20 Best In-Game Photo Challenges To Try

If you enjoy taking amazing in-game photos, these games offer fun challenges to help you express your creativity. Each idea provides a specific goal, suggests a location, and recommends settings to help you get professional-looking results. Feel free to try these out while exploring the open world or during missions, experimenting with different times of day, weather effects, camera lenses, and character poses. You’ll end up with a diverse and impressive photo gallery you’ll be proud to share.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Capture a dynamic shot of Peter or Miles swinging above Midtown during the warm light of golden hour. Position the camera on a rooftop, use a slow shutter speed to create motion blur, and smoothly follow the hero as they swing. This will make the city lights and traffic blur into streaks while keeping the character in focus. Use a zoomed-in lens to make the skyline appear closer and simplify the background. Add a subtle film grain effect and a slight darkening around the edges (vignette) to highlight the emblem on the suit.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Take a long-exposure photo of a Sky Island waterfall, capturing Link as he paraglides across the scene. Cloudy or rainy weather will help create softer lighting. Use a wide-angle lens to emphasize the waterfall’s height. Position a Zonai light source to the side to illuminate the mist. For the best shot, find a stable spot to stand and time it so Link appears on the lower third of the frame as he begins to glide.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Create a dramatic campfire portrait using only the light from the fire. Photograph at night in a wooded area, placing your subject slightly to one side. Use a wide aperture to blur the background. Reduce your exposure slightly to prevent the flames from appearing overexposed, and allow the shadows to softly fall on the subject’s face. For a vintage feel, add a subtle film grain effect and a touch of sepia toning.

Ghost of Tsushima

Capture the movement of wind and leaves in a wheat field at sunset. Experiment with filters inspired by Kurosawa’s style, or enhance the colors and contrast. Shoot from a low angle, close to the wheat, and position the frame so the wind’s direction draws the eye toward a distant landmark like a shrine or mountain. Then, time your shot to freeze Jin in a dramatic pose with his cape billowing in the wind, ideally during a tense moment.

Forza Horizon 5

Create a smooth, moving shot while driving on the highway near the coast, with cars visible. Use a slow shutter speed and a medium zoom to keep your own car sharp while blurring the background. In photo mode, adjust the aperture to create a shallow depth of field, highlighting the car’s wheel arches. For the best results, film at sunrise after it’s rained to capture reflections on the wet road.

Cyberpunk 2077

Create a striking portrait in San Francisco’s Japantown while it’s raining. Position yourself near a puddle, crouch down, and angle your subject so that the bright neon signs and billboards reflect on their face. Use a zoom lens to blur the background, creating a shallow depth of field. Adjust the color settings to make the scene cooler, but be sure to keep skin tones looking natural. Finally, add a subtle chromatic aberration effect for a vintage look.

Horizon Forbidden West

Create a striking image showing the immense scale of the machines in the game. Position Aloy small and in the foreground, contrasted against a towering Tallneck. Shoot from a very low angle with a wide-angle lens, placing Aloy on a ridge as the Tallneck walks towards her from behind. Look for opportunities to capture dust particles lit from behind to create a sense of depth. Keep the colors realistic to highlight the details in the machine’s metal surfaces.

Death Stranding

Okay, so for this shot, I’m going for a really simple, almost lonely vibe. I’m picturing a wide-open space with just one main thing to focus on, and I’ll use things like roads or trails to draw your eye into the scene. It works best on a cloudy day because the soft light keeps the shadows down and really shows off the shape of the land. I’ll zoom way in with my longest lens – that squashes the background and makes everything feel super isolated. Then, I’ll add just a touch of vignette and keep the colors pretty subtle – that’s how you get that classic, moody look.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

Create a moody photo of a foggy marsh with the dark shapes of longships. Shoot during dawn and subtly reduce the clarity to enhance the fog. Underexpose the image slightly to make the fog appear denser. Include a tree trunk on the left side of the frame to create a sense of depth, and position the ship masts on the right. Keep the horizon line low to emphasize the atmosphere of the sky.

Gran Turismo 7

Create a pit lane photo series showing mechanics working on cars during a service stop. You can use Scapes mode or footage from a real race. To get a realistic, documentary style, shoot with a focal length around 35mm. Slightly increase the ISO and add some grain to make it look like classic track photography. Position the car at a three-quarter angle and focus closely on details like the mechanics’ gloves, tires, and brake dust.

No Man’s Sky

Imagine you’re photographing alien animals! To create a striking portrait, choose a planet where the colors of the sky and ground sharply contrast with your creature’s color. Get down low to shoot at eye level. Use a wide lens opening to blur the background beautifully, and patiently wait for the animal to look towards the light. Finish the photo with a subtle vignette and make sure the exposure is just right to avoid losing details in the bright sky.

Elden Ring

Create a dramatic scene inspired by gothic architecture, using arches to build a ‘frame within a frame’ effect, as if looking through dungeon archways. Make your character small and distant at the end of a long hallway to emphasize the massive scale of the environment. Darken the image and boost the contrast to highlight the rough texture of the stone and the glow of any torches. Pay close attention to keeping vertical lines straight and the overall composition balanced and symmetrical.

Genshin Impact

Capture a stunning action shot of an elemental Freeze effect with particles frozen in the air. Create a Swirl or Crystallize reaction in a beautiful location, such as the bridges of Liyue Harbor. Use photo mode to freeze the action at its most impressive moment, and carefully frame the shot to remove any distracting interface elements. Enhance the image with a touch of bloom and increased sharpness to make the particles stand out.

Final Fantasy XVI

Create a dramatic scene of a sword fight with sparks flying as the blades collide. Set the fight in a detailed arena, and freeze the action right when the swords meet. Position the camera so the angled blades create a dynamic, crossing pattern near the center of the image. Slightly reduce the color intensity and boost the contrast to give it a cinematic look. Use a shallow depth of field to keep the details like sparks and flowing fabric clear and focused.

The Last of Us Part II

Create an indoor portrait using natural light, positioning your subject near a broken window. Have them face a gentle side light and slightly darken the overall image to keep the bright areas from being overexposed. Allow the background to fade into shadow, and include a beam of dust in the light for a dramatic effect. Keep the colors natural and add a subtle darkening around the edges to draw attention to the subject.

God of War Ragnarök

Okay, so I’m trying to get this awesome shot of Kratos with his Leviathan Axe. What I’m aiming for is a really dramatic, almost legendary look – a strong silhouette with a glowing outline. The idea is to find a cliff at sunrise, position Kratos so the sun’s right behind him, and then lower the camera’s exposure to create that ‘halo’ effect around him. I want to use a wide-angle lens so I can include some cool background details like runes or statues, really setting the scene. And finally, I’m adding a little bit of grain and keeping the colors warm to give it a truly epic, heroic feel. It’s all about making him look powerful and mythic!

Control

Create a study of stark, geometric shapes inspired by brutalist architecture, focusing on the Executive area. Photograph the scene from a low angle to highlight the concrete structures and red utility lights, ensuring all lines appear straight. Reduce the color intensity and boost clarity to showcase the texture of the concrete without creating noticeable banding. Include a small figure of Jesse in one corner to provide a sense of scale, but keep them subtle so the focus remains on the architectural forms.

Sea of Thieves

Photograph the crew working during a storm, making sure to capture lightning in the shot. Climb the ship’s mast, use a wide-angle lens, and wait for a lightning strike with the sails full of wind. Keep the horizon straight and use parts of the ship in the foreground to ground the image. Slightly increase the contrast to make the rain and sea spray more visible.

Granblue Fantasy Relink

Capture a dynamic moment mid-air with a striking sky backdrop. Activate a character’s jump or flight ability, freeze the action at its highest point, and use the clouds to draw the viewer’s eye. Use a standard zoom level to keep weapons clearly defined without warping the image. Finish by adding a subtle glow and ensuring the lighting is balanced to showcase details on armor.

Starfield

Create a striking portrait of a pilot inside a cockpit, with a large planet visible through the window behind them. Position the pilot slightly to one side and angle the shot to showcase the glow of the instrument panel. Use the window frame to naturally border the image. Slightly blur the cockpit panels to create depth, but keep the pilot’s eyes in sharp focus. Adjust the colors to feel cooler, emphasizing the vastness of space, and keep a subtle grain for a realistic look.

Tell us about photo challenges you’ve enjoyed and share the pictures you took! We’d love for others to try them out as well.

2025-11-19 07:17