This skill is not country-specific as such. However, only the basic camera can be found in the general stores in China and France whereas three different models of camera can be found in the general store in Egypt. Also, as the other two countries have their own country-specific skills, Egypt may as well be the place to describe the third one.

Please note that this can be an expensive skill to learn. However, perseverence and a high skill can make it quite profitable and rewarding. Also, a sim can be sent abroad to take a photograph of some landmark. The reward for those trips sometimes pays for the entire trip itself.

Firstly, your sim has to buy a camera. They can buy the cheap SnapTastic Flimsy-Cam at any of the General Stores in the adventure destinations for §250. They can take a lot of pictures with this camera but it does not have some of the more advanced features. In order to get a better camera, they have to go to Egypt. The ChannonTec Outlaw SE costs §850 and at the top of the range, the Hikon QX40di Gladiator will cost §3,250. The better the camera, the smaller the amount of pictures that can be taken but the higher the quality and the greater the options.

Secondly, every picture taken costs money. The smallest picture costs §22. At the very low skill levels, it is very unlikely that the value of a sim's photographs will exceed the cost. Also, they are more likely to be out of focus, a finger is covering the lens or even the Magical Mister Knome might sneak into the shot and spoil it.

There are a lot of different photo collections that our budding sim photographer can try to complete. These do not show up in the skill log until a sim has taken at least one photograph from that collection. Each collection is made up of different titles. Some photographic subjects are easier to take than others. For instance, it is easier to take a photograph of the town hall than it is of taking a photograph of someone using a shower-in-a-can or catching three ghosts in the cemetary.

Also, when taking photographs, it does help to have a steady hand as one flicker when taking the shot and you may find your sim has taken a photo of lower value and in a different class. In one case, I was trying to take a picture of The Scholar's Garden in Shang Simla but instead got it rated as any normal garden instead of that one in particular. Examples of collections include Architecture & Buildings, Everyday Moments, Around Town, Still Life and Family & Friends to name but a few.

With this skill, like the others, come challenges which is a way for the sim to specialise in their field and also to increase the value of their photographs. In fact, pursuing a challenge can be essential rather than optional. An example is Architectural Eye, where if a sim captures 10 unique landmarks, all photographs featuring landmarks will increase in value. Another one is Paparazzi, where if a sim captures 60 different strangers, photographs of unknown sims will be worth more. The most worthwhile - and probably the hardest - to get is Shutternut, which requires completing five (5) different photo collections. If this is done, taking pictures will now be free of charge. Again, I must point out that this one is VERY hard and will require a lot of travel, cooperation and luck.

The quickest way I have found for a sim to take a photograph, which also applies to the camera on a sim's cellphone, is to use Shift+C and the new photographic view comes up. Depending upon the camera and the sim's skill level, you get the option to change the size of the photograph, apply a black & white or sepia tone and zoom in and out.

The other way is to open the inventory, click on the camera that will be in there, then click on take photograph. I have found that this way is slow and the subject can often be missed. Clicking on the camera in the inventory allows the sim to view pictures, delete pictures and sell them.

In the top of this illustration on the left, we see that Tim is about to take a small-sized color photograph (1). The cost of it to take will be §22 (2) and he has over 100 shots left on his camera (3).

In the middle of the illustration underneath the framing, we see that the subject is City Hall (4), which is part of the Architecture & Buildings collection (5). If a picture is not part of a collection, this area is blank. The photograph may be worth something, though, although not as much as if it was part of a collection.

At the bottom, we see the different keys. Z & X zoom in and out (6), F toggles the photo filter (7), I toggles the size (8) and P pauses what is going on (9). If only reality was like that, I'd be able to get decent photos of my dogs as they never stand still. ESC exits this view (10), which is useful if you find that you are not getting the best view of the subject. C takes the picture (11), but a click on the left mouse button does the same thing.

Like all skills, you do not know how you are doing until you have reached Level 1. For those embarking out on this skill track, I advise them to take pictures of anything and everything. After about five or six shots, the sim will have reached Level 1 and then have an idea what is going on.

Level 2, a sim can take black & white photos on their camera using the filter key (F).
Level 4, a sim can take sepia tone photographs on their camera using the filter key (F).
Level 8, the ability to zoom in and out is improved with the Z & X keys.
Level 9, a sim can take classic vignette photographs on their camera using the filter key (F).
Level 10, a sim can take panorama-style photographs using the size key (I).

The basic rule of thumb is this, though. The better the quality of camera, the better the quality of the photographs will be.

Happy snapping!