The photo mode definitely offers some impressive customization options (this is especially handy for capturing those perfect night city moments). You've got access to over 100 preset poses split between idle and action categories, and the camera controls give you plenty of creative freedom to work with depth of field, positioning, and field of view.

Something interesting to understand is that while the base game's poses are more standard animations, the real magic happens with mods on pc. The photo mode unlocker and custom pose packs are what let you recreate those viral meme moments and pop culture references you might've seen online (modders are constantly adding new poses, so it's worth checking the popular mod sites regularly). The 2.2 update really opened things up by adding drone cameras and npc spawning - you can actually place up to 20 different characters in your shots now, which creates some amazing storytelling opportunities.

A neat trick is to combine the built-in visual filters with the newer lighting controls, especially if you're working with the smartframes gallery system in your apartment. The black and white filter, in particular, can create some really striking noir-style shots of the city at night (just remember that some of the advanced lighting features are pc-only).