End of Real Photography
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Date: 2026-03-07
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Comments and reviews: 20
shamanbeartwo3819
AI is to photography what a Polaroid Instamatic camera or iPhone is. Sure, lots of amateurs can get a perfectly decent picture with these but it didn't end real photography. I took a lighting workshop from a local baby photographer. She showed her ridiculously simple lighting setup, said she started out in film, then tried digital when that happened, didn't like the look of digital, and went back to film. She has the finest b&w work I have seen other than guys like Ansel Adams or Annie Leibovitz. Sure, you can get a great baby picture with your phone or with AI but if you love your baby go see this gal. All in camera, no Photoshop or AI just a connection with babies that AI will never match plus an understanding of lighting that blew us all away. I started with a Polaroid then moved to a 4x5 camera (and a medium format). Every time I pressed the 4x5 shutter, it cost me $1 in film plus chemicals/paper in the darkroom just to get a proof sheet so I learned real quick to get it right in camera. When studying recording engineering, my professors stressed and stressed to get it right in microphone rather than fix it post. And look at what autotune has done to the industry. Autotune will make a crappy singer sound like an okay karaoke singer but never like a Freddie Mercury or Patti Labelle.
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AI is to photography what a Polaroid Instamatic camera or iPhone is. Sure, lots of amateurs can get a perfectly decent picture with these but it didn't end real photography. I took a lighting workshop from a local baby photographer. She showed her ridiculously simple lighting setup, said she started out in film, then tried digital when that happened, didn't like the look of digital, and went back to film. She has the finest b&w work I have seen other than guys like Ansel Adams or Annie Leibovitz. Sure, you can get a great baby picture with your phone or with AI but if you love your baby go see this gal. All in camera, no Photoshop or AI just a connection with babies that AI will never match plus an understanding of lighting that blew us all away. I started with a Polaroid then moved to a 4x5 camera (and a medium format). Every time I pressed the 4x5 shutter, it cost me $1 in film plus chemicals/paper in the darkroom just to get a proof sheet so I learned real quick to get it right in camera. When studying recording engineering, my professors stressed and stressed to get it right in microphone rather than fix it post. And look at what autotune has done to the industry. Autotune will make a crappy singer sound like an okay karaoke singer but never like a Freddie Mercury or Patti Labelle.
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Coolestmovies
I just retired (early-ish) from a 35-year career as a graphic designer, mostly in print, with some digital in later years, and as a casual iStockphoto contributor for several years after it started up for a little pocket change. I’ve dabbled with Adobe’s AI tools during the last couple of years of my corporate employment and doing occasional freelance work since then, and while part of me REALLY wishes these tools existed 20 years ago because they’d have completed SO MANY tedious tasks in seconds rather than hours, but the other part of me is grateful NOT to have to FIND and try and KEEP full-time professional employment (which is what I had for the entirety of my career at seven different companies) in an era where this technology will constantly be dogging and replacing a LOT of professions in general in the years ahead. I don’t envy a lot of young creatives and tech people right now (not to mention countless other professions). I do hope that there will remain a desire for old school’ production, especially in print design (my career specialty) and in small to medium-sized companies, which can be augmented by AI without being replaced by it when managers and owners figure out that they can eventually do a lot of this stuff themselves. Strange times . . .
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I just retired (early-ish) from a 35-year career as a graphic designer, mostly in print, with some digital in later years, and as a casual iStockphoto contributor for several years after it started up for a little pocket change. I’ve dabbled with Adobe’s AI tools during the last couple of years of my corporate employment and doing occasional freelance work since then, and while part of me REALLY wishes these tools existed 20 years ago because they’d have completed SO MANY tedious tasks in seconds rather than hours, but the other part of me is grateful NOT to have to FIND and try and KEEP full-time professional employment (which is what I had for the entirety of my career at seven different companies) in an era where this technology will constantly be dogging and replacing a LOT of professions in general in the years ahead. I don’t envy a lot of young creatives and tech people right now (not to mention countless other professions). I do hope that there will remain a desire for old school’ production, especially in print design (my career specialty) and in small to medium-sized companies, which can be augmented by AI without being replaced by it when managers and owners figure out that they can eventually do a lot of this stuff themselves. Strange times . . .
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Andreas-x2k
The fact that people call everything AI even if it’s real just means that people can’t tell what is real anymore so they become sceptical. And it’s very sad really.
I also believe that no matter how good AI becomes, it can never take away what photography or any kind of creative work means for someone. A person can still be creative and create and still find the same enjoyment and fulfillment as they always have. Nothing can change that. We should remember that AI only replicate what we as humans do. It can’t create.
It’s not about AI being able to replicate so therefore it will take away our work and creativity and render it useless. It’s more about continuing being creative to create something that AI has no idea how to render and also about the sheer enjoyment that the creative process brings.
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The fact that people call everything AI even if it’s real just means that people can’t tell what is real anymore so they become sceptical. And it’s very sad really.
I also believe that no matter how good AI becomes, it can never take away what photography or any kind of creative work means for someone. A person can still be creative and create and still find the same enjoyment and fulfillment as they always have. Nothing can change that. We should remember that AI only replicate what we as humans do. It can’t create.
It’s not about AI being able to replicate so therefore it will take away our work and creativity and render it useless. It’s more about continuing being creative to create something that AI has no idea how to render and also about the sheer enjoyment that the creative process brings.
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ironic_bionic
I recently saw a post where AI is being used more in action figure and toy photography. There are many photographers who use old school practical effects, pose their figures and use handmade dioramas to create their images. They even share their behind the scenes (BTS) setups, so others can learn from them. Then I saw someone actually posted an AI generated BTS setup of another generated AI image trying to pass them off as REAL. All for clicks and likes. These days, you don't have to own anything with AI. No investment in cameras, studios, props, models....everything can be GENERATED. A year or two ago, AI stuff was being FLAGGED for us for transparency. This is not the case anymore! Now its fully integrated in social media and most of the apps we use regularly.
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I recently saw a post where AI is being used more in action figure and toy photography. There are many photographers who use old school practical effects, pose their figures and use handmade dioramas to create their images. They even share their behind the scenes (BTS) setups, so others can learn from them. Then I saw someone actually posted an AI generated BTS setup of another generated AI image trying to pass them off as REAL. All for clicks and likes. These days, you don't have to own anything with AI. No investment in cameras, studios, props, models....everything can be GENERATED. A year or two ago, AI stuff was being FLAGGED for us for transparency. This is not the case anymore! Now its fully integrated in social media and most of the apps we use regularly.
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Rocking_J_Studio
I have been a photographer for over 60 years and I can remember the panic that occurred in the professional photography industry when digital cameras were introduced. Obviously, digital cameras were not the end of professional photography, but it definitely opened up more opportunities for amateurs to earn money in photography. I'm not too worried about AI being the end of Real Photography. It's just going to take awhile for everything to settle a bit, for AI to improve enough, and we've learned how to use AI to our advantage. By the way, several of the examples you showed remind me a lot of the old rear projection backgrounds we used to use.
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I have been a photographer for over 60 years and I can remember the panic that occurred in the professional photography industry when digital cameras were introduced. Obviously, digital cameras were not the end of professional photography, but it definitely opened up more opportunities for amateurs to earn money in photography. I'm not too worried about AI being the end of Real Photography. It's just going to take awhile for everything to settle a bit, for AI to improve enough, and we've learned how to use AI to our advantage. By the way, several of the examples you showed remind me a lot of the old rear projection backgrounds we used to use.
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PL_3D
This is the first time in history that a technology with no human input can replicate the work of a human in seconds what would take us hours to do.
This isn't comparable to changing from film to digital or horses to cars, its something completely different and its evolving at an insane pace. You might think its going to take years before it can do x,y,z, but no, its mere months.
Every software company knows this and they are replacing entire workflows within their software with ai , while it can be a massive timesaver for us it's taking the challenge and joy out of creating and learning.
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This is the first time in history that a technology with no human input can replicate the work of a human in seconds what would take us hours to do.
This isn't comparable to changing from film to digital or horses to cars, its something completely different and its evolving at an insane pace. You might think its going to take years before it can do x,y,z, but no, its mere months.
Every software company knows this and they are replacing entire workflows within their software with ai , while it can be a massive timesaver for us it's taking the challenge and joy out of creating and learning.
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budsurtees4224
People seem to forget that it's Artificial intelligence. Artificial = not real, fake, unnatural, The art of photography and the art of image editing has now been reduced to gimmickry. Effects for the sake of effects, filters for the sake of filters, etc. Creating something that wasn't there or didn't exist lies in the realm of fantasy, not photography as an art form. If Ai can turn unqualified and untrained dilettantes into experts within minutes or hours, then it's a sad comment on the process of education. And that's all I have to say about that.
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People seem to forget that it's Artificial intelligence. Artificial = not real, fake, unnatural, The art of photography and the art of image editing has now been reduced to gimmickry. Effects for the sake of effects, filters for the sake of filters, etc. Creating something that wasn't there or didn't exist lies in the realm of fantasy, not photography as an art form. If Ai can turn unqualified and untrained dilettantes into experts within minutes or hours, then it's a sad comment on the process of education. And that's all I have to say about that.
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rh9967
Modern photography has been in the dregs for a while now. With the advent of AI it has reach an entirely new level of worthlessness. I used to be really interested in photography processes, especially with regard to commercial art. Now Nothing impresses me anymore which is really sad because I know there are a lot of very talented photographers out there that still take the time to innovate photography. I try and follow them whenever possible. But AI slop has made a complete joke of everything creative. Nothing AI will ever impress me.
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Modern photography has been in the dregs for a while now. With the advent of AI it has reach an entirely new level of worthlessness. I used to be really interested in photography processes, especially with regard to commercial art. Now Nothing impresses me anymore which is really sad because I know there are a lot of very talented photographers out there that still take the time to innovate photography. I try and follow them whenever possible. But AI slop has made a complete joke of everything creative. Nothing AI will ever impress me.
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piximperfect
With Photoshop one always had to be cautious that something could be faked, that hasn't changed now with AI, whether for good or bad intentions.
But what has changed is it's no longer something that takes time, energy, and skill to fake. Not a skill anymore. It's something absolute anyone who pays can do which translates to an overwhelming flood of fake stuff which means humans can't trust anything anymore because the odds become higher that it's fake than real. The future is scary....
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With Photoshop one always had to be cautious that something could be faked, that hasn't changed now with AI, whether for good or bad intentions.
But what has changed is it's no longer something that takes time, energy, and skill to fake. Not a skill anymore. It's something absolute anyone who pays can do which translates to an overwhelming flood of fake stuff which means humans can't trust anything anymore because the odds become higher that it's fake than real. The future is scary....
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isurcantu5560
People think you are AI because you are too awesome. Well, jokes aside, I think it's amazing what AI lets us do; however, for many things that I do, I still need Photoshop. I prefer to spend 10 hours fine-tuning my idea than 10 hours asking the computer prompt after prompt until I say, Yeah, that's nice; let's keep it. At the end of the day, the value is for me and for what I do. Nevertheless, I must admit that I use AI a lot for many assets; it's a new world, and you need to adapt.
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People think you are AI because you are too awesome. Well, jokes aside, I think it's amazing what AI lets us do; however, for many things that I do, I still need Photoshop. I prefer to spend 10 hours fine-tuning my idea than 10 hours asking the computer prompt after prompt until I say, Yeah, that's nice; let's keep it. At the end of the day, the value is for me and for what I do. Nevertheless, I must admit that I use AI a lot for many assets; it's a new world, and you need to adapt.
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Amazombe
Prompt from the video:
Write a prompt to change the background of this photo to a realistic [BACKGROUND DESCRIPTION], which would surely be slightly out of focus, without changing the lighting on the subject BUT instead, adding the background that matches the existing light of the subject. Also make sure no position changes at all, nothing about the subject should change, including the position, cropping, and it's position in the image.
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Prompt from the video:
Write a prompt to change the background of this photo to a realistic [BACKGROUND DESCRIPTION], which would surely be slightly out of focus, without changing the lighting on the subject BUT instead, adding the background that matches the existing light of the subject. Also make sure no position changes at all, nothing about the subject should change, including the position, cropping, and it's position in the image.
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mmikael281
The biggest problem with these is that they immediately make the images look like AI images. I understand that most people don't notice this, but when you know what you're looking at, you can't help but notice. So, at least to my eye, the images are ruined. But the editing helps but still the AI background is somehow mysteriously not real. I don't know what it is but this is in all AI pictures.
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The biggest problem with these is that they immediately make the images look like AI images. I understand that most people don't notice this, but when you know what you're looking at, you can't help but notice. So, at least to my eye, the images are ruined. But the editing helps but still the AI background is somehow mysteriously not real. I don't know what it is but this is in all AI pictures.
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tempusfugit13579
Not a professional here, so take this with a grain of salt. I get the advantage of AI generated stuff. But man, it kind of bums me out that I've taken so much effort to understand PS editing only to have a lot of the skill set replaced by purchased automation. In the end it doesn't matter what I think about this. Either embrace the change in tech or get left behind, I suppose.
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Not a professional here, so take this with a grain of salt. I get the advantage of AI generated stuff. But man, it kind of bums me out that I've taken so much effort to understand PS editing only to have a lot of the skill set replaced by purchased automation. In the end it doesn't matter what I think about this. Either embrace the change in tech or get left behind, I suppose.
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FrederickDunn
I'm sorry to say this, but I'm glad the my wedding photography is in its final year after more than 350 weddings. Consumers have no idea what has ben altered anymore. AI is getting too good to detect. AND Brides request endless extreme edits to keep pace with other media posts. It's a fast moving creative train that I think is unstoppable. I wish you all the best in image making.
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I'm sorry to say this, but I'm glad the my wedding photography is in its final year after more than 350 weddings. Consumers have no idea what has ben altered anymore. AI is getting too good to detect. AND Brides request endless extreme edits to keep pace with other media posts. It's a fast moving creative train that I think is unstoppable. I wish you all the best in image making.
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uhorne
One thing to keep in mind. AI images can't be copyrighted. That means everyone can take your AI images and do that they want with them. What you create this way have no value
So why would i spend a lot of money on some AI model to create a lot of work for me, where the results aren't even something i own. The creative field is still protected by this and hopefully that doesn't change
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One thing to keep in mind. AI images can't be copyrighted. That means everyone can take your AI images and do that they want with them. What you create this way have no value
So why would i spend a lot of money on some AI model to create a lot of work for me, where the results aren't even something i own. The creative field is still protected by this and hopefully that doesn't change
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flotinaway7
Photography was initially criticised as being the end of true art and talent, and then came Photoshop and now we have AI. I love them all, painting with acrylics, photography, and creating with AI.
I try and get things right in camera so I don't use Photoshop much, and would never dream of replacing a sky...it never feels like my picture if I do that, but to each their own.
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Photography was initially criticised as being the end of true art and talent, and then came Photoshop and now we have AI. I love them all, painting with acrylics, photography, and creating with AI.
I try and get things right in camera so I don't use Photoshop much, and would never dream of replacing a sky...it never feels like my picture if I do that, but to each their own.
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DezInContext
Closed models cost money. ComfyUI is free and can upscale to 4K, 8K, using models like RealVisXL and upscalers such as RealESRGAN x4, 4x-UltraSharp, or 8x_NMKD-Superscale. These models are updated frequently so as of writing this, the models mentioned could be a little outdated and better models have surpassed them in terms of output quality and workflow and speed.
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Closed models cost money. ComfyUI is free and can upscale to 4K, 8K, using models like RealVisXL and upscalers such as RealESRGAN x4, 4x-UltraSharp, or 8x_NMKD-Superscale. These models are updated frequently so as of writing this, the models mentioned could be a little outdated and better models have surpassed them in terms of output quality and workflow and speed.
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piximperfect
This is a fantastic quick overview, Thank you! The part that breezed past too fast for me was the prompting process, from ChatGPT to FreePik. Granted, this is an area I need to do a deep deep dive into, so maybe this was simple stuff. After that, the rest of the video you created is fabulous and easy to follow!!! Thank you, Unmesh/PiXiperfect!!!!!
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This is a fantastic quick overview, Thank you! The part that breezed past too fast for me was the prompting process, from ChatGPT to FreePik. Granted, this is an area I need to do a deep deep dive into, so maybe this was simple stuff. After that, the rest of the video you created is fabulous and easy to follow!!! Thank you, Unmesh/PiXiperfect!!!!!
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torsrive8920
Photography and videography is dying. After 3-5 years nobody will need a photographer. Even monkey will be able to take awesome picture or create a video ad on pro level. Maybe AI will be implemented as a live view in camera and you just tell what a mood you want to achieve with no lit on set, anywhere no matter on conditions and skills.
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Photography and videography is dying. After 3-5 years nobody will need a photographer. Even monkey will be able to take awesome picture or create a video ad on pro level. Maybe AI will be implemented as a live view in camera and you just tell what a mood you want to achieve with no lit on set, anywhere no matter on conditions and skills.
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afloox
AI can't instruct people how to pose, what clothing is the best for them or give them the joy of a funny photography session. That's what you need to emphasize for people in the future. AI can help your workflow, but there are a lot of things in photography what AI can't take away. This is the human factor. Find it and you all will be fine.
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AI can't instruct people how to pose, what clothing is the best for them or give them the joy of a funny photography session. That's what you need to emphasize for people in the future. AI can help your workflow, but there are a lot of things in photography what AI can't take away. This is the human factor. Find it and you all will be fine.
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