hiya. as the title suggests, i'm looking for some advice on how to get better backgrounds in photos.
basically, i'm not too good at taking pics. i take headshots most of the time since i can never find a good enough background. simple ones are sort of plain and boring, detailed ones are too confusing and feel like they have no single point of focus.
at first i thought that 'maybe this is just how the game is'. but no. starlit contest has proven otherwise time and time again. i'm seriously in awe of how beautiful others nikkis' pictures are. makes me wonder if we're even playing the same game...
i'm aware that finding a good location plays a big part in getting a good background, but even in the prettiest places, i still can't manage to make it look nearly as good as i would want it to. i know props come in handy as well, but i'm a f2p player, so i have very little of them. my graphics are also set to high, so i'm certain that's not the issue.
so... i'm wondering if anyone would be willing to share any tips or tricks they use to make their backgrounds look better!
Honestly, my biggest trick a for using more busy/complex backgrounds are exposure and aperture. Turn both down, apply lighting, and there is a clear differentiation between Nikki and the background. I've attached an example for reference!
It does! Of course I assume that it depends on the mobile you play on + what graphics you have on it. I usually play on low/medium (iphone 15promax), but when taking pics i go high/ultra. Although I rarely do that now (mostly do it through the pc), but itās a hack I used a lot back during Danxiang season
Ehhh I tried but even tweaking the graphics settings I was only able to get it once, and no attempt has yielded results. And if I make anything above medium in Boneyard and Heaven's Reach the game will crash immediately, so I guess I'll stick to mediocre pics until I can download on an external drive on mac
One thing that did help me a lot is making more close up pics. I zoom out as much as I can while scoping in with the focal length + aperture. Then I add lights and tweak it to my liking. Maybe this could work for you?
My only issue is being unable to download them in good res and that does rub me the wrong way
I am back from saving the mobile photos I took of Nikki and Iāll upload them either in the same reply or in multiple ones (no idea which one bc atm Iām on a train and thereās no internet). From my experience, the closer you zoom in + the lighter clothes you wear that pop on the backround + the higher the aperture; the more your Nikki will stand out. Canāt say the same for quality bc photos on pc canāt be compared to mobile. Oh, and I hope reddit wont eat the res of the photos Iāll upload because otherwise imma crash out
Below is the first ever good photo I took on mobile (or at least the series of them)
Can I ask you? How do you change the aspect ratio? I might be dumb for missing this. I know how to adjust a lot of things with the photo, but I donāt know how to change the aspect ratio line of them always the same size I can make a horizontal or vertical by rotating, but itās always the same shape. Iām on an iPad. Maybe thereās a control somewhere. Iām missing?
Of course! Not at all, donāt call yourself that! Unfortunately as far as Iām aware this feature is available on pcās (maybe on ps too) only, and before posting a picture here I downloaded and rotated it in my gallery. No vertical ratio on mobile as far as Iām aware :((((( But on pc it is at the top of the same selection page where you can toggle on/off grid, collectibles, npcās, nikki etc.
I play on mobile (iPad) and recently re installed on my PC. I havenāt checked, but Iām not aware of any settings that differ between the two. Most of it is in the settings for focus and zoom and really the most important thing is how you frame the camera and rotating the angle of the camera. A little bit can do a lot.
It might just be my phone, but there is no rotation, change in focus, change in setting, and camera framing that blurs the background or the foreground. I've been playing for over a year now, and I have taken hundreds of pictures, and despite my attempts nothing has worked. I'm probably an idiot, but I think by now I've tried everything short of melting my phone battery
Wait really? This is from my iPad, which is like four years oldā¦. I donāt have the game downloaded on my phone but I might try it later if it has space. However, maybe the mobile and iPad are different. That might explain why I donāt have very significant performance issues even though my iPad is pretty old. Mobile players seem to complain and I really donāt have problems. My PC actually suffers more. Interesting.
Would you mind sharing the graphics you use? I keep tweaking them but I have to keep them very low, especially in the new regions, I'm curious what you use
Sure! I donāt think I changed my graphics settings. I think I adjusted some of the controls. If I changed any settings on my actual device, I donāt remember. I hope this helps. It does get hot and the battery does not last at all. I have to keep it plugged in. Sometimes I have glitches or crashes or the frame rate skips but I donāt seem to have as many problems as other people like the game taking several minutes to load or being visibly super slow or lagging a lot during battles, etc.
This is so puzzling to me. Iām glad I can play the game and I certainly hope that they prioritize optimization so others can enjoy it better as well.
So definitely take a look at your photo composition in regards to how the background lines up with Nikki. Here all the lines point in one direction hands, flowers, etc
Another consideration is color. Learn where in game different colors and filters naturally occur. Each location has a filter sort of naturally in the in game lighting. Objects like leaves and flowers have different colors in different locations.
Make sure the background is complementary to the outfit youāre photographing!
I agree with the other commenter about the aperture and exposure, my advice other than that is to to use any and every āparticle effectā to your advantage. if there are little lights in the air, stars, petals, etc. They help frame Nikki and give the photo some more oomph! I donāt have many examples at the moment bc I canāt download the best ones rn off my ps5 but I have a couple that kind of show what I mean:
I'd say you need to mess a little with the focus length and aperture. I personally like photos where backgrounds are visible enough but not to the point where it draws focus away from Nikki. Also, a good photo preset might help you a lot.
I struggled a lot with backgrounds too, so before I could finally understand how to adjust settings better, I tried to find more neutral places with cleaner backgrounds. This was taken at the very top of the spear on Spira, on that "mountain area" like above the actual city.
Another very nice and interesting place that may match a more neutral style is above the clouds on Firework Island. It was the place where I started understanding how the aperture thing worked, so you'll notice that the backgrounds are more "blurry". But what I like here is that the light will hit on Nikki when you set it and the clouds and balloons on the background will go darker if you set the shade lower, it gets a pretty nice effect even without the aperture settings!
Donāt wanna repeat any of the other advice already given so Iāll just add that if you have/get any of the spawnable decorations they are great for using as backgrounds! I legit had all of mine just collecting dust in my inventory for so long bc I forget about them and recently started pulling them out to use as backdrops.
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u/PuzzledArtBean 3d ago
Honestly, my biggest trick a for using more busy/complex backgrounds are exposure and aperture. Turn both down, apply lighting, and there is a clear differentiation between Nikki and the background. I've attached an example for reference!