God of War Photo Mode explained by real-life photographer

If you've ever played around with photo mode in God of War or any other game and wish you knew what the hell an F-Stop was, who better to explain than any actual photographer?

That's the premise behind Photo Mode Perspective, a series from YouTuber Mir-or-Image that's all about breaking down how to take better pictures in games by using real-life photography skills - or conversely, helping you understand real-life photography better through the medium of video games (it works both ways). The latest episode breaks down God of War's in-depth photo mode, explaining what each individual setting means for the in-game photos you can take.

For instance, Mir-or-Image breaks down how field of view and focal length are really two sides of the same coin, and which kind you should typically use for what photos: "Normally if you're going to take a picture of someone, try to avoid wide-angle lenses unless you're trying to capture a scene, unless you're trying to capture a background or something surrounding the person. That's when you should probably use a wide-angle lens. But if you're taking a photo of someone, something more along the lines of telephoto would work a little better."

Mir-or-Image also explains what F-Stops are both in actual, mechanical camera terms, and what they mean for your photos with a virtual video game camera. I had honestly forgotten what all those numbers meant since my high school photography class.

Photo Modes are only getting more intricate and more common in games, so even if the letters "DSLR" mean absolutely nothing to you, it's worthwhile to get a handle on the basics of photography.

Hopefully, the sequel has an even better photo mode - check out everything we know about God of War 2.