I love screenshots. I love taking them, I love sharing them, and I love seeing the ones other people take. I love them so much, this is my 12th piece dedicated solely to my adoration of screenshots (you can find the rest here, if you are so inclined).

Fallout 76 has been (for me) a technical mess. I feel the best part of the game has been the world exploration, and photo mode has been a magical treat for this no-longer vault dweller.

I love all the options! And filters!

Back in the late ’90s/early ’00s, I was a professional photographer. It was a job I fell into but wound up being good at and enjoying. I went from working two retail jobs at the local mall (almost each day I would open at one store, then close at the other, with a half hour or so between), to being a photographer full time. The man I worked for (Shawn) used to tell me that sometimes, even if I really wanted to get a certain shot, it just wasn’t going to happen. He told me you can’t always get every shot you want.

And he was right.

Some photo modes are easier to navigate than others, but I find Fallout 76’s to be a lot of fun. It allows that long-buried photographer to come out and mess around in a digital environment.

Here are 14 of my favorite screenshots (so far) from Fallout 76.

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As soon as I found out there was a lighthouse, I made a beeline for it. The structure immediately reminded me of a scene in feardotcom, the often unintentionally hilarious horror movie from 2002. It also reminded me (with this filter, especially) of the video tape footage in Gore Verbinski’s The Ring (also from 2002).

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The same applies to this image. I just love the aesthetic of the area and the lighthouse, itself.

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When I found this unfilled kickball I believe I said out loud, “Who would even want to pick this up?” Then I thought about it, picked it up, and kept it in my stash for mysterious purposes.

Sometimes brains are funny.

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I love the trees and filter here. The sign in the background brings it together.

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This gave me pause.

I’ve been ruthlessly searching all the bathrooms to find every plunger and roll of toilet paper in the game. They are two of a handful of items I go out of my way to find and keep.

As I was methodically searching a series of restrooms, I came upon this stall and found a fish in the toilet bowl and a fishing rod next to it.

Hmmm.

I couldn’t pick up the fish, and the whole thing greatly amused me.

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I have a huge weakness for carnival and theme park aesthetics. This was the loading area for the roller coaster at Wacky Willard’s water park. I’d read you could walk the track, so I went up there and found out. Sure enough, you can walk the track.

I liked the neon and the weird expressions on the zebra’s faces.

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Just two stationary friends going RAAAAAAALLLLLLGGGHHHHHHHHHH.

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Certain filters seem to go perfectly with certain areas. From a bit of a distance, this almost looks like a photo of a real place.

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Another example of a realistic appearance.

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The lighting effects, while sometimes janky, were quite lovely here. As you can see in the lower left corner, I was just setting up my camp when the light took on this quality.

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This was the first real campsite I built. I made sure it had light from the campfire, a bed, a water source, a cooking station, an armor repair bench, and a stash! I also make sure it had at least four lawn flamingos (you can see them on the left).

One day I will have a peaceful army of flamingos to watch over my camp while I’m away.

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I am not above rampant immaturity and I snickered out loud when I saw this. Why is the robot’s face in the super mutant’s crotch? Also, they both appeared to be dead.

I have questions.

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There are two great things in this picture.

One: That’s the most fully realized camp I’ve built so far.

Two: That spacesuit has been all I’ve wanted to find since the game released.

Last night, two friends and I finally found the downed satellite/space station and I got my prize. I love it so much. I’m going to take pictures of myself wearing it all over the wastelands of West Virginia.

Also, the only, and I mean only, reason I built up this camp was because I had access to that lighthouse picture and I had to have walls to put it up.

I put the roof on because it was fancy.

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I’ve seen some ridiculous bugs in Fallout 76, but my headshot kill made a lasting impression on this scorched wanderer.

No joke, at first I thought I was looking at some weird ass baseball bat.

Also I felt like this over the top saturated filter was appropriate.

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I know I will one day have loads more screenshots to share, and I look forward to it! If you’re so inclined, please share your spoiler-free screenshots from any game with me either on my Facebook writing page, or my Twitter account. I’d love to see them!

Please be safe out there tomorrow, friends. A very tardy cheers!