A joystick mistake while playing Assasins Creed Origins kickstarted my VP journey - UnfazedVP

There are people who are simply called to do this thing called virtual photography. They may not start out perfect at it, but continuous practice makes them gurus at this art form. Most of the time, they find their passion for VP from a young age, and they hone that passion till they are satisfied. One such person is UnfazedVP, our virtual photographer for the month of March.

UnfazedVP started out virtual photography as a mistake of sorts while playing Assassins Creed Origins and hasn’t looked back since then. To our fascination, this talented virtual photographer mostly takes landscape pictures and doesn’t do any external editing. With his emotional photography style, you know you are in for many shared gems in this conversation. Enjoy!

What is your earliest memory of virtual photography and gaming?

A couple of years ago, when i was playing Assassins Creed Origins, I remember I clicked both joysticks by accident and entered the photo mode not having any idea of what it was, then I realized you could take pictures of the game using the available tools, so I started playing around with them and taking bad quality photos lol; that's how i discovered virtual photography. The first game I remember playing is Need for Speed Pro Street on a PSP when I was like 7 years old. I remember the day my dad and I went on a trip, and after a long day of doing stuff, he took me to Best Buy and bought me the PSP, my first ever gaming console. Good ol days.

Aww…

Tell us a bit about your username. How did you come about it?

Well, I've always been disciplined through all my life and I’ve always had done what it has to be done no matter what, so i wanted to transmit that to my VP and account by saying “Unfazed” because no matter what, I will continue to do whatever I do, including my VP, so that's the reason of my username.

That’s cool!

Most of your photos are in landscape mode. Is there a reason why you favor landscape pictures over portraits?

Basically, the reason is that when you post them on socials, the sites use to crop them all in the portrait format, and the only way the portrait format looks really good is when you post only one photo. So, in my case, I have thousands of shots waiting to be posted, and since I'm very tidy, I prefer to take most of the shots in landscape format so I can share a whole story or feeling in 4 images in one post without sacrificing the view. But don't get me wrong, I love portrait format, and of course, I have a lot of shots using it, but it's more for detailed shots, if you know what I mean.

If you were to describe your virtual photography style in one word, what would that be?

Hmmm, I’d say emotional because I don't only like to capture emotions not only in portraits but also in moments, in landscapes and in details. Now, maybe I'm not the best at it yet, but I'm still improving.

You mention in your Picashot bio that you do not use external tools to edit your photos. Is there a reason for this?

Yup. In the past, I used to think that editing your shots using external tools was like cheating because you're not using what the game allows you to use and it was way easier to get great photos, so I pushed myself to try my best to get better using the photo mode only to try to obtain the most similar as possible results like the people who uses external tools. Turns out it is different depending on the in-game tools; some games have more tools, some others have just the most indispensable, so it is subjective. Nowadays, I keep using only the tools available in the game, not to prove a point, but because I’m too lazy to post-edit them lol.

Looking at the game photos you've shared on Picashot, the Assassin's Creed franchise seems to be a favorite of yours. What other reason makes you hold this game franchise dear?

Going back to the PSP, the first Assassins Creed game I ever played was AC Bloodlines. Since then, I fell in love with the franchise and played every game of it. Also, I love all the “Assassins” stuff, like the style and all of that, plus the beautiful landscapes and scenarios in the games made me addicted to take photos on them. In fact, Assassins Creed was the first and only franchise I shoot for at least my first 2 years doing VP until I moved on to other games.

Wow! That’s impressive.

Do you have any favorite virtual photos that you've taken? If so, what makes them special to you?

Hard decision. The first one (AC Origins) has a special place in my heart because you are now witnessing my first-ever virtual photography.

Not the VIP viewing. Love it!

The second one (AC Odyssey) that mysterious assassin vibe and the atmosphere its just perfect.

The third one (Cyberpunk 2077) reflects the importance of staying unfazed in the most chaotic situations.

/

Are your photos inspired by anything/people i.e, game devs or virtual photographers?

Yes, absolutely. Some of my shots are inspired sometimes by other VPers. I love to see these shots in my X feed, that's the best inspiration. Sometimes I get inspired by movie scenes that come to my head when taking the shot, but it depends on the game.

In what ways has virtual photography enhanced your gaming experience?

It has made me fall in love with visual art, which I didn't appreciate enough back then, but mainly it has made me appreciate every detail easy to lose without paying attention. Thanks to the photo mode, I think I enjoy the games more thanks to appreciating every detail it has on it.

What’s your favorite thing to do apart from taking game photos/gaming?

Well, I love to go to the gym. I do it 6 days a week. I love to train and feed my mind and my spirit by reading topics of my interest, learning new abilities. But what I recently started to love to do is real-life photography. I used to appreciate only VP, but now that I've trained my VP vision, it has come to real life too, and I recently started taking photos of what I visualize in my life.

If you were to recommend one game to a beginner VPer, what game would you recommend to them to start with?

I'd say Assassins Creed Odyssey. It's a great game where you can easily get lost in its landscapes. Despite that its photo mode is not the best; it has some essential tools you can easily get familiarized with if you’re starting VP.

Is there a particular game you want to play but haven't been able to?

Maybe Horizon Forbidden West. The game looks stunning, and I've heard nice things about the photo mode. Also Stellar Blade which I heard it has an awesome PM, but really haven't been able to try them both due to lack of time. Maybe someday.

You can never play this group of games again. Which ones will they be? —

1. Uncharted, Stray and Assassin's Creed Mirage

2. Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Control AND Cyberpunk 2077

3. Ghost of Tsushima, Days Gone and Assassin's Creed Origins

Damn that was a tough one. Even though I love Ghost of Tsushima, I think I can live without Days Gone and AC Origins hehe. But not playing Uncharted, Odyssey and Cyberpunk would be the worst lol.

Hehehe!

Can you share a gaming/virtual photography experience that had an emotional impact on you?

Oh, I think the only game that had a genuine emotional impact for me is Cyberpunk 2077 for sure. Man, I had to stop playing it because I was in a moment of my life where I wasn't at my best. I was reflecting on the game, trying to fit in a world where I felt completely alone, so it intensified the feeling lol. Of course, I came back to finish the game, but it was such an intense experience, and now it is one of my favorite games. Highly recommended.

Do you have a favorite quote from a game?

Yes. Once I heard it, it never left my head… It is a quote that Arno Dorian said at the end of Assassin's Creed Unity, and it says, “Everything we are, everything we do begins and ends with ourselves” (something like that lol), which is absolutely true, and it can fit in any aspect of our lives.

Thanks for sharing.

When did you first learn about Picashot?

A couple of years ago, while navigating through Twitter, I saw a tweet about someone recommending it for VP, and I would like to remember who it was, but it's been a while.

What’s your favorite Picashot feature?

I think the albums are the best thing. You can easily organize your virtual photography in any way you want by making those albums, so yeah, I love them.

Are there any features you'd like to see on Picashot?

Maybe a feature where you can organize your shots by recently uploaded and older shots in your profile.

Any advice for aspiring virtual photographers who haven’t found a style yet?

Just practice, practice, practice and experiment with every tool you have, every idea, every inspiration, every mood, every feeling, try everything until you feel comfortable with what you are doing.