Beenthere

And by the time that set of options is considered.., the moment, and opportunity, has most likely passed. So much for art...

JD750 Loc: SoCal

It takes a computer about .01 seconds to do that. So Your moment must be really brief!

Like it or not AI enabled retouching and editing is coming to a computer near you. And artists and professionals and hobbyists and snap-shooters will use it to their advantage.

Don’t worry It won’t make the snap-shooters into artists but it will help them.

You have the choice to ignore it if you wish. But that won’t stop it.

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

Everything ... is still like everything else.
I believed that 35mm, while kinda good, wouldn't replace "real" film like 120 in my 6x9.
I believed that a longer film>lens distance (like on folders) was essential for realistic photos.
I believed that APS-C film cameras, with the promised super future tech, would rule.
I believed that digital cameras' products were too flat to be acceptable over films'.
I believed that my D80 was the consummate Nikon, and the rest of the "upgrades" were just gimmicky.
I believed that extensive post processing was just cheating- there should've been a name for that.
And now?
I still believe that my shots tell a story. If I use Elements, and/or Topaz AI, and/or HDR to let my audience see what I thought I was looking at and trying to say, it's all good.
I believe that my D600 will be my last camera.
I'll let you know ...

Hanson

I watched Blake's video the other day and I agreed with him. AI may never achieve/accomplish individuality and originality. BUT technological including AI is advancing all the time and boundless, its future and potential in photo editing is limitless. I don't have any experience in Luminar or Luminar AI. I think for now the AI should be able to help those non-master and/or non-expert at least to some degree to render some kind of acceptable results faster?

William Hill55 Loc: Roachdale Indiana

Im also a f64 guy and AI makes every other image different. Having taken events, weddings, football, basketball, familys, final output of images need to be the same white balance skin tones brightness. You wont get that with AI yet.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The grass is always greener when you let the AI do the processing.

Double B Loc: South Carolina

I agree with a lot said here and not a pro but I have been shooting for about 30 years. You cannot build creativity, experience and a sharp eye into AI as of yet, however it can be a wonderful partner to enhance your art. It takes into consideration a lot more than I can think of until after I look at my work. I became a fan when I backed an AI module and put it to a test, in my day gig I'm a scientist so I have a good foundation on controls and analysis.

I have always been a techno junkie so I'm a little biased but looking at this technology as a working partner rather than an advisary gives you the ability to focus on your creative art and learn from the output.

I would invite you to investigate

https://witharsenal.com/

to open your eyes to what it looks for and adjusts in milliseconds.

Now this is just my humble opinion and again I am not a pro, just an average shooter who likes the AI advantage. Now with all that said there is a place for AI and it does not fit all situations but it does have its place and for me has been a very nice addition to my toolbox.

ponchod5

Agreed! I guess Bob never made transition from film to digital or landlines to cell phones. Maybe he'll shut down the internet to save libraries. AI will certainly not push the limits of creative expression but it will and should speed up the process. Nothing wrong with that.

srt101fan

Does AI know that zoysia grass turns brown in the winter? 😕

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

AI is an average not necessarily the end product. AI in Photoshop CC, Luminar 4, Aurora, Affinity and many others allow you to tweak the results of the AI process if you want to or you don't have to accept any of it. I assume everyone uses a computer and a camera (which has a computer built in to it), then you are allowing the computer and/or camera (if you shoot JPEG) to make decisions for you which is AI.

ChuckMc Loc: Prescott, AZ

I have posted this before:
I was in a small town in Germany for a short period of time. It was a completely overcast day. During that short period of time, I saw two pictures that the other people I was with never saw. I took those pictures but it always bothered me with the gray sky. So I used post processing and selected a sky that was blue with some clouds. It took a snapshot and made it into a beautiful picture. A picture I was proud of.

Now, when I shot film, I never got into using the darkroom. So somebody made some choices for me in the processing of my pictures. Choices I did not make. Did that make my shots any less? When I'm shooting digital now, the camera has software that makes choices for me. I can change that software change the camera's settings, but it is still the camera making decisions to produce a JPEG.

So when I shoot RAW and get the data stream of what the sensor had, then I have to use post-processing to make decisions about the hue, the white balance, etc. Does that make my pictures any less? There I'm using PP.

So now when I use post-processing to swap out a totally gray, featureless sky for one with clouds and blue sky, does that make my picture any less? Does it make a difference if the sky is a picture I took at another time, or that I took it from a library supplied by somebody else?

AI is simply a programming technique to make more decisions behind the scene. Nothing more nothing less. If you're still controlling what the post-processing is doing, I do not see that it makes the photographer any less a photographer.

So we have a train of logic, a train of tools that stretch from the days of film and darkrooms to the current day with simply stronger tools. When does the photographer stop being a photographer in this series of progressions?

I used a speech recognition tool to write this message. Does that make it any less of a message? Actually, I shouldn't say that because it often makes interpretations of my words that I don't want but I am able to go back and correct them.

puku8849

Speaking of Shoephone, how can one forget that in the days of Get Smart, Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 used the shoephone and everybody laughed at the impossibility and/or improbability of having such a device! it is an established fact now that AI can virtually replace radiologists as AI can read X-rays more accurately than the average radiologist!

puku8849

Agree re Space Shuttle re-entry process. In poor weather conditions, Captains of commercial airlines also rely mostly on the auto-pilot to do the landings! Similarly, back on earth, cities using fully automated electric buses mandate that there should be a bus driver sitting in the dirver's seat to 'calm' the passengers. AI is the now and more in the future.

puku8849

Yes, those were the days, the 1° spot meter in a zipped up holster. I still have my Pentax 1° Spot Meter in pristine condition and it just works fine and as you described, still gets heads turned when you are using it!

Beenthere

Funny you should mention it but I still carry my old Sekonic Diffuse light meter with me just as a back-up to the in-camera system.