In spite of the gorgeous real time 60fps Pixar effect, Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart turned out an incredibly difficult game to photograph. Compared to other action genres, shooters are harder to take meaningful shots, because they lack close physical interaction and offer themselves to a rather limited range of angles. Whereas spectacular in motion, Rift Apart's weapon flashes, gummy animations and colourful sceneries are constantly getting in the way of a clean composition. Ray tracing (which is always on in the Photo Mode) delivers genuine behaviour of lucid surfaces, but reflections can be annoying when they conceal a character's face under a space helmet. All this had me rethink over and over again how to visually interpret the game in order to achieve my typical iconic photography. So I looked for a juxtaposition of PCs and geometries in the environment, went repeatedly through the most spectacular bossfights and experimented with the game lighting until I found my way to a more "controlled chaos". I also made use of the Photo Mode's 'poses' to show more plastic and emotional characters than they usually look just handling a gun. You won't miss noticing that Rivet, who was instantly a favourite, is less represented than Ratchet. That's partly because of the fewer dedicated levels, but mainly due to her white fur, so tricky when you want to preserve detail and correct exposure. The overall result is a relatively small gallery, though it took me the same time as the recent Marvel's Spider-man PS5 set and significantly more editing. Next VGP stop: Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut.
No Post-Production (ingame Photo Mode only): PLANET OF THE LOMBAX, FULL METAL RATCHET, DESIGUAL, PURPLE PAIN
Minor Post-Production: SALGASSIC PARK (local blur adjustment), METALHEADS: (local brightness adjustment), SNYDER CUT (local exposure fixes)
Full Post-Production: MOON RIVET (helmetless face combined for reflections removal), YOLO: LOMBAX EVOLVED (helmetless face combined for reflections removal), NO CLANK'S SKY (lowest grass levels combined from slightly different angle shot, local brightness and vividness adjustment)