Two Sims pose for a Photographer to take their picture
The Sims 4 Get to Work features a Photography Skill, which lets you earn some money or decorate your home with photos of your Sims' lives. This guide will cover the controls, money-making potential, and mechanics of photography to help you make the most of the Skill.
How to: Photography Cheats
Press Control + Shift + C then type testingcheats on and press enter. You can now set your skill level with stats.set_skill_level major_photography x (fill in 1-5) - we also have a full listing of Skill Cheats and a master list of Cheats in The Sims 4
News on the health of the player base. We also have a new patch for The Sims 4's photography skill that allows players to make adjustments and stand photos on tables.
Getting Started
You may want to make your Sim Creative so that they'll randomly get Inspired buffs, which helps with the Photography Skill. Buying a Camera is as simple as going to Buy Mode > Objects by Room > Study > Hobbies & Skills. There, you'll find the 3 Cameras offered. They're compared below. In general, the more you're willing to pay, the better quality your photos, which affects price.
Three different Cameras may be purchased in Buy Mode. You can also use your Sim's phone to get started, but don't expect much money with bad pictures.
Taking Pictures
Taking photos is done by either clicking the phone and going to the Entertainment tab, or clicking the cameras in your inventory. Each use will give a base amount of experience, more if your Sim is Inspired. You have a few options - 'Take Photo With', which will be a selfie with another Sim. You can 'Take Photo of..' to select a nearby Sim to have them pose for you. Finally, you can just 'Take Photo' to use the camera to take pictures of whatever you like.
Pictures can be hung on the wall to decorate your home, or to be sold at retail. You may add a frame to the picture once taken, or apply filters to alter how it looks.
5 Million Views! My YouTube channel has grown a lot the last 6 months. I now have over 100 videos on Youtube and am nearing 50k subscribers. I'd like to invite people to check out my content and, if you like what I'm doing, subscribe!
The left mouse is used for most of Photography's Controls
Photography Controls
How to control the camera was a point of confusion for me, so here's how you change options on your camera to take pictures. When in Photo mode, use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out (or else + and - on the keyboard). Also, you may left-click to switch from moving the camera to controlling the mouse. This allows you to change the orientation of the photo (landscape or portrait), change the picture size (small, medium, large photos), or disable the flash.
Photo sizes may only be adjusted using the camera's interface with the mouse
Click 'Show Filters' to the left of the photo control panel to apply filters to your picture, which can also be done once a photo has been taken. Pressing 'C' will take a picture instantly, or else you can zoom and pan to your target with the arrow keys and use the left mouse button to click the take picture button.
Sims will pose for you when you use the camera to take their picture
Getting Inspired
You may Cloudgaze if you own Outdoor Retreat. Take a Thoughtful Shower, Admire Art while having the Art Lover Trait, and Browse Art on Computer. These all give Inspired moodlets that can help.
Gaining Levels in Photography - Using the Skill
Be sure to be inspired to ensure you have fewer pictures to take to max the Skill at Level 5. Sims may earn Skill simply by taking selfies with their phones in order to begin building experience. A higher grade camera doesn't seem to affect skill experience - you can gain XP taking selfies with the phone. When you start to take a picture, you'll get five shots. You can hit escape to cancel after taking only one, but take all five. This is best because it will give you a bit more money per usage of Photography. You'll also have a higher chance of taking high quality pictures, because each shot is a roll of the dice.
Anything you take a picture of will get you skill experience. Shoot all five times to get higher quality photos.
Photography Skill Unlocks
As stated before, the Skill caps at level 5. There are no skill unlocks, meaning this Skill simply scales in picture value and quality as you level up. Photos range from Poor, to Normal, and Oustanding. The odds of Outstanding photos grows the more you have leveled, and being Inspired helps with that.
The Photo Studio in The Sims 4 Get to Work
Making Money with Photography
Photos' value are independent of size, and are not affected by the Marketable Reward Trait, so don't bother. They can be worth up to $30, but are generally in the upper 20s when outstanding. This means you can expect to make $130-$150 with 5 Outstanding photos if sold directly. With regard to retail, restocking a picture costs $10 flat, no matter its size or quality. So, if you can move your markup higher and ensure you are maximizing profit on each sale, you can earn a bit selling pictures. Just stock those that are closer to $30 and avoid those that are worth only $10, and go without employees unless you're also selling something else.
Photo Studio
With the Photo Studio object, you can turn your retail store into a photo studio. You have the option to take photos of an individual Sim, which is easy to do, but the Sim AI seems to be rough when it comes to taking group photos and the tend studio interaction. The money earned for taking a photo is small - from $10 for 'Tend Photo Studio' to $50+ when you select a Sim to take a picture yourself. You do keep those pictures in your Sim's inventory, which means you can pop 5 at a time and sell them as usual. The studio just adds a bit of extra income. From a pure profit standpoint, tending the photo studio is a bad way to make money, but when you select 'Take Photo of' with the studio on a Sim that is already on your retail lot, you can earn quite a bit from the commission and then pictures combined. It's not an outstanding money-maker, but it's not too bad either! A Sim can certainly live off the money.
Expansion Guide
Retail Guide
Retail: Customers and Sales
Retail: Employees and Managing
Retail Perks in Get to Work
Aliens
Baking Skill Guide
Photography Skill Guide
Detective Career
Doctor Career, Diseases and Diagnosing Patients
Scientist Career
Planet Sixam (Alien World)
Acting | Archaeology | Baking | Charisma | Comedy | Cooking | Dancing | DJ Mixing | Fishing | Fitness | Flower Arranging | Gardening | Gourmet Cooking | Guitar | Handiness | Herbalism | Logic | Media Production | Mischief | Mixology | Painting | Parenting | Photography | Piano | Programming | Research and Debate Robotics Rocket Science | Singing | Vampire Lore | Veterinarian | Video Gaming | Violin | Wellness | Writing
We now have a Youtube Channel with over 50 guides in video format to go along with the huge site I've already created. Check it out and consider subscribing if you like my style.
This is inspired by a new series in which I start at toddler and gradually take on the major bonuses. Here's a link to the full playlist!
I now have a guide page to Tiny Living Stuff where you can learn about Murphy Beds, the new death, as well as the lot bonuses you'll receive if you manage to keep the size of your lot down with this new pack's Tiny Home Lot Type.
New I now have a guide to Making Super Sims in The Sims 4. Look for a text version within the next 72h. It won't have THAT much more info but it will help out as a checklist.
This was inspired by a series, "Let's Play a Super Sim" in which I start at toddler and gradually take on the major bonuses. Here's a link to each part for people who are interested. You can also see the Let's Play as a Playlist on Youtube.
#1 Making a Top Notch Toddler
#2 Starting Childhood
#3 Finishing Childhood Aspirations
#4 Parenthood Character Values
#5 Teen Goals
#6 Finishing Teen
#7 Max Teen + Clubs and Tiny Living
#8 Adulthood - Vampire + Reward
New #9 Master Vampire
The Sims 4 Discover University has been announced for November 15 for PC/Mac and December 17 for Xbox and Playstation 4 consoles. Click to learn more about the pack, see my summary of the livestream or read our FAQs below.
Other Guides to Discover University:
New Lot Traits: Study Spot and University Student Hang Out
New: Discover University FAQ: Gameplay Features
New Video The Sims 4 Discover University Gameplay Tips Video
More videos coming soon!
Readers who use adblock or those who'd like to thank us for our efforts can now pledge $1/$5 monthly via Patreon to help us retain the freedom to do what we love to do.
We now have a Videos page, where I'll list every submission to our Sims 4 Gameplay Guides Channel. I'm taking feedback seriously, improving recording and sound quality and other issues with my video guides. Let me know what you think and subscribe for more like it. If you comment on the videos page with a request I may bump it higher on my to do list (no promises though!). Here is a listing of all videos released to date, in order of release:
Sims 4 February Patch Summary
Get Famous: Celestial Crystal Crown
Visit My Channel to Subscribe!
Get Famous First Impressions
First Person Mode (Sims 4 Update)
Get Famous Acting Livestream
Livestream Summary (Latest Patch News)
Patch News: COMING SOON
The Sims 4 Get Famous Expansion
Archaeology Guide (Jungle Adventure)
Jungle Adventure Gameplay
Nerd Brain and Computer Whiz
Spa Day Review and Gameplay Guide
The Sims 4 Whims & How to Use Them
Ambrosia Ingredients and Raising the Dead
The Sims 4: Making a Super Sim
The Sims 4 Careers (Improved)
Seasons Holiday Decorations Guide
Cool Kitchen Stuff
Patchy (Scarecrow)
Laundry Day
Painting Skill
Pregnancy Cheats
How to Woohoo & Try for Baby
Skill Cheats
Playing a Moocher
Sims 4 Writing Skill
Father Winter's Baby
Flower Shop Seasons/Get to Work Retail
Beekeeping Video
Disclaimer This site is not endorsed by or affiliated with Electronic Arts, or its licensors. Trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The Sims and The Sims 4 Logo are trademarks of Electronic Arts, Inc. Game content and materials copyright Electronic Arts Inc. and its licensors. All Rights Reserved. All original Guides on this site © Carl's Guides
Comments (14)
This is great, too bad we can't take family photos. Would love to hang family pictures on the wall.
I know how you feel I can only take pictures of a couple pre kids and such.
Documents > Electronic Arts > Sims 4 > Screenshots
EA Bug Report - Photos Black