Hi all.
I have been trying for days now taking realistic looking photos like you for instance can see in the latest WIR but I guess I’m lacking the talent for setting it up properly.
I tried searching the forums but could not really find any useful info on this. Is there a guide somewhere or does anyone of you have some tips for the settings I should use when taking realistic looking photos`?
Thanks in advance …
These photos settings really does the trick amazingly - borrowed from the latest WIR:
Forza Horizon 2 Photo Contest winner from Lego33
Forza Horizon 2 Photo Contest winner from Apparently God
I think that the main issue with taking pics tends to be contrast/exposure. Some pics posted on here look too washed out. Probably down to personal pref but I find the darker or higher contrast pics look more realistic…
Couple of mine
We can’t give you advices if you don’t show your work. My first suggestion would be opening your own gallery in the media section and ask for feedback. Plenty of helpful people there.
Here is my gallery - please advice me
Chriscup172 those are some really beautiful photos you have there 
I like the shot with the two Huracans.
Settings and composition are good in my opinion. I also like the idea behind your latest photo (Testa Rossa with P1), even if It lacks a bit of aperture, which could make it more interesting. Aperture is one of the most essential things. Start with a low amount, like 15-20 and then increase it if you want a more blurred background. It helps to focus the attention on the main subject, cars in most cases. Take, for example, your Veneno shot. With some aperture, the house on the background would be completely blurred, helping to draw the viewer’s eye on the car.
Other than that, the key will always be experimenting with everything and see what happens. I’ve started taking pictures more than two years ago, I’ve improved my skills a lot but I’m still far away from the top photographers (The moment you think 'How on heart did he do that?!").
Here is my fav pic I have taken.
Now I find exposure, contrast & grids are key to a good picture, also reducing the colour to 44/46.
Also depending on how you want you finial image to look, location is key to, I wanted the focus on the car but I also wanted a nice backdrop in the above image.
I usually set the aperture to 33, gives a nice blur but not destroying the background. I also don’t have the car in full focus, I set the focus on the car at the middle & move the camera back untill it just blurs the rear, (you can use the focus slider, but I find I have more control doing it my way) I find in the game a slightly soft finish makes it look better.
Here is another example where the car isn’t in full focus & it looks cracking.
In the end trial & error will prevail.
I think the best advice is just keep trying to get a shot you like, change the settings to what you feel suits the photo best, there isn’t a time limit on how long you can play with the settings and its pretty easy to know what you think looks better or worse… also use the given presets to see what works best in the current situation and change the settings from there
It is partly down to luck in my view, as you can go into photo mode in some places in the game and it just doesn’t work depending on what the weather is at the time, or whats surrounding you… it can also work the other way around where you can go into photo mode and accidentally find an awesome shot… I think the game looks awesome but it does need some tweaking to look photo realistic in photos
Thanks a lot for the advice guys - It’s very helpful indeed
The time of day and your surroundings/weather also play a big part too
I agree with the first comment. It tends to be too much contrast, which in my opinion ruins the photo
