The Cyberpunk 2077 photo mode is a bit of a godsend for the Christmas break – while the holidays are usually a great time to get stuck into both gaming and photography, now you brush up on both simultaneously from your sofa.
Of course, Cyberpunk 2077 is far from the first game to have a photo mode – many popular games, from Red Dead Redemption 2 to Ghost of Tsushima, have embraced in-game snapping. But Cyberpunk’s mode is one of the most advanced we’ve seen.
Why spend time crafting the perfect composition when you could be playing the game instead? Because the game’s designers and engineers have spent countless hours painstakingly creating detailed environments for you to explore, and they can make some genuinely impressive shots for virtual portfolios on the likes of Instagram.
When a photo mode is as fully realized as the one in Cyberpunk 2077, it can also be a great way to practice your photography (for both virtual and real worlds). Cyberpunk 2077 may have been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons, but its photo mode is proving such a success that it’s got its own Twitter channel, while Night City snaps commonly top Reddit’s ‘Virtual Photography’ subreddit.
If you fancy getting involved this Christmas, here’s how to take great snaps in the Cyberpunk 2077 photo mode (and other photogenic multi-verses with similar snapping potential).
How to open the Cyberpunk 2077 photo mode
Cyberpunk 2077’s photo mode offers a surprising amount of depth, giving you everything from adjustable aperture to vignettes. But what exactly do those words mean, and how can you use them to get creative?
Below, we explain five of the most important photographic terms you’ll need to understand to make the most of this virtual studio. But first, it’s helpful to explain where you can find Cyberpunk 2077’s photo mode in the first place.
If you’re on PS4, PS5, Xbox One or Series S, you can access photo mode anywhere in the game simply by pressing your pad’s two analogue sticks (L3 and R3) simultaneously – this will effectively pause the game and bring up the camera options. Playing on PC? You can open it simply by pressing the ‘N’ key.
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To take a shot, you simply press in the right analogue to remove the camera HUD and then capture a screen shot, using your controller’s screenshot button. The camera menu also lets you save three custom presets and add preloaded stickers, frames and backgrounds to your pictures.
Each screenshot you capture creates an 8.2MP image, which saves to your PSN or Xbox account for you to download and share via their respective apps. All pretty straightforward, but those arcane photographic words are a bit more complex – here’s what five of the most important ones mean…
Cyberpunk 2077 photo mode: jargon buster
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Moving the ‘exposure’ toggle to the right will lift increase the amount of light in the scene… (Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
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…whereas moving it left will darken it. This shot is underexposed, but you can intentionally underexpose shots in order to draw the eye to a bright object in a scene. (Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
1. Exposure
The exposure setting (above) allows you to adjust the amount of light in the shot; dial it up and you get a brighter image, lower it and your image will become much darker overall. Making exposure adjustments should be approached economically, pushing it too far in either direction makes for hyper-stylized images. If you want a more photo-realistic look, keep it subtle.
2. Depth of field
This setting reflects the amount that is in focus within your image. Cyberpunk’s photo mode gives you control over both aperture and focus distance. Your aperture number reflects how wide or narrow your depth of field (DoF) is. Having a low aperture number will give you the narrowest DoF – this means anything that falls outside of your focusing distance will be extremely out of focus. This can be a useful technique if you want to draw the eye to the part of the image that’s in focus.
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Here we have a crisp shot with the grain dialled right down… (Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
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…and here is the moodier, retro style you can create by cracking it up (most noticeably in the light and dark areas). (Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
3. Grain
Like the look of old-school film grain? This setting (above) adds those grain-like dots to your image, mimicking the grain or noise that you may recall from photos captured using manual film cameras or low-light digital photography. Adding grain to your image can give it a textured, retro film look.
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Here’s a good example of how a vignette can enhance a moody atmosphere and focus the eye on a subject… (Image credit: Cyberpunk)
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…and here’s an example of chromatic aberration, which can also affect black-and-white photos by blurring the image. (Image credit: Cyberpunk)
4. Vignette
Vignetting (above) is an optical imperfection that is characterized by darkened corners in your pictures. In real world photography, this can be an unwanted effect. However, adding vignetting can also help to frame and emphasize the subject of your photo. It also helps to convey mood and depth.
5. Chromatic aberration
This overly technical-sounding phrase manifests itself as color fringing, which is most noticeable towards the edges of the frame. Like vignetting, it’s often considered an unwanted imperfection in real-world photography, but as an in-game photo mode effect it can help a computerized digital photo look more filmic and authentic.
5 ways to take great photos in Cyberpunk 2077
1. Look for the light
Exploring the color of light and the way it falls on objects is crucial to real-world photography, and it’s the same in games. The lighting environment within Cyberpunk is exquisite. Inspired by cinematic influences such as Blade Runner, Mad Max and Ghost in the Shell, there are vibrant neon lighting and shadowy spaces throughout Night City – where Cyberpunk takes place – and its outskirts.
With night falling and the warm glow of the city ahead shining on the character’s face, we dialled up the exposure, contrast and film grain a touch to add some intensity. (Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
If you’re fortunate enough to be playing Cyberpunk 2077 on PS5, Xbox Series X or PC you’ll be able to make the most of Ray Tracing mode, which will add further realism to the look of your images. This is because ray tracing technology replicates natural shadows and reflections in real time. Lighting flares caused by pointing your camera directly at light sources can also produce some brilliant effects.
2. Meet some characters
There are some weird, wild and wonderful characters within the open world of Cyberpunk 2077. The fashion and numerous bio-hacked body modifications make for some fascinating street portrait subjects. As you explore Night City, pay close attention to the NPCs (non-playable characters) that are sprinkled around the city. Walk off the beaten track, go down alleyways. There are photo-worthy portraits to be discovered everywhere.
To focus on this character we increased the vignette to darken the corners, and used a low aperture number to create a narrow depth of field – this blurred the background more, intensifying the focus on our subject. (Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
Also, get up close. Portraits that isolate your subject from the background convey a strong sense of personality and despite these being computer generated characters, the level of detail and realism in each character’s face and their range of expressions are surprisingly authentic.
3. Compose with skylines
One of the most striking visual signatures of Cyberpunk 2077 is its skylines. When you drive to the outskirts of Night City, you’re surrounded by desert. But the glowing mirage of Night City beckons on the horizon and can make for some arresting landscape imagery.
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With our subjects on the road to Night City, we positioned the camera to show both the vehicle, the subjects sat inside it, and the destination in the distance. We used a medium aperture number to keep more of the background in focus, showing Night City on the horizon. (Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
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(Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
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(Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
The atmospheric tones in the outskirts and within the walls of Night City are reminiscent of the worlds depicted within George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
The light is direct and high contrast, moving between martian warmth outside the city to cool blue, within it. High contrast and strong tones are great for landscape images.
4. Embrace the drone camera
There are two camera options within Cyberpunk 2077: point-of-view or drone camera. The drone camera option gives you greater freedom to move the camera around and explore different angles.
By placing the camera at ground level and framing the subject with other people’s feet, it conveys a sense of inferiority by making the person in the centre of the frame extremely small. (Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
There are a couple of reasons why this feature rocks; it means you can take multiple different images of the same scene. It also lets you play with perspective, which can enhance and emphasize different things within the frame (see above).
5. Strike some poses
The main character in Cyberpunk 2077, “V”, comes with a range of stock poses and expressions that can be cycled through once you switch into Photo Mode.
V’s poses are varied and can be used to curate some truly brilliant photos, depending on the environment.
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We used one of V’s oddball action poses and then turned on the muzzle flash of her gun to create a warm burst of light in the lower half of the image. This references the orange/teal color grading look that’s common in stylized cinema. (Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
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(Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
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(Image credit: Cyberpunk 2077)
Approach Cyberpunk’s Night City as an open world photography studio – if you see a space that provides a spotlight for a pose, take the shot. Posing V among NPCs within the frame can produce some great results that range from hilariously silly to album cover art-worthy.
The ‘rule of thirds’ is a good starting point for deciding a composition – using the grid in photo mode, position subjects or points of interest at the points where the lines intersect. This helps create a balanced photo, like the shot at the top of this page – though like all photography rules, it’s there to be broken.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The tiny Mideast nation of Kuwait has banned the release of the video game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6,” which features the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and is set in part in the 1990s Gulf War.
The video game, a first-person shooter, follows CIA operators fighting at times in the United States and also in the Middle East. Game-play trailers for the game show burning oilfields, a painful reminder for Kuwaitis who saw Iraqis set fire to the fields, causing vast ecological and economic damage. Iraqi troops damaged or set fire to over 700 wells.
There also are images of Saddam and Iraq’s old three-star flag in the footage released by developers ahead of the game’s launch. The game’s multiplayer section, a popular feature of the series, includes what appears to be a desert shootout in Kuwait called Scud after the Soviet missiles Saddam fired in the war. Another is called Babylon, after the ancient city in Iraq.
Activision acknowledged in a statement that the game “has not been approved for release in Kuwait,” but did not elaborate.
“All pre-orders in Kuwait will be cancelled and refunded to the original point of purchase,” the company said. “We remain hopeful that local authorities will reconsider, and allow players in Kuwait to enjoy this all-new experience in the Black Ops series.”
Kuwait’s Media Ministry did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press over the decision.
“Call of Duty,” which first began in 2003 as a first-person shooter set in World War II, has expanded into an empire worth billions of dollars now owned by Microsoft. But it also has been controversial as its gameplay entered the realm of geopolitics. China and Russia both banned chapters in the franchise. In 2009, an entry in the gaming franchise allowed players to take part in a militant attack at a Russian airport, killing civilians.
But there have been other games recently that won praise for their handling of the Mideast. Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed: Mirage” published last year won praise for its portrayal of Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age in the 9th century.
