Hi, Picashot fam!
July is over! Just picture me writing this with my eyes wide open, wondering where the days have gone! We had fun in July though. We asked y'all what you wanted to see on our blog and we listened. We started a new series - VP Showcase With PIcashot, sharing amazing photos from Red Dead Redemption 2 and we still have more coming! Stay tuned!
We shared the ethics of the virtual photography industry that you totally need to know about! We also shared a couple of recommendations we believe you'd love - 7 Games With Amazing Photo Mode You Should Try Out&6 Games To Try Out For Beginner VP Artists. Check them out!
You already know what time it is! Our favorite part of the month - chatting with a VP artist. Our virtual photographer of the month is no other person than the warm-hearted Giuseppe, mostly known as WhySoDucky. He shares the story behind his username, his favorite gaming and VP moments, and a lot more. You'd have to read this interesting conversation to know everything!
Let's get into the chat!
WhySoDucky? That’s such an unusual username. Is there a story behind it?
I know right, it’s a very unusual and unique username. I always wanted to have a username that had some pep and zing and I’m super proud of it! The story behind it is pretty long so buckle up; like every cool story this starts in the winter of 2011, the day before Christmas.
I downloaded a card game on my old iPod touch called Shadow Era, which is still alive, and I started playing it a few days later. I didn’t know what username to pick so I made what at the time I thought was a cool name. Get where I’m going with this? No, because it’s not the one I have right now. Then I discovered the game had a site/forum and I joined it. Started to post decks and made friends and I eventually discovered it also had an IRC chat, and I joined that one too. There I made friends with a guy and one of the devs of the game, and they managed to convince me to get an Xbox so we could play together, which I got. The randomly generated Gamertag I got assigned was “ElevatedDuck375.” Now you see where I’m going with this!! On the forum, I also made friends with a guy called “NinjaDucky” and I thought he had a super cool name. I also at that time played a lot of Modern Warfare 2, and on YouTube, I stumbled upon SoCloseToToast, and there I thought I wanted to have a cool gamertag like his, and I started thinking.
Months passed and I got nothing. In the back of my mind this “NinjaDucky” made me interested and since I already had “Duck” I thought that I might as well get something along the “Ducky” lines too. Nothing came to mind again. Then one day on TV there was The Dark Knight, and Heath Ledger, recounting how he “got these scars?” mentioned his father telling him “Why so serious? Let’s put a smile on this face” and that stuck with me. The gears in my mind started turning. I searched online and the only things I could find were Urban Dictionary entries for “so ducky" and “just ducky” both of which mean that “everything is fine” ' but in a sarcastic way, though used in different situations. As someone who loves sarcasm I ended up using “so ducky” and combining it with Joker’s “why so serious?” and came up with WhySoDucky. Been using it ever since. More than 10 years strong baby!!!
Wow. That’s quite a story. So, what is your name and where are you from?
My name is Giuseppe and I’m from the boot that’s kicking Spain in the butt, a little country called Italy, maybe you’ve heard of it before.
How did you get into gaming and virtual photography?
I got into gaming together with my brother when we were kids and our dad bought us a PlayStation 2, the first model that I call “black brick” for how thick it was. I remember that he had a coworker set it up for us since he knew nothing about it. He got us Pac-Man World 2 and a MotoGP game, sadly I don’t remember which. That started my gaming journey.
As for VP, I got into it thanks to Cyberpunk 2077 I was playing it back when it first launched and during Kerry Eurodyne’s side-gig where you go with him to meet Us Cracks, I remember Kerry saying something along the lines of “We should take a picture” and the tutorial window on how to open the photo mode popped up. That’s where I discovered the game had a photo mode. I posted the picture on Twitter too. Then a few months later I was browsing Twitter and then stumbled upon the #Cyberpunk2077PhotoMode tag and checked it, and the VP world opened up to me.
You indicate that you take your photos on the console. What influenced that choice? Do you play games via other avenues at all?
I have played on consoles pretty much my whole life, even though I spent a few years playing on PC (TES IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Fallout New Vegas, all I ended up modding) so it was a pretty simple choice to make. I find it easier because I used to spend more time looking for mods than actually playing a game. However, since I got into the VP Community I found myself wanting to share the beauty of a game as it is, unmodded, in the hope that maybe I influence people into getting the games I enjoy and shoot.
What’s your favorite game to play?
My favorite game to play varies pretty much on a daily basis, though I can always boot up Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy XII, or Ghost of Tsushima and have a good time. However, my comfort game is Stardew Valley. Nothing beats it in terms of how good it makes me feel. The music, the gameplay, it’s just comforting on so many levels.
Do you have any favorite virtual photos that you've taken? If so, what makes them special to you?
I do actually, and the list grows longer and longer. My top 3 favorites are these:
Oh, these pictures are stunning!
Do you edit your photos after capturing them, and if so, what software or tools do you use?
I prefer to capture pictures in bulk and edit them all together, once a week, preferably on Saturday evening. Have been doing this since I started to edit pictures around the same time Scorn came out. To edit, I use Adobe Lightroom for mobile and to watermark them, I prefer Snapseed. Sometimes, I edit them in Snapseed too because of the amount of options available that are not present in Lightroom.
What’s your favorite thing to do apart from gaming?
I have a knack for a lot of things actually.
My absolute favorite thing to do apart from gaming is watching movies, which is where I take most of my inspiration from, whether it’s framing or scenes and such. Also, I have a love for writing, which is something I’m trying to get back into because it’s a great outlet for my creative side that the VP doesn’t reach. I have a few things I want to write because they have been in my mind forever and I want to share them with interested people.
There’s also music that I listen to daily, especially during editing sessions (that may take up to 6 hours depending on how many pictures I have) or sometimes even when gaming. I am also getting back into Magic The Gathering through a friend, and also through him, we have been planning to teach me D&D too. One of my favorite things to do used to be drawing, though I haven’t done that in so long that I lost all my skills if ever I had any.
Are there any game developers or virtual photographers who inspire your art?
Most of my inspiration comes from other Virtual Photographers like Steffi (@StefanieMcMaken), Ultra Violetra (@UVioletra), Mik (@TheFourthFocus), and Shinobi (@Shinobi_Space)
There are also my besties; Lyss, Rapha, and Aria (@lysshoots, @MrRaphZahn, @AriaDemonchild respectively) and many many others.
In what ways has virtual photography enhanced your gaming experience?
VP helped me “notice” the art design of games. I don’t look at a game and think “Oh the gameplay mechanics look fun and engaging” anymore, now I pay attention to the world, and the design that went into it. I can fully appreciate the work of the people who made the game I’m playing to the fullest, from the mechanics to the design of the characters, the enemies, and the landscapes. Thanks to VP I now deeply believe that games are truly an art form on their own, not only because of the stories they tell, but also because of their art design. You can have as much fun as you want playing games, though you eat with your eyes first.
What is the most challenging aspect of virtual photography for you?
Challenging? Yeah, there are a few for me. Action shots are something I kind of struggle with, mostly because I have trouble with where to position the camera. Black & White is the biggest struggle for me though, it’s something I would love to be able to capture/edit because it’s very powerful in showcasing certain elements, or feelings mostly, especially in portraits. Being able to capture raw feelings and express them through black and white pictures like that is something I would love to be able to do, and something of which I take a lot of inspiration from Lyss, who’s the literal best at it and I would love to be just as good as her.
You’ve posted over 100 photos of A Plague’s Tale: Innocence on Picashot. What makes the game’s photo mode special to you?
The simplicity of it. The fact that it’s pretty bare-boned is its greatest strength because it’s easy to use, easy to understand, and most importantly it’s a great one for beginners. It gives you a basic understanding of how a photo mode behaves and the knowledge of how to use it, which you can bring to the many different ones we see in other games, especially, as I said before if you’re a beginner.
We have five questions, ready to answer?
If you were to be a game character, who would you be?
Difficult question. Lots of people would want to be the protagonist, or someone aiding them, because “cool factor” and whatnot. Depends mostly on the game, its mechanics, and if they apply to NPCs as well. If they are, I would totally love to be a random Hunter in a Monster Hunter game, making a living by hunting monsters, or a Pilot in Titanfall 2. The sheer amount of coolness those two games radiates is incredible. If the rules and mechanics of the game don’t apply to NPCs, then I have to pick a farmer in Stardew Valley. Just insert me in a farm growing just enough crops to eat and some to sell, with almost nobody around, living in peace in the middle of nature. Yeah, I call that a peaceful life!
You can only play a group of the following games forever, which will it be? –
Group A - Monster Hunter Rise, Lords of the Fallen, Stray
Group B - Starfield, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Ghostwire Tokyo
Group C - Dying Light, Elden Ring, BioMutant
Yeesh, now we getting hard with the questions!! I’m just gonna start by saying that having played ALL of the games cited it’s really hard to pick which group because I legit love all of them. Though since I can only choose one I’ll pick Group A, no brainer! I’m a huge fan of the Monster Hunter series (long live the Hunting Horn!!!!!), and Rise being available on Xbox Game Pass was a huge deal for me. Back when I was a kid my grandpa used to have 3 or 4 cats so I grew up a cat lover, so being able to play as a cat in Stray was such a delight. I have been loving Lords of the Fallen (which I’ll get back to as soon as I finish Dark Souls 3) and the original one is the first souls-like game I’ve ever played and the game that made me fall in love with Deck13 Interactive and Focus Entertainment (if you’re reading this, call me, I’d love to become a capture artist for your games!)
Can you share a gaming/virtual photography experience that had an emotional impact on you?
A few come to mind, though the biggest one is the ending of Final Fantasy XII, where you’re presented with a cutscene that shows what happens to every major character after you defeat the last boss, and the song Kiss Me Good-Bye by Angela Aki plays in the background. That game has been my favorite since my brother got it for his birthday upon recommendation by one of his friends. We used to play it in turns a lot so it holds a very special place in my heart. Finishing the game felt really really sad, not only because I finished my favorite game ever, but also because I didn’t have my brother there with me to experience it. As sad as it was, playing that game with my brother is one of my favorite memories of my childhood. I still have a copy of the game too.
As for Virtual Photography, it's the time I won a key for a Focus Entertainment game by winning a contest held by them for the Atlas Fallen game when it was released. One of my proudest moments.
What’s your favorite quote from a game?
My overall favorite one is from a khajiit in Skyrim that goes “Absurdity has become a necessity.” It’s funny cause it’s true.
Thanks for sharing. Moving on…
When did you first learn about Picashot?
I learned about Picashot shortly after the Twitter account for it was made. I do not remember the exact date it was though. Been using it ever since, even though with long breaks in between as of right now.
What’s your favorite Picashot feature?
Probably the albums. I’m huge on cataloging things, especially my pictures (which I already do on my OneDrive) so having a reliable way to do so for my pictures is kind of a big deal for me.
Are there any features you'd like to see on Picashot?
Yes, there is one! The ability to pick a cover picture for albums, especially on the mobile app! It would be really neat to be able to pick one as the cover so that when someone goes to browse through my albums they can immediately recognize a game they might like. Also because I personally want to use my favorite pictures as covers!
Any advice for aspiring virtual photographers?
I do have some, yes!!
First of all: never be scared to ask for tips and tricks. Asking for tips and tricks is kind of essential if you want to improve your skills because you can only get you so far. We all started somewhere and having someone point you in the right direction can be crucial to you developing this skill further and improving it.
Take the pictures that YOU want to see. This is INVALUABLE! The moment you start thinking about what other people want to see is the moment your pictures lose your “personality,” what makes them truly yours. You may take a picture of the same location as somebody else, or maybe the same character, though the various nuances, the slightly angled camera, the coloring, those are what makes them yours.
Be your own biggest fan and hype man/hype woman.
Start small and experiment. You don’t need the most powerful PC, the latest console, or the best editing tools. You don’t even need the latest or most popular game. You can just play a game, open the photo mode, take a picture, and share it. It’s that easy. Everything else is secondary. Also experimenting plays a huge part! Not only with the subjects of your pictures but also with the games you want to snap. Experiment and you’ll find what works for you and what doesn’t.
And finally, HAVE FUN! This is a hobby, and it must be treated as such. Games are meant to be played to escape reality. If you don’t have fun, you’re ruining it. The fact that as Virtual Photographers we also take pictures in those games, changes nothing. Play a game casually, then open the photo mode when you see something you like, snap it, then share it. Don’t let it stress you out. Having fun is your top priority, so get out there, play games, and have fun!
Solid advice all through! Thank you so much, Giuseppe. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation! Thank you for being a star in this virtual gaming photography industry.
Follow WhySoDucky on Picashot!
