I don’t want people to ask how I did it - I want them to ask what game it is.
With over 1,400 shots across 41 games, Gary has built one of the most diverse and recognizable galleries on Picashot — from the moody streets of Alan Wake 2 to the post-apocalyptic grit of Mad Max and the metallic flash of Stellar Blade.
We sat down with Gary, the virtual photographer behind the lens, to talk about his beginnings, inspirations, and what keeps him shooting game after game.
What’s your earliest memory of gaming and taking photos in games?
My earliest memory of gaming is really going to show my age here, but it would’ve been somewhere around 1989 or so playing Outlaw on the Atari 2600 with my father when I was about three years old. It was this old-style gunslinger duel game where it could only render maybe four colors on screen at once and the bullets moved like Pong at half speed. I’d crack up laughing at the game so Dad just kept playing it with me.
As far as stepping into VP, I didn’t really start with that until the fall of 2020 during the pandemic. My job was sort of in limbo because no one knew for sure what was going on with really anything. I had extra time to fill, so originally I was doing a series of Wreckfest YouTube videos. It was fun in the beginning but the editing and voiceover work became too much, so I quietly stopped.
Around the same time my wife was handed the reins of a weekly Twitter photo event centered around the Dead or Alive series. I figured I’d help her out long enough for the event to grow. Once it did, I’d shut my account down since I’m not a big fan of social media. Somehow here we are five years later almost to the day having this conversation. So yeah, blame my wife for that one!
Tell us the story behind your username, Cybertribal86. It feels unique — does it have a special meaning?
The name does have special meaning, and it goes back almost 20 years. I come from an arts and illustration background. It’s what I went to college for, and I studied under artists and writers who worked in the comic book industry. My ultimate goal back then was to make a career out of creating rock ‘n’ roll album covers like the iconic ones you’d see in the ‘70s.
In 2006 I linked up with Rich Ward, who is the guitarist for the rock band Fozzy alongside the pro wrestler Chris Jericho. In the mid-‘90s, Rich was in a rap/metal fusion band out of Atlanta called Stuck Mojo. The band had been split up for about five years but were in talks for a reunion. Rich had seen some of my artwork on his message board and wanted me to bring back the Cyber Tribal, the mascot from their early album covers.
Cyber is essentially King Kong crossed with a Terminator. He was created by Dave Johnson, who did a stint working on the Invincible comic among other titles. Unfortunately, the band reunion fell apart more than once and my part in the project got shelved. When I created my handle it was the obvious choice because I had sort of adopted this creature as my own. He’s even in my profile picture split right down the middle with me.
With over 1,400 shots from 41 games, how do you decide which game to photograph next?
I think I’d be closer to 70 if I didn’t continuously loop back to the same titles over and over again and started working on clearing my backlog.
It’s contrarianism, if I’m being honest. I look at what’s popular in VP at the moment and wander off in a completely different direction. Right now the trends are Ghost of Yotei and Silent Hill f, but I’ve been off shooting Evil West and Silent Hill 2.
When you follow the crowd and go with what’s flashy and new, there’s a chance your work will get lost in the sauce. I try to avoid that. I don’t want people to look at my shots and say “how did he do that?” I want them to say “wait, what game is that?”
If you were to describe your photography style in one sentence, what would it be?
My style is an ever-evolving celebration of all the things about gaming I’ve enjoyed for years.
You’ve captured everything from Alan Wake 2 to Wreckfest. Do you approach each game differently?
Every game has its own unique feel to it. I almost feel like I have to approach each one differently. If I were to try and take the same style of photo in Wreckfest as I would in Alan Wake 2, one of them is going to look very bizarre—and not in a good way!
I could make the choice to primarily focus on one game and one style, but the last thing I want is to box myself in. Part of the fun is figuring out what a game is going to present to me visually, whether it’s hyper-realistic or cartoonishly exaggerated.
Do you have a favorite photo you’ve taken on Picashot? What makes it stand out?
This shot was meant to be a total goof on the surface, but underneath it represented a lot of what I was feeling internally. Broken down, scared, and wanting it all to stop. Trying to find even a little bit of humor in the horror was just a way for me to cope.
I still chuckle at it because I soft locked myself in-game to get this shot and was forced to restart. I froze the game with the UUU at just the right moment to get Juliet stuck in the scene amongst fire fireworks and stars.
This photo was never meant to see anything beyond the recycle bin on my computer. I didn’t think anything of it when I first took it. If I’m being honest? I hated it. The lighting wasn’t what I wanted, the colors were too muddy, and something about the way the face came out just bothered me.
*TPM ran an event either for Remedy in general or Alan Wake 2 specifically - I can’t remember. I had a few photos I wanted to share and this one ended up being a filler piece in the set. Even after all the tweaking and editing I still didn’t have a strong attachment to the photo but I shared it anyway. *So you can imagine my shock when I woke up one morning and my Twitter notifications were going wild. I was half asleep looking at the portrait I very nearly deleted as the magazine cover. Just goes to show how sometimes you may not like the way a photo turned out, but others will see something in it.
Are your shots influenced by anyone or anything in particular?
A lot of my influence comes from comic books. I think it’s a natural way of looking at things for me with my education background. When I’m laying out a shot on screen, my brain imagines how it would look as a comic book panel or splash page.
My other driver is music. From Motörhead to Porcupine Tree to Stuck Mojo and beyond. If you look at VP on Instagram, most people add relevant game soundtrack pieces to their shots. Then you have mine, which try to blow your eardrums out.
This isn’t to say I don’t have a long list of VP artists I admire—because I absolutely do. We could have an entire separate conversation just hyping up other people whose work is phenomenal.
Do you use any post-processing software?
I’ve always been open to using apps and programs to give my shots a little extra punch after the fact. Some say using anything more than what’s in-game means your work isn’t “real,” but in my opinion you should use any tool available if you choose.
I use the UUU tool and Reshade for PC games, and about 95% of my post-editing is done on my iPhone with Snapseed, Lightroom Mobile, PS Express, or Picsart. Each one has different features I like depending on the look I’m going for.
Out of all the games you’ve photographed, which was the most difficult?
I apologize to the Kojima fans in advance, but Death Stranding never fully clicked with me from a photography standpoint. That’s not a reflection on the game itself—I just never found my comfort zone when it came to taking photos. At some point in the future I’ll give it another go to see if that’s changed.
Which game was surprisingly easy or fun to photograph?
Shooting Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP was the most fun I think I’ve had so far. It’s an over-the-top game filled with classic zombie B-movie tropes and crude humor. Getting to be one of the first to really photograph it was exciting.
About a week or two after I finished posting the last few sets, the dev team announced the game was getting an official photo mode. I don’t have an inflated enough ego to believe that had anything to do with me, but it would be nice to think it did even just a tiny bit.
You’ve spent a lot of time in Stellar Blade and Alan Wake 2. What draws you back?
Stellar Blade was a perfect storm of so many elements. The moment I saw Eve fighting a kaiju with what looked like a giant spiked tire for a head I was hooked. The soundtrack sticks in your brain, the story is simple but effective, and the combat is a ton of fun. It also has my favorite photo mode of any game I’ve played so far.
Alan Wake 2 is much more personal for me. The franchise is easily my favorite narrative of all time. I never gave up hope for a sequel, even with all the false starts. When that title card appeared on my PS5 for the first time, I got a little emotional. It felt like Christmas morning.
Have you ever had a shot that took way too much effort but was worth it?
What’s a virtual photography hot take you’d stand by?
This is a very dangerous question to ask me because I’m going to make someone unhappy.
I see entirely too much talk about the “rules” of VP. As far as I’m concerned the only rules you should follow are your own rules as an artist. No one should be telling you which photos do or don’t count, that you can’t edit your shots, or even what aspect ratio to use. All of that is up to the individual.*
If one of your photos could come to life, which would you choose?
If you could reimagine or change one feature in any game you’ve photographed, which would it be?
The orbit camera from Days Gone needs to be erased from existence. We’re talking Men in Black neuralyzer levels of forgotten. So many times I’d be lining up what a great shot only to find myself kneecapped by the range and directional limits. Having to work with an orbit camera in anything other than a racing game really is like having one hand tied behind your back. And the worst part is Bend kept it in the remaster, too! If you were going to change anything, that was the thing to change.
You can only pick two of these groups of games to photograph for the next 10 years. Which do you choose?
I was worried for a minute there you were going to turn this into a form of mental torture and limit me to just one.
It has to be Alan Wake 2, Control, and Hellblade and Stellar Blade, Days Gone, and Mad Max. Remedy is probably my favorite studio overall. I love their work and find myself going back constantly. My day job is in the mental health field and I’ve always been amazed by what Ninja Theory did with the psychosis themes in Hellblade.*
Days Gone was the first game where I thought I could enjoy VP as a hobby, despite the orbit camera. And Mad Max is just a really fun world to explore and beat people up in.
When did you first discover Picashot?
I think I learned about Picashot back when it first launched. There were a few points where people thought Twitter was done and over with and were looking for a new platform. So yeah, I’ve kind of been here since the beginning to some degree. I just put a major focus on it in the last year or so.
What’s your favorite thing about using Picashot?
The best thing for me is the absence of typical social media pressures. There’s no worrying about views or likes or engagement metrics. I can post shots I like and badger your team when I come across a game that isn’t on the list yet.
Is there a feature you’d love to see added?
I’m really excited for when the subscriber features for Picashot Pro go live, particularly the creative process and technique sections. Community discussions would also be nice — a place to bounce ideas off each other and try new things.
Any advice for someone just starting out in virtual photography?
A few quick points:
Make it your own. Carve your own path. Play the games you enjoy and take the shots that excite you. The people who dig what you do will find you.
Don’t take anything too seriously. I got my start taking pictures of girls in bikinis kicking each other in the face. Some people don’t dig that, and that’s okay. The beauty of this community is that it’s full of content you’ll love if you take the time to look for it.
My final and most important point is incredibly cliché but it fits. Have as much fun as you can and more!
Thanks for taking the time to listen to my ramblings. If you’ve made it this far, big hugs. You deserve a medal. And probably some aspirin.
It’s clear that Gary’s passion for virtual photography runs deep, not just in the number of shots shared, but in the emotion and precision behind each one. Their work reminds us how every frame in a game can tell a story worth capturing.
You can explore more of Gary’s stunning work on Picashot and follow their creative journey as they continue to turn pixels into art.