of heaviness on you while finding the spot to shoot. Expensive gears and ideal lighting can be hard to deal with in real world photography as you, the photographer, adjust to the world’s setting. Sometimes, built-in cameras in game photography already have automatic camera settings such as the aperture and exposure, which the photographer doesn’t need to adjust to get the perfect shot. Although this seems like a pro-side to game photography, sometimes if the photographer wants their photo to be in a specific setting, they couldn’t achieve it because of the limited camera settings given by the game. In real world photography, the camera settings limit will depend on what camera the photographer uses. Regarding achieving the perfect shots in angles and perspectives, game photography does not limit how high or low where you want to capture your photo, unlike in real world photography, you have to make an effort on where to angle your camera. For example, I can’t achieve a close-up shot of a bird in the sky because I can’t angle myself beside it while it’s flying. I only encountered one challenge while doing this activity, that is there was no freeze action where the game pauses for you to angle the perfect shot. I mentioned it twice already but I struggled with capturing the flying moments in the game as I needed to hold the keys while trying to push the screenshot button. I was happy with the final shot I picked because it shows movement while looking steady.
In conclusion, game photography is a good practice zone for beginner photographers who want to explore their style and practice techniques. Game photography gives creative freedom forming concepts and ideal shots that real world photography can’t achieve. Although game photography looks like less work and manageable, real-world photography still differs as it teaches the photographer how to adapt to the conditions of the world which is what photography is all about. The feeling of heaviness of gear and the irritable heat of sunburn in your skin cannot weigh the joy of having to capture that perfect shot.