People love to take pictures in video games. As the game worlds we explore have become more beautiful, players have become more interested in photographing them and sharing the results. It is almost standard for open-world games in particular to include photo modes, which allow players to mimic real-world photographers by adjusting the framing, brightness and exposure. Selfie modes, meanwhile, let you add filters and change characters' facial expressions, from Link in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker to Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2. There is even an augmented-reality photo mode in Pokémon Go, which lets players take posed photos of digital Pokémon in the real world. Some games take it a step further, incorporating photography as an interaction within the game.

To capture the perfect lighting, Rasmus Furbo directed Spider-Man to crouch on top of a queen-size bed. The web-slinger sat there, facing the end of the bed, against a black studio-like backdrop for the hero's classic red and blue suit. The photo shoot was not for some kind of magazine promo for the next Marvel Cinematic offering. Rather the scene unfolded all within a video game. Furbo, 33, has played video games practically his entire life, but over the summer he found what he calls "a hobby within a hobby" -- what's known by some as in-game photography.

Watching all the enthusiasm about the newly released Marvel's Spider-Man game on social media last week, one of the most interesting things is how much people enjoy the parts of the game that aren't about fighting bad guys. I've lost count of the number of tweets along the lines of: "I just like swinging through the streets; I like the sense of grace and freedom; I'd do that all day if I could." But they can't, of course, because there are bad guys to punch. The game does, however, have a photo mode and that has proved immensely popular. My Twitter timeline is awash with images of Spider-Men taking selfies in front of the Statue of Liberty, hanging out near pride flags and somersaulting past the Chrysler building in the glorious sunshine.

More video games are getting photo modes these days, but none have likely deserved it more than the recently-released God of War. The fourth game in the franchise is gorgeous, and wherever you land on its story or mechanics, the AAA polish resulted in a beautiful, high-resolution world. With the game's new photo mode, you can capture moments with plenty of customizable features to get just the right stylized or hyper-realistic look. Santa Monica Studio has given players a wide array of options, from field of view and focal length tweaking to borders and filters. You can also selectively toggle the visibility of all characters in the scene to highlight some and subdue others.