During the May Forza Monthly livestream, the Forza Community Team offered some tips on taking photos that will catch our attention and get featured on Forza channels. Watch at this timestamp:
Opportunities to be featured:
- Forza Twitter and Instagram accounts
- Tag the official Forza account
- The hashtag #ForzaShare
- Look for a new hashtag for each newly added reward car
- Wallpaper Wednesday call for user-created wallpaper images (vertical or horizontal)
- Weekly Photo competitions on the Forza Forums - use the correct keyword in the Description, or post in the submissions thread - to be included in our Forza Monthly video montages and appear on the Featured tab of the in-game Photo Gallery
Tips for creating photos that stand out
- Look for inspiration from photos that were featured - check out the Best of 2022 in FH5 Photos list of official winners
- Develop your own style (practice practice practice)
- Switch up your composition from the typical automotive photography putting the car in the traditional 3/4 angle or center of frame. Try different zooms, group shots, or action shots.
- Try the different settings in Photo Mode to experiment how they affect the look of the subject
- On Instagram, feel free to adjust your saved in-game photo with editing software before posting
Additional tips from the Official FH5 Weekly Photo Competition voting group
- Remember the rule of thirds, but also when to break them to draw attention to reflections or other unexpected parts of the image.
- Use Aperture to draw attention to a particular point in your composition. Zero aperture can make the photo look more documentarian than creative, while too much aperture can make the out-of-focus parts of the photo distracting.
- Use Vignette and Sepia sparingly. These effects can add mood to a photo, especially with older cars, but too much effect can be distracting and make the image look like itâs trying to do too many things at the same time.
- Use wide-angle zoom carefully. Too much can stretch the proportions of a car unnaturally, but used correctly it can emphasize subjects in unexpected ways.
- When it comes to contrast and brightness, we often see wheel wells and grills that are too dark.
- Use Tracking and Shutter Speed settings to add a sense of speed. A jumping car that is simply frozen in mid-air will look more staged than dynamic.
- Use props or characters for humor - making us laugh can go a long way!
- Use props to add color and illumination. Make sure you consider how the reflected light looks on the carâs paint.
- Consider the space a car or other subject takes up in the frame - too far away and weâll wish it was zoomed in; too much zoom and the image will appear to be cramped. Also there are times when cutting off ends of the car work for the composition, but it takes careful thought in order to do this correctly without looking like the camera wasnât aimed at the right spot.
- Macro shots of gauges and emblems are great, but since video games have their limits, they may show too much polygon effect and detract from the photorealism youâre after.
- Consider the appropriateness of the car in its environment. While you can drive the newest hypercar through the dunes and swamps in Horizon Mexico, we might look past these combinations for being out of place in a photo.
- Weâre not ones to rubberneck for car crash images, but sometimes roughing up the paint or panels of a car can help add depth to older cars with patina-style paint.
- The new Time of Day options in Photo Mode make getting that golden hour light even easier, but donât overlook how bright sunlight or star-lit skies can add a sense of heat or coolness to the image.
- Stand out by photographing cars or locations that that donât get captured very often.
- Try different angles of cars - rear brake lights look great on most cars, but theyâve also been done before for that reason.
- Consider how your photo will look on different sized screens. Highly detailed photos can look great on large monitors, but on mobile devices they may look like uncomposed collages.
