{"id":137204,"date":"2026-05-15T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-200339"},"modified":"2026-05-15T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T15:00:00","slug":"feature-behind-the-lens-how-new-pokemon-snap-made-me-miss-my-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2026\/05\/15\/feature-behind-the-lens-how-new-pokemon-snap-made-me-miss-my-dad\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature: Behind The Lens – How New Pok\u00e9mon Snap Made Me Miss My Dad"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n
\"Worthing<\/a>
<\/span> Image: Alana Hagues \/ Nintendo Life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s hard to believe that New Pok\u00e9mon Snap<\/a> is more than five years old. I remember the days of wistfully dreaming of a follow-up to the bite-sized N64 game that I spent hours and hours on as a kid, trying to figure out how to get that Charmeleon to evolve, or how to unlock the last level with Mew.<\/p>\n

Of course, as an adult, I can do all of that within a couple of hours now, but the magic of seeing Pok\u00e9mon in any environment that isn\u2019t just catching and battling has always been a draw to me. I think the original Pok\u00e9mon Snap<\/a> is why<\/em> I fell in love with these Pocket Monsters. A sequel felt like a dream.<\/p>\n

But, despite my excitement, I skipped over New Pok\u00e9mon Snap initially. 2021 was admittedly a very different time, but it was my relationship with photography \u2014 and not my then mixed feelings about the franchise \u2014 that stopped me from dropping the cash on it immediately.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/a>
<\/span> Image: Nintendo Life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You see, my dad loved taking pictures. Growing up, there were always cameras lying around the house. It was the \u201890s and early \u201800s, so if you were a family, you probably had one or two of those yellow-bound Kodak cameras stuffed in a drawer somewhere, ready for the next beach day or school trip. We even adopted a digital camera pretty early.<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t call my dad a photographer \u2013 in a running blog he kept in the years before his death, he wrote, \u201cI\u2019ve never pretended to be any good, I\u2019ve always worked on the premise that if I take enough photos some of them might be ok.\u201d But he was good. And I know that because these words have sat with me since I read them 15 years ago:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI think I just see things that others don\u2019t. It’s not that I\u2019m any good at it, just have a knack of knowing what is a good picture. I don\u2019t necessarily know it beforehand, just a realisation when I come to view the finished product.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

For a while, whenever I tried to take something \u201cnice\u201d, I always felt a little twinge, like the ghost of his talents were there. Yes, that even stretched to video game photography \u2013 something I\u2019m sure he would\u2019ve found amusing. Video games weren\u2019t really his thing unless they were realistic racing sims (complete with a wheel and brakes) or a few rounds of Mario Golf<\/a> with the kids.<\/p>\n

So when I eventually got New Snap, it was a very different experience. It wasn\u2019t just, \u201cAwww, look at all the pretty Pok\u00e9mon!\u201d, it was now a case of \u201cWhat do I see in these creatures that others maybe don\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n