I love looking at pix other gamers take and I'm, totally obsessed with taking my own. I don't take mine into Photo Shop like a lot do so they aren't as "polished" as some, but I do try to take "interesting" shots and capture a feeling of the moment.
Jennifer Burb-Wycoff on the evening her husband passed away
Taking Sim pix wasn't something I did right off.
I Simmed for a good two years or more before I discovered how much fun it is to take pix and share them as stories. It was over at the old Sims2 site at EA, (which most of us refer to as the BBS), that I had the fire lit under me to take pix. But by the time I entered the the Sims 2 community over there I'd missed the prime time of interacting, TS3 was coming out and everyone was REALLY excited about that.
So, I missed the band-wagon, so to speak, but I did share and of course spent hours and hours browsing other Simmer's stories there. The creative energy at that site was amazing and I really regret not being there when it was at it's peak.
I had a very old computer back then and I knew my pix weren't top quality but I shared them anyway. Other Simmers were so generous and kind with their praise towards my pix. Of course it spurred me on to take and share more, which I did.
When I began Simming on THIS (much better), computer a year ago and began taking pix it really made my old pix look like crap! I hadn't taken a look at my pix taken on my old computer until recently when I went to Photo Bucket and I was so embarrassed when I saw what poor quality they were! I had a real problem with the graphics not being defined in the pix, especially with their clothing. There was a lot of blur in them and I can't bring myself to share them now, they are just too awful.
I was talking to a Sim friend of mine that followed my stories back then and she doesn't remember the pix being as bad as I think they are but she made a very sweet comment in telling me she followed my stories not because of the quality of my pix, but for my style of story telling. That was such a wonderful compliment to me because story telling does come first with me - it's just really cool to have good quality pix to go with the stories.
Of course I try to get all the key photos which capture the important passages in my Sim's lives, like their First Kiss, noo-boo-s being born, birthdays and weddings.
Dirk Dreamer falling in love and having his First Kiss, (in college!)
Wedding pix are especially tedious for me to take and I can take a good 200 shots if there are a lot of guests at the wedding, (I use a hack that allows like 250 guests at a party), and I know this is going to come off totally obsessed but a Sim wedding can take up to 4 hours for me to document in pix. And how long is it, like 5 minutes or something, lol.
Of course I take breaks and do other stuff while doing a wedding but yeah, it can take me hours because of so much start and stop, start and stop - that's really the only way to get good shots. And I like as many "candid' action pix that evoke feeling as I can get so yeah, it's a long process.
A few pix from my most recent Sim wedding
Funny how with sooooooo many pix I take of the event in my Sim's lives there are only a handful of shots that I really like.
But that's how it is with photography off the computer too.
It's been a hobby of mine for many years and I've taken tons of pix of actual weddings and have done quite well at it. I usually give the pix and all the negatives to the bride and groom as a gift. I received one very nice compliment from a couple that I did that for, telling me my photos were better than most their professional photographer took!!
Of course this was back in the day before digital cameras and I do own a very nice digital camera but I don't get out there and take pix like I used to with my 35 mm. I really miss those days,...
But anyway, by no means are my Sim pix as good as a lot of others out there but that's okay with me. I like the quality of them now, compared to how they looked on my old computer. Of course I worry all the time that something will happen to effect that quality and I'll end up with blurry ill-defined pix again.
It's a silly obsession I guess but it sure gives me a lot of enjoyment, especially having the pix to go along with my Sim Stories.
I do have some pix pet peeves though -
mainly, I HATE Sim pix with the walls down!!!
And I don't like any plumbobs showing, (anywhere) and I'm a real stickler for the backgrounds to look good, (no plain walls and so on,..), but when I'm in a hurry I make all kinds of pix blunders.
Bad pix - Plumbob showing!
Dark pix bother me a lot too and I'll add TONS of lighting to get a decent night time shot. And too bright of pix aren't good either. It's fun to come up with ways to make the lighting interesting. I use the cheat, moveobjects on, to put lights inside with the flowers and shrubs and I even add light inside my ponds to make night time pix look a lot better.
I was a real Dummie for the longest time about how to add ceilings!
Once I finally found the little button to add them I'm a stickler about that too -
but in some cases, like an upper floor I haven't figured out how to make the ceiling appear and no ceiling is a real bug-a-boo for me but I guess that's just how it is.
But I love capturing the unexpected and the impromptu moments of my Sims. I've used pose boxes but don't rely on them too much. In story telling they do come in handy though. I find my Sims will basically come up with their own story when I just pay attention and be alert to snapping shots of my Sims just being themselves.
An uninvited by very welcome guest at a wedding
Sometimes just one look from my Sims can evoke a whole storyline.
Picture taking will always be one of my biggest Sim joys and getting better and better shots will forever be a goal of mine.
One thing's for sure,
my Sims always give me something to take pix of!!
