Orcish Army Knife on taking great screenshots in WoW

I love taking screenshots. Writing for WoW Insider is largely about the writing, but it's also about the layout, and having snazzy images to go along with whatever it is I'm writing about. That said, I have a truckload of screenshots from every expansion on my computer, because it's become some kind of collecting disease to me. If I'm going a really good quest, I'll screenshot the different parts of that quest. If an NPC is talking, I'll invariably take a screenshot of what they're saying. But just snapping away while playing the game doesn't guarantee you're going to have a good image to work with.

And if there's anyone that knows anything about taking great screenshots, it's Fabulor, a.k.a. Rades from the blog Orcish Army Knife. For quite some time now Rades has been entertaining his readers with tons of posts pointing out both the silly and the serious in Warcraft, always illustrated with plenty of gorgeous screenshots to help tell the story. Over the past week, Rades and guest author Hugh Hancock from MMO Melting Pot and more recently Death Knight Love Story have been sharing their tips and tricks to capturing the perfect image.

Hugh's contribution to the series mostly concerns the all important question of layout. Proper framing can make or break an image, and Hugh points out some tips for framing an image that should be helpful to players looking to snag the best screenshot possible. In Rades' latest entry, he delves even further into the concept of composition, pointing out that something as simple as the angle of your camera can change the entire mood of an image. In addition, there are also some tips on lighting and choosing a setting that works best for what you're trying to portray.

The series isn't over yet -- there's at least one more post on the way, concerning sneaky screenshot tricks. I've been reading Orcish Army Knife for years now and admiring Rades' penchant for perfect screenshots -- I'm glad we're finally getting a behind-the-scenes on the process. If you've ever wondered how to get the best out of your screenshots, go give both posts a read, and keep an eye out for part three.