The basic camera controls are an improvement on Second Son’s, too, ironing out some of the quirks that could occasionally hamper composition. But it’s still limited in the sense that your camera revolves around Joel, the protagonist, without much freedom to break away from his position. Naughty Dog did consider implementing a free camera that let the player fly anywhere, but decided against it for technical reasons. "The thing is, every video game is composed to some degree of smoke and mirrors," says Gregory. "What you see when you’re in the main play path of the game is very detailed but the things that are farther away, by necessity, are less detailed. And so we didn’t want you to get into a situation where you’re really breaking the reality of the game." The team does have some ideas for how control might be expanded, however, with Gregory saying, "There were a number of ideas that were rolled around that we might try in the future."

"We’ve been surprised at some of the shots that people get. We look at them and say 'Wow, is that even in our game?!'"

While The Last of Us’ photo mode improves on Second Son’s in many ways, the latter game is a more natural fit for photography by virtue of its open-world design. If you see anything in the distance when exploring Second Son’s Seattle, more often than not you can travel there yourself and get a photo; The Last of Us, on the other hand, is a more directed experience that guides you along a linear path. But that’s not to say that you can’t use the mode to pull off some original pictures. "We’ve been surprised at some of the shots that people get," says Gregory. "We look at them and say "Wow, is that even in our game?!" Kovalovs adds that the mode also works as a showcase for the game’s remastered graphics. "When you play the game through, you don’t look at Joel’s face because you usually see him from the back, but when you rotate around him you realize ‘Oh wow, this actually looks amazing!’"

Naughty Dog has been surprised with the feedback that the feature is receiving so far. "If you guys are posting cool shots, we’re noticing it," says Gregory. And from his comments, it sounds like there’s a good chance of a photo mode making its way into the studio’s upcoming Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, due out next year for the PS4: "It’s hard to say for sure, but it does seem like a popular feature so I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t want to include it." The debate may rage over whether video games can be sports, but can they be photography too? That’s a question we may start to hear more often.