In this episode of Oh Shoot Podcast!, Cassidy Lynne talks about the hot topic of AI in photography. She goes over how AI is going to affect the photography industry and how you can begin to use AI in your photography business.
Listen to the full podcast on Spotify or watch the episode on YouTube!
This episode on AI is something a lot of us are interested in and I’ve had a lot of requests to do an episode on this. My goal is to just give you guys my perspective and tell you how I’m using AI and how I think AI should be used as a photographer.
My AI Brushes
I recently launched my own AI brushes and these are right on topic with today’s episode! These brushes speed up your retouching with just one click! For example, my AI brushes can auto-detect your subject’s teeth and can automatically whiten them based on the settings that I’ve put into that brush. That’s an example of how my brushes are AI, and now Lightroom can do it for you.
There are 27 brushes included, and here are a few examples of the types of brushes.
- Brighten the background AI brush.
- Dehaze the subject AI brush.
- Eye brightener AI brush.
- Soften skin AI brush.
- Sun Flare AI brush.
You can learn more about my AI brushes for Lightroom here!
What is AI?
AI is artificial intelligence. AI basically allows computers to do things that they normally couldn’t do without true human intelligence. AI used to not exist because a human was required to do it, but now we can now rely on artificial intelligence to complete tasks.
Common AI tools you probably know are Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant.
Photographer Survey
I wanted to understand how photographers feel about AI and I found an interesting survey. Peta Pixel did a survey of about 2,300 photographers from 78 countries that specialize in portrait, landscape, wedding, sports, and families.
What did they find?
- 50% of surveyed photographers say they’ve already integrated AI into their workflows.
- 41% of people said if there’s one thing they wanted to spend less time doing, it’s editing.
- 34% of the 41% said they’re using AI to reduce editing time.
- 51% of wedding photographers surveyed said they use AI.
How can we use AI in photography?
So how can we use AI in photography? This has become a really popular topic right now with the launch of Photoshop Beta which has generative fill. You can tell Photoshop to fill an area with a specific thing and it can detect what should be there.
Here are some ways you can use AI in your photography business:
- To fix closed eyes.
- To fix clothing, or other problem areas in the image.
- To remove things from photos.
- Auto-selections in Lightroom for masking.
- Editing
- Culling
- Copywriting
- Fix red eyes.
- Create an AI mood board.
- AI noise reduction (The new noise reduction in Lightroom Classic is SO GOOD!)
How we shouldn’t use AI as a photographer
To create unrealistic images.
We shouldn’t use AI to create unrealistic images that either set unrealistic standards or add things that aren’t actually there. For example, adding landscapes to photos that weren’t actually taken in that location. Like taking photos of a couple in Michigan and then having AI create a background that makes it look like they were in Hawaii.
There’s a very fine line you are walking that does not sit well with me and wouldn’t sit well with a client. Messing around in Photoshop Beta with AI is one thing, but booking clients off fake photos is another.
Will styled shoots still be a thing??
People were paying thousands of dollars a couple years ago to go to Utah and take photos at a workshop. But now if you can just AI a photo to look like Utah do you even need to go there to build a portfolio? Where’s that line with styled shoots? Will they still exist or will people use AI to build their portfolio?
Moral Obligation
It all comes down to moral obligation. You can fake it to the point where it’s going to be potentially harmful for you. That’s scary in my opinion so I don’t think that you should be using AI to build your portfolio. I don’t think you should use AI to change things as far as landscapes or add in random elements that aren’t actually there. Personally, I won’t be doing that and I don’t feel like that is the move.
Common AI Programs For Photographers
Here are some of the most commonly used and highly reviewed AI programs for photographers.
Culling & Editing
- Aftershoot for culling photos.
- Batch.ai for editing photos.
- Imagen AI for editing photos.
- Photoshop Beta.
- Adobe Express.
- Lightroom Classic AI.
- My AI Brushes for Lightroom.
Will AI replace photographers?
No!! Unless you want every photo to look the same, photography still requires human elements. I think AI is only going to help photographers. It’s only going to make the process of editing and things faster, easier, and better. I think we should be using technology to help us, so let’s not resist and stay stuck in our ways.
You can’t replace humans.
Remember that you can’t replace the human eye and you can’t replace the art side of it. You really do need to learn how to do things manually in order to be better. You shouldn’t necessarily rely on technology all the time. There’s a balance.
AI can’t replace the artistic decision a photographer makes like:
- Angles
- Lighting
- Lenses
- Camera settings
- Movement and poses
Final Thoughts on AI
AI is here to stay. Learn it and get used to it, but no need to freak out and change the way you do everything. It’s good to adapt and learn little by little. It’s normal for new things to be introduced to us all the time. We see this consistently in photography. The industry is always shifting and always changing for the better.
I hope I challenged you a little bit to be open to AI and how you can use it in your photography business!
Show Notes
Shop my AI Lightroom Brushes!
Get 50% off Honeybook here: http://share.honeybook.com/cassidylynne
Want more free education? Check out my website for photography freebies, presets, & courses!
Are you a part of our photography Facebook community group? Go to http://facebook.com/groups/cassidylynne/ and join the discussions of thousands of other photographers.
Follow Cassidy!
Instagram: @cassidylynne
