Why I’m Not Bothered by AI as a Photographer

Cell phones. AI. Cell phones with AI! As a professional photographer, this landscape is novel and complex… yet I find myself at peace with the current (and prospective) ways in which these developments are/will interact with my chosen specialty. If you’d like to see what I have to say regarding phones, feel free to read a related article HERE. Otherwise, I have some words below that adequately summarize my position on AI and how I intend to maintain a realistic and optimistic mentality into the future.

The Unwavering Sanctity of Imagery Which Respects Genuine Memories

The above title is for those who fancy a bit of linguistics, but I’d really like to explain further and without the fluff. You see, AI has already placed the milestone of marvelous image generation long in the rear-view mirror. Ahead seems to be a clear road with landmarks of stunning scale… and it’s riding so aggressively above the speed limit that many in my position can only hope it will be pulled over. I don’t see that happening, but what I do peep is a lingering bottle of nitrous in the cabin. A hand quickly approaching an ominous switch with finger extended.

Plainly put, AI is already being used to satisfaction by people all over the world who are generating images. I’ve had acquaintances approach me with wide smiles to show the results of asking AI models to analyze a reference photo of their dog and then create a totally new file, usually following a prompt which is ultimately fictitious though oddly realistic to achieve in real life (example prompt: “this is a photo of my dog in our backyard. Please put her in a scene where she is laying on the grass in a park, staring off-camera amongst flowering vegetation. I’d like her to be ‘smiling’ and have her tongue out with ears back).” Nevertheless, these “photos” showcase essentially what was asked and can approach something of quality. That particular person is seemingly pleased with the result, yet I smile along with them.

‍How? Well, these people simply are not (and never were) in the pool of potential clients for my work. They have every right to like what they do, and if a fake image is what fits that bill, then that is okay. I’m genuinely happy that they have something cool to look at. Perhaps the reality is that their budget cannot accommodate a professional photographer and they therefore choose to have AI images over having nothing more than what they will capture through their phone’s camera. Maybe they aren’t confident that their dog is fit to take part in a photo session due to lack of training or something else (Top Breed Pet Photography is unique relative to this concern, as I eagerly encourage those with “imperfectly behaved” dogs to give further consideration towards a session with me. Believe me! Your dog is worthy of a photoshoot and there is nothing to worry/be embarrassed about. Read more HERE if you are concerned about your dog’s performance during a photo session). Or, there’s a chance that they truly don’t want professional pictures for some reason. Either way, I do not feel the need to gasp upon sight of their AI creation and produce some snarky comment.

So… who is a client of Top Breed Pet Photography? They are people who are thinking of their dog when considering portraiture of them… not just their own desire for “a pic.” They want their dog to experience a special day where they have their time in the spotlight. They want to see their dog interact with a specialized photographer who brings them to a pretty place or comes to their home and transforms a room into a fun studio. They want to have a real memory of interacting with their dog… and to be blunt/realistic, they want genuine photos to look back on when their dog is gone. Photos that are high-resolution and maybe even worthy of turning into physical wall art. This isn’t someone who wants a bot to create something fake for them. They want a professional to capture something real with them.

What about the future? How does AI editing play a role in this discussion?

AI will only be producing images of higher and higher quality into the future. This is true to the extent that I was originally going to include an experiment as part of this article, where I compare a raw photo and accompanying final edit of mine with one generated via AI prompt (in the style of what a client would generally ask for). AI is advancing so fast that I honestly don’t see a point in conducting such an experiment, if for no other reason than even if the AI result happens to be laughable… it certainly won’t be in the near future. If it’s not technically “perfect” now, it’s more productive and reasonable to assume that it will be soon enough. And that is fine!

One note of importance is that these AI generations still need a photo to start with as a reference. So, a photo must still be taken or else the AI will be relying on a grossly vague description of the subject and necessarily “create” something which even people who are just toying around will not be satisfied with. When it comes to editing, this means that a non-photographer will have to supply a non-professional image to start... and that isn’t a good start. This image will be of lesser quality than what a photographer would produce, as well as entirely lacking in fundamental components to a professional image (such as compositional elements). There is also a large chance that the person may desire a studio-style of photo, which is generally much more heavily reliant on actual lighting in the real world plus peripheral professional equipment that goes beyond their skills/means. Just to have an adequate reference image (without addressing editing at all), this is looking like a monumental task for someone who isn’t already dedicated to the craft.

When it comes to editing (in the sense of an average person showing AI their chosen reference image and asking for it to be edited), I am actually not even particularly convinced that the person will even know what to ask for. You see… when you hire a photographer, it should be because you have seen their portfolio and like the style of photo that they produce. This is just as much in regard to their editing style as it is how they compose a photo in the field. In other words, if you aren’t already a professional, your reference image will be lacking and so will your prompt. The thing is, your photographer knows what look they want to create and how to make it real… from a raw photo that they know how to capture. Even given the raw professional photo, most people wouldn’t even know what they want the final image to look like or intentionally know why it should look a certain way.

Paying for a photographer is like hiring a painter that you admire the work of. You or I could be handed an easel and blank piece of canvas and there’s a great chance that if we tried our hardest to describe what we want to appear, it wouldn’t come close to working because we don’t know how to ask or even what exactly it is that we want. We aren’t painters. Even beyond the experience that a photographer provides, the equipment they own, and raw images they take at a professional level… you are buying a unique style that the photographer has crafted (likely over years). In other words, if you actually want what they produce then you need to look to them!

In Conclusion…

I would like to address the photo that you saw earlier this article! That is a photo that I took of Zoey. She is a client dog, and I desired to give that image a mild “light and airy” look (at least compared to some of my more silly or dramatic edits). She and her mom were a total joy to work with and I’m so pleased with the resulting photos! In this article, I used the example of an AI prompt to essentially take a reference image of a dog in a backyard and from that, create an image which descriptively was somewhat similar to the picture of Zoey. That said, I ultimately believe that any owner who I care to work with would absolutely prefer such a real photo of their dog having a genuinely fun time and captured in a moment looking to them with love, over anything that AI can produce… and that is why I am not bothered by AI. If you would like me to photograph your pet, please don’t hesitate to reach out!