In case you haven’t noticed, there has been a HUGE boom in the use of AI technology in nearly every industry in the world. Wedding photography is no exception to this impact. AI can now be used to improve image quality, automate repetitive tasks and personalize the photography experience for couples. While there are potential ethical concerns around the use of AI in photo editing (we’ll get into this), its benefits are undeniable. In this blog post, we will explore the impact of AI on wedding photography and how it is changing the way photographers approach capturing one of the most important moments in a couple’s life.
AI Technology in Photoshop & Editing
I’ve been utilizing two main software products in my business and workflow to enhance my editing process; ImagenAI and Photoshop Generative AI Beta. ImagenAI is an incredible software geared towards wedding photographers who edit thousands upon thousands of images every season. This work is labor intensive and can often be a source of burnout for wedding photographers. ImagenAI learns how I edit based on the Lightroom catalogs I send and is able to replicate my editing style without me having to do every image by hand. I can send a catalog of 1000+ images and have it returned to me within the hour. It’s wild. This allows me to deliver my galleries in a much more timely manner to my couples AND have an even more consistent product.
Photoshop Beta is home to the now famous “Generate” tool. In a similar vein to “Content Aware”, the Generate tool allows a user to highlight an area and submit a written request to Photoshop, such as “remove this tree” or “add a tropical sunset backdrop,” and voila…it happens. While this tool is intensely powerful, it can ease hours of photoshopping to remove pesky things like telephone wires, bystanders, or parking signs.
These two pieces of software save me hours upon hours behind my computer, which in turn, opens up my calendar to spend it doing more of the things I love.
Benefits of Using AI in Wedding Photography
As previously expressed, the time saved is the leading catalyst for photographers adopting this technology into their workflows. We create more consistent editing, a timely delivery process, and can enhance the final product with easy image cleanup. This opens up a photographer’s ability to book more work without having to worry about the extensive workload that comes with post-production.
Ethics of Using AI Photo Editing
The ethics of using AI in wedding photography is a topic that has generated some concern among those in the industry. While AI technology can improve the quality of images, consistency, and delivery time, it can also negatively impact photos’ authenticity. Some argue that AI editing can be seen as manipulating the reality of a wedding day, creating images that are more ‘perfect’ than the actual moment. Furthermore, since AI can apply the same edits to multiple photos, it can cause the images to lose their uniqueness.
It’s important that wedding photographers disclose any use of AI editing tools to their clients and consider the potential implications. Such implications can include AI inadvertently perpetuating harmful societal biases by disproportionately misidentifying certain races or genders. By being transparent about the use of these tools, photographers set expectations with their couples up front. In my own opinion, photographers should strive to maintain the integrity of the wedding day and ensure memories are captured in an honest way.
Future of AI in Wedding Photography
As a buyer-beware, the use of AI Technology in wedding photography moving forward could mean that photographers use AI to build their entire portfolios full of generated images they never actually took. You could accidentally hire someone who has never actually photographed a wedding but had technology make it look like they did. Couples need to take on the responsibility of knowing who they are hiring and how those photographers are creating their portfolios.
Another consideration is that ehese perfect images could affect the mental health of couples who feel the insurmountable pressure to have the ‘perfect’ wedding day. Reciprocally, photographers could continue feeling pressure to create these ‘better than real images’. Again, destroying the authenticity of a wedding day.
AI is here to stay, but it’s up to us as consumers to decide how we interact with it as photographers and clients.
Case Study: How I am Using AI in My Wedding Photography
For me, in my business, I am simply using AI as a means to deliver better images that do not take away from the authenticity of the day. I do employ ImagenAI to give me my base edit but continue to do custom cropping and tweaks to each image prior to export and delivery. I also use Photoshop Beta to remove distracting items in images but never to manipulate the image into something it’s not. Here are some samples below:
I have also introduced the use of analog 35mm film into my wedding coverage. Analog film, unlike its digital counterpart, cannot be changed. Only when you bring the scan into Photoshop can you start manipulating, but with its raw form, we have a beautiful snapshot of what was real. For me, this grounds me in my work, and I think it better serves my couples. My couples know that documenting in a beautiful way, without manipulation, is at the heart of my work.
The Wrap Up
The use of AI technology in wedding photography is generating very interesting conversations in the industry and asking hard questions of both photographers and couples as to how they want to move forward with these tools. While it can save time, money, and burnout, it can also add to the societal pressure to be perfect. I think it’s up to wedding photographers to be honest with their potential and current clients about how they use AI and for couples to decide if that is something they want as part of their wedding experience. As for me, I’ll be keeping it real…I might just remove a few telephone wires.
How are you using AI technology in your business or as a wedding couple? How do you feel about this technology?
