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When Aeyvi explores Tamriel, she is always looking for that perfect scene to capture and share with the ESO community. In this new Community Spotlight, we talk to her about her amazing screenshots, her inspirations, and her process.
You capture environments from all over Tamriel that feature all kinds of different scenes. What inspires you to take a shot of a particular area?
Ever since giving ESO a proper chance last year, I’ve been drawn to so many of the game’s environments. There is beauty in almost everything, depending on your definition of the word. To me, beauty is not a single flower. It’s an environment that has been shaped with care and an attention to detail that resonates within a person.
Generally, though, when I look at environments, I examine the shape of the land, the placement of objects and how they align with each other, the depth, the color, the lighting, and time of day. I then assess how well they work together. Finally, it’s up to me to decide if the composition “works” or not. Shots are taken with my heart, because I adore the game, and this gives me the motivation take more and more.
Coldharbour & Alinor
How long have you been playing ESO and how did you get into it?
The very first time I tried any Elder Scrolls game was during the ESO beta of 2014. I also had a few more brief sessions between 2015-2016, but at the time, the game just didn’t click with me.
Having played through The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in 2017, I became more accustomed to the Elder Scrolls universe, including the look and feel of the game. One evening, while discussing ESO with a friend, she suggested I try it once again, this time focusing primarily on the stories and exploration. So, during the Spring of 2018, I sat down, created a fresh character, and started my journey with a clean slate.
I am very thankful that I listened to my friend and gave it another shot. I still have a long way to go. The sheer amount of content and lore is a little daunting, but it’s exciting at the same time
On your website, you talk about “Screenography.” What is that?
In 2017, my gaming became more screenshot-oriented, and I found myself searching for a term to bridge the gap between screenshots and photography, so I began using the term “screenography.” The word itself is far from original, so I can’t claim that I was the first person to merge the two. It just seemed like a natural way to describe what I was creating when asked.
To quote my website: “In essence, screenography is in-game photography of environments and characters. The images are achieved by roaming the lands to find the most interesting or beautiful vistas in any given game.”
Clockwork City
What is your process for capturing and processing a new in-game shot and what tools (if any) do you use?
Screenshots are either produced raw, with minor edits in Picasa or with use of ReShade filters. The majority of my work is produced during screenography-themed livestreams, where we explore the game, create ReShade filters, and edit the shots.
My current working process is to find content I’ve yet to complete, or content that fits a specific theme, and then begin my stream. I try to look all around the environments for anything interesting or details that catch my eye.
ESO has such a wide range of color palettes, environmental, and lighting factors to consider, so depending on these I will test my current filters to see what effect they have and what results I may be able to achieve. More often than not, I create ReShade filters during the streams and talk through the process with the viewers, answering any questions along the way.
I use Picasa to organize, view, and edit all of my images. Anywhere between 20 to 300 images may be captured each session, so I may have a dedicated edits stream to remove duplicates and perform final adjustments (such as adding a little more contrast, a glow, or a tint, or removing a little saturation) before the shots are published.
One filter I often use is called “Enhance,” which does exactly what it says: lightly enhances an image. It contains settings which add a little sharpening, slight contrast, gentle brightness, and a predefined depth of field.
I often hear people say that you cannot take good screenshots without ReShade, which is 100% incorrect and I cannot emphasize that enough. So much goes into each and every image posted by those who enjoy screenography; composition, location, time of day, subjects, color theory, and so much more. Creating filters is just a way I replicate editing methods used in photography.
Summerset
Recently, you’ve featured shots from many different locations, such as the Gold Coast and Murkmire, however, there’s also a lot from Summerset, too. What is it about the home of the High Elves that appeals to you?
Everything! The moment I stepped onto the shores of Summerset, I was in awe of how beautiful the landscape was. The flowers were so vibrant and the architecture so regal. I love the fact that this whole Chapter was based on such a serene environment, and it contained some of the most enjoyable content I’ve experienced in an MMO. The most memorable Summerset content for me was the Illumination Academy and the “Manor of Masques” questline. This Chapter immediately inspired me to develop a number of Summerset-specific filters that I still use to this day.
What are some of your favorite environments to capture and what makes them so?
Coastlines. Sun, sea, and sand. I might be in love with ESO’s water animation a little bit as well. I can’t help it! It looks so real and it works to create some truly beautiful reflections.
Clockwork City is up there with Summerset. I’ve been meaning to go back there for such a long time because it’s just such a wonderfully designed zone, and it’s truly fascinating to take images of it. Some of the more subtle details always make me smile, like the sun glinting off the metallic trees, the smoke that comes off a broken Clockwork Curator, or the dusty mist surrounding shafts of light below the Brass Fortress.
Aeyvi and Ihrin Sarene
It is rare for you to include your characters or NPCs in your shots. Why is this?
The long-term project I’m currently working on is to build up a portfolio inclusive of all zones within ESO (https://tes.screenographic.com) so a lot of my focus has been on environmental shots. I play some other MMOs that are very heavily character-focused, and yet I’ve always felt that within ESO I resonate more with the landscapes and architecture. Even during my real-life photography days, I found architectural photography much more comfortable than event or portrait photography.
Having said that, I have begun taking character portraits and do possess some images of NPCs I’ve found striking or intriguing. Character portraits present a little more of a challenge within the game as there is no dedicated camera tool currently, but I try my best!
Wrathstone’s Depths of Malatar
What advice do you have for your fellow artists who want to take amazing in-game shots?
Here’s my best tips:
- Explore! Journey through various lands with your UI turned off and find the places that appeal to you the most.
- Capture what works for you, so each shot you take will have meaning and value.
- Do not push yourself to create something because you think you should be keeping up with someone or something. This can be harmful to your creative process and zap you of creative energies.
- Explore the free tools that allow you to improve your editing capabilities without incurring huge subscription fees.
- Keep your library organized and backed up. I always make edits directly on the Picasa screenprint image, then export to a dedicated folder at 2000px. At quarterly intervals, I run a program called Visipics (use with care!) to duplicate images within various directories and then shift all the files over to an external hard drive. I also use Dropbox to keep backups of filter files and transfer any images I might wish to edit using Snapseed on a phone or tablet.
- Even if you have a natural eye for photography, understanding of the technical aspects of photography such as framing, depth of field, or color theory can be beneficial. There are plenty of online courses, books, and resources which can explain these in manageable chunks.
Deshaan & Vvardenfell
Where can people find more of your work?
- Frequent screenshot edits are published on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/aeyvi.
- The Elder Scrolls-dedicated website is an ESO and Skyrim project (work in progress) at https://tes.screenographic.com. Images are gathered from within the game during screenography streams. Eventually, I will hopefully have a site that can visually showcase most of the areas in the game.
- My current portfolio (multiple games): https://screenographic.com.
- To watch screenography live, visit my Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/aeyvi.
A big thank you to Aeyvi for sharing her story with us! If you’ve discovered or crafted something unique based on The Elder Scrolls Online, let us know about it via @TESOnline, Instagram, or Facebook – we’d love to share it with the rest of the community.
