UESPWiki:Featured Images

Featured Articles

FA Gallery

Past FA Nominations

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Featured Images

FI Gallery

Past FI Nominations

Featured Images are images the wiki's users deem to be of the highest quality and should be held up as an example for other images. Images are nominated for this status below. Users then review the nominees, keeping in mind UESP's image standards, and place their vote.

For an image to be eligible for Featured status, it must be used in a UESP article. This is to prevent specially taken beauty shots from stealing the limelight.

A gallery of older Featured Images can be found here. Similarly, the archives of previous nominations can be found here. Note that not all failed nominations are included. High-quality articles can be nominated for featured status at Featured Articles.

Featured Image Process

Nomination

Any registered member (once autoconfirmed) can nominate any image at any time. Nominated images should be of high quality and meet the wiki's image standards.

To nominate an image, list it at the bottom of this page with a three-tier heading, (===Example===), and briefly explain why you think the image should be given featured status.

Example:

SR-quest-Dragon Rising 05.jpg This is another great image. It appears cinematic, which is rare for the Elder Scrolls series. Support as nominator. — Example 09:32, 04 June 2024 (UTC)

Voting

After an image has been nominated, any registered member (once autoconfirmed) can vote to support or oppose each nomination. Each member can only vote once for a given image, but a member may change their vote by striking out the original vote and replacing it with the revised vote.

To vote on an image, state whether you support or oppose the image for featured image status. A vote should be in bold, and all votes must be signed. For example:
* '''Support''': <Comment> --~~~~ or
* '''Oppose''': <Comment> --~~~~

Commenting with your vote is optional, but if you oppose a nomination, please state how the image must be improved to get your support for featured status.

If you are not yet ready to vote but would still like to add your thoughts, you may use:

* '''Comment''': <Comment> --~~~~ or
* '''Question''': <Question> --~~~~

And fill in your concerns or questions.

Decisions

UESP Administrators will periodically make decisions on image nominations. Decisions will only be made if:

• The image has been nominated for more than seven days.
• Five or more votes have been placed.

Nominations not meeting these criteria will be left open until a decision can be reached.

Images whose nominations pass will receive featured image status on the front page for two weeks (which may be extended up to one month if there is a shortage of images), and receive a small bronze star () on the top right corner. If an image achieves featured status before the present featured image's time expires, it must wait its turn.

Current Featured Image

The Tower Sentinels (ESO)
19 April, 2024 - 19 May, 2024

Next

• ON-quest-The Tower Sentinels.jpg
• SI-quest-The End of Order 2.jpg
• ON-interior-Klathzgar 05.jpg
• ON-npc-Khal H. Hughez.jpg
• ON-place-The Boatman's Tail.jpg

Nominations and Votes

ON-creature-Phoenix Moth.jpg

A creature image with good framing and showcasing a sort of clash of nature theme in like fire vs earth kind of vibe. Pretty cool image.

• Support: As nominator.--Zebendal (talk) 05:42, 25 December 2023 (UTC)
• Support: Nice! Great composition.--Draugluin (talk) 10:22, 25 December 2023 (UTC)
• Support: Good shot --Weroj (talk) 15:21, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose: Nothing bad about this image, but it's very up-close orange with not much else going on. —Dillonn241 (talk) 04:26, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose: I love everything going on here: the flaming dust flying from the wings gives it a unique visual appeal, but it's not centered. There are times when that wouldn't bother me, but with a creature whose anatomy doesn't involve long humanoid arms or legs to complicate the structure, it detracts from the experience. Love the premise: the fact that the wings were caught fully spread is fantastic, but the subject's placement in a 1:1 space keeps it from winning me over. -MolagBallet (talk) 05:09, 25 January 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose: Per MolagBallet, it's not centered. —⁠Legoless (talk) 13:24, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
  • Support: Better! —⁠Legoless (talk) 20:09, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

ON-place-Vivec's Antlers Land-Coral.jpg

This is an excellent landscape image, with really fantastic lighting. The composition includes one prominent piece of coral which draws the eye.

• Support: As nominator. --AKB ^{Talk Cont Mail} 16:54, 12 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support: Very good lighting. The Dreugh give a sense of scale.Blowthemandown (talk) 17:19, 13 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support: A great shot of a great location.--Draugluin (talk) 10:11, 14 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support: Wonderful contrast between hot and cold colors and a clear delineation between the background and the foreground: bioluminescent fauna always makes for an exceptional subject, and this image displays the majesty of the locale's defining residents wonderfully. -MolagBallet (talk) 02:49, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support: Nice contrast --Weroj (talk) 15:21, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
• Neutral: I feel that the contrast is maybe too strong and that the angle could have been better. It already effectively passed nomination, so I won't lean for or against it. —Dillonn241 (talk) 04:26, 24 January 2024 (UTC)

ON-creature-Cell Haunter.jpg

This is a really solid creature image. This shot takes the idea that the subject must be centered to a whole new level by having the Cell Haunter take up most of the frame. The negative space around the wraith makes this work: Cell Haunter is clearly defined against the darkness of the hall behind it, and the glorious glow beneath its rags contrasts beautifully with the darkness of its face and the drabness of its tunic. I'm a little concerned the strips of cloth at the very bottom of the photo being cut off at the very tip might affect how others see it, but I can ignore that in favor of the stellar composition it brings to the table. The angle the subject is at, the tilt of its head to view the photographer, and pose make for a very dramatic image with that glow.

• Support: As nominator. -MolagBallet (talk) 20:12, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support: Good lighting, color, and use of space. —Dillonn241 (talk) 04:26, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support: Cool shot! The Rim of the Sky (talk) 19:41, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support: An interesting monster, in a good pose.Blowthemandown (talk) 05:44, 25 January 2024 (UTC)
• Comment: It's a good shot, but if we were to feature any wraith image I would much prefer File:ON-creature-Wraith 02.jpg. —⁠Legoless (talk) 13:23, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: Honestly, the candidacy for this nomination was a fierce competition between Wraith 02 and Cell Haunter, and it was a difficult choice. I'm glad we agree on the quality of that image! -MolagBallet (talk) 19:42, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support: Love the pose!--Draugluin (talk) 10:58, 6 May 2024 (UTC)

ON-npc-Barenziah Andarys.jpg

As someone who shoots NPCs regularly, I tend to gloss over them for Feature candidacy because they're just "unremarkable" as a default in my head. It's like passing by skyscrapers when you live in a city: they're just part of the environment. I'll see an NPC image, say "yup that follows the image guidelines to a T, I don't need to replace it", and then move on. However, there are a few NPC images that catch my eye: there are plenty of NPC shots I've seen that I've thought about nominating, but I've been held back by those thoughts. "Well I don't know that other people would see the appeal in this shot like I do: it's nothing "special", just an NPC".

Today I'm ignoring those thoughts to show off File:ON-npc-Barenziah Andarys.jpg, a centered NPC shot in brilliant, broad daylight. The red makes her stand out against the white stone, which is a huge plus for me. And the lighting: ensuring the sun is hitting the front of an NPC is crucial for getting a shot that allows the viewer to see all the colors and detail plain as day. This hits that. What really drives it above most others is the pose: the subtle weight shift from one leg to the other, the way her torso is twisted slightly with an arm positioned behind her, how she holds the book and the way her chin is lifted as though she's taking a moment's break from reading. That sort of subtle body language can turn a seemingly unremarkable image into one that tells a story.

She'll be right back to her book in just a second, but she's taking a moment to give her eyes a break and shift the weight distribution in her legs so she can continue reading without feeling compelled to find a spot to sit. She's probably been so absorbed in her book that didn't even noticed the stiffness in her knees and shoulders until now. This shot was taken at a great angle on the perfect frame for this sort of extrapolation to be possible. For me, most stand-out NPC images feature a more dynamic pose or fantastic subject, but there are those hidden gems that are taken at just the right frame in an idle animation, in just the right lighting, and at just the right angle for the subject to really speak to me. This is just a nobody NPC who doesn't have a single line of unique dialogue. As someone who takes great stock in the more mundane aspects of ESO's documentation, this image is a diamond in the rough: an obscure gem in a sea of passing shots that are yet nothing special. One that's buried amid more bombastic, thrilling compositions.

I know it sounds dramatic, but there are so many stellar shots like this that I feel are overlooked because the characters featured don't speak. These NPCs aren't important, so they're harder to find: they're only linked on 4 pages at most: 2 of those being the People page for the place in which they live, and the settlement itself through the People page's transclusion. I just spent three paragraphs talking up a photo of a Dark Elf standing with a book: half the people reading this probably think I'm nuts. But I truly mean it when I say this: every NPC, no matter how insignificant, has something to say. You just have to catch them at the right moment.

One draw I can think of is that people might be put off by the idea that this image is deprecated: it was shot while Necrom was on the PTS, and the devs have since changed the color of her frock from red to green. Her green hood also doesn't match the rest of her clothes. For me, this doesn't detract from the quality of the composition. I didn't even notice the hood was green until recently.

Barenziah Andarys may be a filler character who only exists to make Sailenmora look like a place people in the Telvanni Peninsula actually visit and inhabit, but this screenshot represents everything we want out of NPC images and more. It is exemplary in its plainness.

• Support: As nominator. -MolagBallet (talk) 20:12, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support + Proposal: Ok, I'll give you it, but this makes me wonder: should we add descriptions to images in the Featured Image block on the Main Page? Wikipedia does it, and their write-ups can be as long as yours to accompany the image. I don't want to set a precedent of anything more than a sentence or two, but it sounds like a good idea, especially to justify more "mundane" images that are otherwise perfectly shot. There are images that aren't necessarily striking that have backstories to them. For example, Wikipedia's is just a guy leaning over a computer, until you read the context: it's a young Steve Jobs leaning over the first Mac. —Dillonn241 (talk) 04:26, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: I like that idea. There's certainly space on the Main Page for it! -MolagBallet (talk) 19:00, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support: Wow, I think this might be the longest nomination explanation we've ever had haha! You've got me convinced, usually I hate eso npc pics as FIs because they're so bland, but the lighting contrast and posing of this one is a perfect ideal that npc images should strive for, it actually turned out to be a really great looking photo. You've got my vote The Rim of the Sky (talk) 19:41, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose:Even if the pic is doing a relative lot with a little, it's still a pretty dull pic. The NPC looks uninteresting, the colors are all washed out warm colors, and it's depreciated.Blowthemandown (talk) 05:35, 25 January 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose: I like the colour contrast, and I'm delighted we managed to snag the shot before the content became deprecated. However, it's just a bit of a boring image. —⁠Legoless (talk) 13:20, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

OB-quest-The Path of Dawn 03.jpg

This image caught my eye while browsing through the Oblivion image categories. There's a great bright red/steel blue contrast and the touch of green from the ivy complements the red once you notice it.

• Support: As nominator. —Dillonn241 (talk) 04:26, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support: Incredibly vibrant, perfectly centred, I love it! --Rezalon (talk) 04:33, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
• Weak Support: It's an interesting-looking part of the game, but how much skill or care was the picture taken with? It's a head-on shot of something that doesn't move or change. Some skill, I guess. It's certainly the correct distance from the subject, to make it look the best, but if you compare it to the current featured image, or the generic one at the top of this page with the guard blowing his horn, there's a certain gap there.Blowthemandown (talk) 06:03, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
• Neutral: Striking colours, but I agree with Blowthemandown that the framing is not particularly inspiring. It serves its purpose best when placed next to the inactive version of the rune. —⁠Legoless (talk) 13:18, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

TR3-quest-Hunting an Ogrim.jpg

Great action shot for Morrowind (actually Tamriel Rebuilt) against an enemy you don't often see and an encounter you less often witness. With this side-by-side battle posture, it looks all but hopeless for the Dunmer to kill the hulking ogrim, but we're hoping he pulls it off.

• Support: As nominator. —Dillonn241 (talk) 04:26, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support: A compelling scene that's pretty well framed: I dig it! -MolagBallet (talk) 19:37, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
• Comment: Not to sound like a stickler, but have we ever had a mod image featured before? Is there precedence to keep doing these, and is the requirement solely that it was an image taken for the wiki and not somewhere else? The Rim of the Sky (talk) 19:41, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
  • Reply: We have not from my perusal through the galleries yesterday. I see no reason why we can't or shouldn't. Tamriel Rebuilt has well over 1000 articles on the wiki and the Modspace Project has effectively removed all restrictions on documentation of mods. This is a good way to lightly feature that. Without digging deeper, you wouldn't even know this isn't vanilla Morrowind. —Dillonn241 (talk) 20:18, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose: The use of graphical mods has been a sticking point in the past. Featuring an image from a gameplay mod takes this a step further, and it's a step I'm not particularly comfortable with. The wiki is still primarily dedicated to documenting official content. —⁠Legoless (talk) 13:16, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

BL-quest-The Sundered Caves.jpg

This shot has a sort of cinematic feel to it, as if it were a piece of concept art you'd see (if it is, correct me and I'll take this nomination down). The red haze may be an engine limitation but here it does service to the photo, giving it an eery vibe and a mystery of where the two silhouetted people are going.

• Support: As nominator. —Dillonn241 (talk) 04:26, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
• Support: I don't know anything about Blades, but this is a cool pic.Blowthemandown (talk) 17:22, 29 January 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose: I want to see more Blades images featured, but this is a fairly typical view of a generic cave. It's a little grainy and has two enemies with their backs turned to the camera. Perfectly serviceable image but I don't think it's Feature-worthy. —⁠Legoless (talk) 10:42, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

ON-npc-Meridia.jpg

The fact that this image immediately draws the eye on any page it's put on is enough to convince me that this is a fitting pick for FI. The brilliant golden light makes her the focal point against that blue and violet background (the latter of which directly contrasts the yellow), which is just subdued enough to not be fighting with her for your attention. That color contrast and the difference in lighting between the foreground and the back is what transforms a potentially boring pick into an appealing one. The theming also helps: you spend the main story trudging through the oppressive blue and black wastelands of Coldharbour, and are suddenly thrust into the violet void at the end of it all, welcomed by the inviting glow of a warm color for once.

My only reservation is that her physical manifestation in the base game is a little "boring" as far as Daedric Princes go, but they went hard with the shaders: that glorious golden glow really picks this design up and jacks the visual appeal of the composition skyward. For as simple a design as "take a human model and slap a shader on it" is, Meridia quite literally lights up any shot you take of her in ESO: I can't think of a single image I've seen of her that doesn't hold my attention for at least a few seconds. It's very difficult to resist the urge to hit the "take screenshot" keybind whenever she's on-screen because she's an incredibly photogenic subject.

• Support: As nominator. --MolagBallet (talk) 05:09, 25 January 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose: It's still a little low-resolution, even after being reshot. Look at the facial detail. —⁠Legoless (talk) 13:26, 30 January 2024 (UTC)
• Oppose: It's a yellow lady. The background is more interesting than the subject.Blowthemandown (talk) 18:00, 26 April 2024 (UTC)

ON-quest-Planemeld Obverse.jpg

I enjoy the composition on this one. The pose and angle are pleasing, and the background provides a glorious sense of negative space with the jagged rocks and the anchor against the grey sky in the background. The blurring of the background provides focus on the foreground while giving us the vestige of interesting scenery. The background is visible, but it doesn't outshine the foreground. There's also more of the background on the right, and less behind the portal: the portal is bright, so it draws our attention, but the visual weight of the blues on the right balances that out. The portal anchors our sight, but the glowing crystals, the portal in the sky, and Sister Terran's face provide landmarks for us to soak in, guiding our vision across the canvas with eye-catching ease. The warm lighting from the portal also contrasts nicely against all the blues and greys.

• Support: As nominator. —MolagBallet (talk) 02:33, 5 March 2024 (UTC)
• Support: I can't take much credit, the framing is all due to the dialogue window. I just had to hide the UI for this shot. It's an interesting composition all the same! —⁠Legoless (talk) 18:05, 5 March 2024 (UTC)

File:SR-flora-Aloe Vera.jpg

A clear, high quality screenshot of an obscure new addition to Skyrim SE. Not only is it a good image, but it draws attention to our continued high-quality game coverage in the Skyrim namespace.

• Support: As nominator. —⁠Legoless (talk) 23:09, 15 March 2024 (UTC)
• Weak Support: A fantastic shot! My only concern is that the plant might blend in a little with the ground due to the similarity in color. —MolagBallet (talk) 17:55, 19 March 2024 (UTC)
• Support: Subtle and beautiful. The more I look at this image, the more I appreciate it.--Draugluin (talk) 07:26, 29 March 2024 (UTC)