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Does AI Threaten Photography? I ask an AI Chatbot

‘A Girl Walking Through a Flower Meadow’ Generated by AI (Dall-E)

I asked an AI image generator to create ‘a girl walking through a flower meadow’.

I then asked an AI Chatbot to define the future of photography following the development of software that can create AI generated images like the one above.

These are the results:

What is the future of AI in Photography?

AI is already being used in photography to enhance and automate various tasks, such as image recognition, object detection, and image editing. In the future, AI is likely to become even more integrated into photography, with capabilities such as real-time image processing, autonomous camera control, and the ability to create images with a high level of realism. Additionally, AI-powered virtual and augmented reality experiences are expected to become more commonplace in photography, allowing users to interact with their images in new and exciting ways.

Will AI generated images replace photography?

It is unlikely that AI-generated images will completely replace photography, as the art and craft of photography involves more than just capturing an image. Photography is a form of creative expression and storytelling, and while AI may be able to assist with certain technical aspects of photography, it is unlikely to replace the human perspective and emotional connection that a photograph can convey.

AI-generated images could, however, become more prevalent in certain areas such as advertising, product visualization, and film special effects. AI-generated images can be used to create high-quality, highly realistic images at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional photography. In these fields, AI-generated images may be used as an alternative to traditional photography, but it’s unlikely to completely replace it.

Moreover, AI generated images are mainly used to create images that are difficult or impossible to photograph in reality, such as images of things that do not exist in the real world, or to create images that are not possible to take with a camera, such as x-ray or thermal imaging.

Is there a future for photography with AI generated images so easy to produce?

While AI-generated images may make certain tasks, such as image manipulation and creation, easier, it is unlikely to eliminate the need for photography entirely. Photography is a form of art and storytelling, and the human perspective and emotional connection that a photograph can convey is something that AI-generated images cannot replicate. Additionally, photography is a way for people to capture and remember important moments in their lives, and this is something that AI-generated images cannot replace.

Moreover, photography has a lot of applications and domains, such as photojournalism, landscape, portrait, and many more, where the AI generated images can’t really compete with the human eye and creativity. In these fields, the photography will remain a valuable and necessary profession.

In summary, the rise of AI-generated images may change the way photography is done, but it is unlikely to replace the art and craft of photography entirely. The future of photography with AI-generated images will likely see a shift towards more collaboration between photographers and AI technology, rather than replacement of one by the other.

Picture by DALL-E. Words by Chat GBT

Images of the Month

by John Gough

It has been remiss of me but I had not updated my Images of the Month page since around May. Where have I been? Well if the November image above is anything to go by it would seem the past few months have been a bit of a dream.

Walthamstow Exhibition

by John Gough

Two of my images are on show at the Artsnug gallery in Walthamstow, London. They are part of the WalthamStories exhibition.

I was invited to submit the work as part of the exhibition which celebrates:

a community’s contagious love of it’s home. Inspired by local devotion to this corner of London, we endeavour to tell some of the many tales of this vibrant borough through the eyes of the Artsnug artists.

We invited our artists near and far to explore this urban home at the edge of the forest, between waterways, thickets and high rises. To immerse themselves in our local landscape. To wander our street-art filled streets, glimpse our historic buildings and delve deep into our rich history.

This is the inaugural ‘WalthamStories’ – chapter one. An exhibition of bespoke and exclusive artworks to celebrate all things Waltham Forest!
Artsnug, Walthamstow

The two works I have in this curation are Passage and Village Stories

Passage

Passage uses the ‘in the round’ technique made popular by Pep Ventosa, this is a way of capturing a scene by walking around it and taking multiple images. These are then layered together to create an impression of a place which is both soft and surreal.

Pep Ventosa, a Catalan Photographer renowned for creating impressionistic looking photographs using this technique. His series ‘Trees in the Round’ became the lynchpin of his work. His photography, however, is now more diverse and includes urban landscapes, and interiors

When talking about his work he describes how: “The process mimics how we actually see: the eyes are constantly focusing on the specific details and elements of what’s in front of them and the brain then processes that visual information making the reconstruction, so we perceive the world around us”

Village Stories

This piece incorporates people in the scene to create a sense of transience by layering time. ‘Time Slice’ is a technique used in cinematography and photography to include both the past and present in one image.

In my most recent photography I have looked to layering both place and time, as I move away from sharp digital recordings, to try to capture the world that we see and feel.

Photo London Review 2022

by John Gough

If your inspiration is flagging I suggest a visit to Photo London. The event which is held over four days at Somerset House in London, is back after a break of two years due to Covid.

Visiting Photo London you get the chance to visit around one hundred exhibitors. These are commercial galleries worldwide that specialise in the sale of photographic art. As you walk from one gallery exhibit to the next, you are blown away by the imagination and craft created by some of the world’s top creative professional photographers.

My interest this year was nature and abstract art. Here is some of the photographic work that caught my attention.

Katherin Linkersdorff

Katherin has developed a process which robs flowers of their pigment. She treats the flowers for several months and then photographs them. She’s inspired by the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, the acceptance of transience and imperfection. It creates a beautiful ethereal effect.

Explore her work here and on her website.

Santeri Tuori

A Finnish fine art photographer who photographs skies, and nature. What caught my eye were his images of water lilies.

There is a lovely selection of his work on the Purdy Hicks website

Eeva Karhu

Eeva’s work is abstract, often the amalgamation of many images captured while she walks often down the same path outside her door in her native Helsinki.

There is a selection of her work on the Purdy Hicks website

This video explains the process behind her photography

Edouard Taufebach and Bastien Pourtout

These photographers create a panorama of repeated patterns.

The recurrence of the similar shapes and elements with the minimalistic colour leads the viewers to gauge the incongruity within an appearance of a congruent field of the photograph. The dissimilarity creates a subtle flow of rhythm synonymous with the circuits of movement in nature. These are the images constructed by the France-based photographer-duo Edouard Taufenbach and Bastien Pourtout, as they like to say, “In the exchange and confrontation of two points of view. This creates a multiple and subjective image of reality.”

The photomontage The Blue of the Sky, for which the duo won the Swiss Life 4 Hands 2020 Prize, represents the sky dotted with the swallows.

This is a video in which Edouard Taufebach explains their three year project to create a collage of Marlene Dietrich images.

Learn more about their work on their website

Jennifer Latour

I apologise in advance but this is an idea I have to borrow from Vancouver based photographer Jennifer Latour. Bound Species is a portfolio of work which splices different plant species together.

In the series, her plant creations transport us to the vibrant technicolor of a warm spring day. “It was brought together from my love for design, my work in effects, and my photography,” she explains to IGNANT. “I splice different plants and flora together to create their own unique breed of species”. Combined with frosted natural scenes, peculiar cemetery trees, and anonymous portraits drenched in sunshine, Latour’s poetic and tender imagery elicits feelings of positivity and calm. Despite referencing a common object in art history, Latour’s spliced creations are surprising in their balance of color, minimalism, and innocence, transmitting visual pleasure and contentment in the viewer.
IGNANT

I have collected some of her work here and there is more work for sale on Artsy

New Artists

Photo London is so worth visiting because it introduced me to these new artists. This is photography I have never seen before and probably would never see.

These are not the sort of images that appear every week in Amateur Photographer.

How Photographers See & Feel

by John Gough

I think photographers are special. Photographers see and feel differently from other people.

“Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is.”
Anon

I am convinced that photographers see more than people who are not photographers. I am sure that photographers look continually for opportunities to see. When they do see, they can in that moment. Concentrate. Look for details. Wonder. Feel as well as see.

“Photography for me is not looking, it’s feeling. If you can’t feel what you’re looking at, then you’re never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures.”
Don McCullin

Is there any Evidence?

Do Photographers See More?

In 2015 Canon undertook an experiment in which three people were asked to look at a picture. Eye tracking technology was used to analyse their eye movements. Showing where they focused and for how long.

Canon invited a non-photographer, a photography student and the professional photographer who shot the image. Each viewed the image.

The non-photographer focused on ten or so points that drew her attention with a total of 212 eye movements.

The photography student made twice as many eye movements. He also spent time looking at different areas of the image.

Finally, the person who photographed the image paid the most attention to the detail. Nearly 1200 eye movements.

See the chart above.

What does this prove? Well, nothing it was not a properly controlled test. It is just a little piece of flimsy evidence that supports my hypothesis that photographers look and see more.

How about feeling?

Do Photographers Bring Feeling to a Scene?

In another experiment, Canon examined the power of perspective in portrait photography. The camera company enlisted the help of 6 photographers and asked them each to independently shoot portraits of a man named Michael. But there was a twist: each photographer was told a different thing about Michael’s background.

The photographers were told that Michael was: a self-made millionaire, someone who has saved a life, an ex-inmate, a commercial fisherman, a self-proclaimed psychic, and a recovering alcoholic.

But… Michael is none of those things. He’s an actor, and as he followed the photographers’ direction, he did his best to take on the personality of each character.

The photographers, guided by their fictitious brief, had drastically different approaches to photographing their subject.

“A photograph is shaped more by the person behind the camera than by what’s in front of it,” Canon says. This experiment, titled “Decoy,” was intended to prove that point and “shift creative thinking behind the lens.”

The experiment is demonstrated in the video below:

A photographer’s feelings, attitude, character, opinion, and knowledge will all be captured in every picture they take.

Photographers are the luckiest people. We don’t just look. We see and we feel. We often capture moments that others would miss, and in sharing that experience we allow others into a private world that is uniquely ours

Street Photography Quick Tips.

by John Gough

This guide is full of street photography quick tips for the photographer who wants to go out and hunt for urban images.

Get Started

Street Photography Tips — Skeleton Smoking / John Gough

Remember 99% of street photography is about failure. Just accept that the majority of shots will be rubbish. The joy of getting just one image will make up for all the footslogging.

“Every once in a while at the end of the day, when I am most exhausted and hungry, something – a shaft of light, an unexpected gesture, an odd juxtaposition- suddenly reveals a photograph”. Alex Webb

It is easiest to start street photography with a theme or a project. People smoking or vaping. Reflections in shop windows. Conversations. Arguments. Eating and drinking. All human life is there for the taking.

Quick Tip: Get Close

Get close by using use a 35mm or 28mm prime lens. The advantage of a wide angle lens is that it gives the viewer a sense of being there and in the moment.

It is better to blend in with the crowd and be part of the urban scene. By shooting from across the street with a long lens, you are more like a sniper than a street photographer

‘If your photos aren’t good enough, then you’re not close enough.’ Robert Capa

Cameras for Street Photography

Compact cameras with a prime wide angle lens are best for street photography. A zoom lens is not necessary and could slow down picture taking.

Shoot from the hip. Raising a camera to your eye just says “Look at me”

Be prepared to crop, there is often no time to compose the frame. Get the picture and do the work in post processing.

Use a smartphone. It’s ideal for street photography.

Settings for Street Photography

The experts say use aperture priority, but that advice comes from an earlier time when depth of field was required to ensure the subject was sharp.

Modern cameras with auto focus don’t require zone focusing. So to ensure a sharp image use shutter priority with a high ISO. This will freeze the action and capture that decisive moment.

‘Sharpness is a bourgeois concept’ Henri Cartier-Bresson

Street Photography by Walking Around

Dilemma! Is it better to walk around and search for street images or is it better to find a good location and let the picture come to you?

Walking around is more active and interesting, however standing and waiting means that the dynamic is easier. As people will be entering your personal space instead of you entering their space.

Avoiding Confrontation: Quick Tips

Street Photographt Tips — The Preachers / John Gough

Learn the law about street photography.

If there is confrontation, be open & friendly. Apologise profusely even though you are not in the wrong and be prepared to delete images on request

Business cards are useful to show that you are a real photographer, maybe even a professional photographer.

Street Photography: Capturing Emotion and Telling a Story

Street Photography Quick Tips — Trouble Brewing / John Gough

Like no other genre street photography gives the opportunity to capture emotion.

‘You fill up the frame with feelings energy, discovery and risk, and leave room for someone else to get in there’ Joel Meyerowitz •

Most of all street photography can tell a story.

“The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.” Elliott Erwitt

Street Photography Quick Tips

These street photography quick tips are just a guide. Learning by doing and experience will fill in the gaps

Impressionist Photography and Topaz Studio 2.

by John Gough

How to work with Topaz Studio 2 to create impressionist painterly effects

Art writer Waldemar Januszczak series on BBC 4 ‘The Impressionists Painting and Revolution’ has been a visual feast. Whilst gorging myself on Van Gogh and Monet. I was thinking about how I could get similar painterly effects in photography.

Impressionist photography, uses Pep Ventosa’s techniques, multiple exposures. and ICM (Intentional Camera Movement), to create blur and emotion.

One of the masters of the genre is Eva Polak:

I become enchanted with the beautiful images created by this style of photography. Impressionist photography is a perfect tool which allows me to communicate with the world and share my vision. It results from the need to express my feelings through images. It is a way to connect my creative vision with the world.

Capturing the Ephameral

For myself, it is about capturing the ephemeral.

Roxanne Bouche’ Overton describes it best in her book ‘Catching My Peripheral Vision: Finding Clarity in Blur’

lurking there in my peripheral vision, I see more. Sometimes I see snippets of the whole – abstracts, shapes and shadows. Other times I see motion – that fourth dimension.
Roxanne Bouche’ Overton

One of the reasons the Impressionist Movement started, was that in 1874 the camera could already capture realistic images. Impressionism was a move away from trying to reproduce reality.

It is asking a lot of the camera not to capture the world as it is. The camera is designed to capture sharp detail and lifelike colours. However, post processing can deconstruct the image the camera captures.

Impressionist Photography Using Topaz Studio 2

Recently, I have been experimenting with Topaz Studio 2.

Editing images in Topaz Studio 2 is much like Lightroom or Photoshop. There are useful filters and presets which are an excellent place to start, and then sliders that change the look.

The master of the effect using Topaz Studio 2 is Dave Kelly.

Future Workflow

I will not be using Topaz Studio 2 in isolation. I think I will be using this technique with others to create that dreamy, painterly, impressionistic look I am always striving to achieve, but never quite realise.

Photography Competitions 2022

by John Gough

This year I decided that I should take as many opportunities to evaluate my work as possible. Are the pictures that I think are good, really good? Or am I deluding myself?

The only way to find out is to get out there a let others see and judge my images.

Club Competitions

I belong to two camera clubs, Bedford and Cambridge. Each club has around six photography competitions a year. The judge’s feedback is essential. Also understanding where I am positioned within a cohort of similarly enthusiastic members is a useful measure of my photography.

Social Media

Feedback from social media is helpful, I use Instagram and 500px to share my work. The scoring system on 500px is an indicator of competence.

Photography Salons and Exhibitions

Salons are photography competitions organised by camera clubs but which are open to all photographers. A list of club salons is shown here.

Entry costs a few pounds, but each salon produces an exhibition catalogue from which you can get a good feel of what types of images are winning, and what the overall standard is. Thousands of photographers enter and the winners receive acceptances, commendations and medals.

Most photographers enter salons because these salon awards can be accrued and converted into distinctions i.e. BPE Crowns and AFIAP/EFIAP Awards.

BPE Crowns (British Photographic Exhibitions)

Each image that is accepted into a BPE affiliated exhibition, accrues one point.

Distinctions are awarded as follows:

BPE1 Crown Award – 25 Points
BPE2 Crown Award – 50 points
BPE3 Crown Award – 100 points
BPE4 Crown Award – 200 points
BPE5 Crown Award – 300 points

FIAP (Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique).

The FIAP AFIAP (Artist) distinction is awarded when the candidate has:

(1) Taken part in International Salons under the FIAP patronage for at least one year.
(2) Accepted Images in at least 15 international salons in 8 different countries
(3) Obtained 40 accepted images, with at least 15 different works
(4) 10% of acceptances must be gained in Print salons.

The EFIAP (Excellence) distinction is awarded when the candidate has:

(1) Already held the AFIAP distinction for one year.
(2) Accepted images in at least 30 Salons in 20 different countries.
(3) Obtained 250 Acceptances with at least 50 different works
(4) 10% of acceptances must be gained in Print Salons.

Both types of distinction are much sought after, and confer a level of photography excellence.

National and International Photography Competitions

There are national and international photography competitions of all sorts which you can find here

We are listed with Photo Contest Deadlines

This is a useful site with lots of competitions listed in order of the latest deadlines.

Amateur Photographer also lists some of the most prestigious photography competitions in the UK.

Remember.

Feedback is the breakfast of champions
Ken Blanchard

Best Camera for Street Photography 2022

by John Gough

Which is the best camera for street photography 2022?

I have been using my mirrorless Canon EOS R with a 35mm lens for street photography for a couple of years. It is quite discreet and certainly smaller than most DSLRs. However, I want a camera that is even less intrusive to document this phase in our lives of lockdowns and pandemics.

These notes document my personal search for the best street camera available now. Hopefully, they will be of value to other street photographers

What Type of Camera for Street Photography 2022

To start I am dismissing DSLR’s because they are too big and bulky. They also make you look like a professional photographer. Those people who notice you wonder if you are from the press, or maybe you are someone in authority. You are not going to fade into the background with a camera and lens that is worth thousands of pounds.

I don’t want a big camera but I don’t want a very small camera. So small that the settings are fiddly to find. Again this just draws attention to yourself.

There is a lot of discussion as to whether a telephoto lens works in street photography. My view would be definitely not. If you are using a long lens to photograph people in an urban setting you are a sniper not a street photographer.

Furthermore, a telephoto means that it takes longer to compose the shot and then it’s gone. Much better to use a wide angle lens and then crop during post. That means a big sensor! It also means preferably a full frame sensor to take advantage of the increased dynamic range required to draw out detail especially in low light.

A tilting LCD screen is also useful, but preferably it is handy to learn how to shoot without looking through the viewfinder or down at the screen. Another reason for cropping in post.

Wide angle lenses also add so much more emotion and drama as shown in the image above. This picture was taken during the Covid lockdown in the UK, close up with a 35mm lens.

Phone cameras are ideal for street work, but the small 12MP sensor restricts how the image can be cropped. I also want the control of RAW. Especially when converting an image to monochrome.

Conclusion

The camera should be small and unobtrusive but not too small. It should have a big full frame sensor and a fixed prime 35 or 28mm lens.

Which Cameras Are in the Frame for Street Photography

It is surprising that there are only three cameras

Leica Q2

Leica Q2 Street Photography Camera Choice

Obviously, Leica is in the frame. It has been the street camera of choice since Cartier Bresson and is the camera chosen by the master street photographer Joel Meyerowitz

The Leica Q2 is a compact camera with a fixed 28mm lens and a whopping 47.3 MP full-frame sensor. The full spec’ is here.

In a review, the DPReview gave the camera a gold award.

The Leica Q2 is nearly as competent as a fixed-lens digital camera can be. It’s built very well, it handles very well, it’s capable of excellent image quality and it’s a joy to use. We wish Leica would address the lackluster JPEGs, but the Raw files are excellent. It all comes at a price, of course, but the Q2 really is a wonderfully engaging photographic tool that will appeal to photographers of all kinds.
DPReview

However, the Leica Q is priced at an amount that I just could not justify: £4500 / $5695. I also feel that I would be being a tiny bit showy offy, buying a camera with that red dot.

Fujifilm X100V

The Fujifilm X100V is a real contender for Best Camera for Street Photography. If you hold the camera in your hands it just has the feel of real quality.

It is quite heavy. All the vintage looking dials are sturdy and beautifully machined. The grip is sure and secure without being oversized, and you feel that you could easily spend several hours walking the streets with this camera.

This is the spec’ for the Fujifilm X100V:

26.1 МР Ѕеnѕоr
Х-Тrаnѕ СМОЅ APS-C sensor
Fіхеd 23mm lеnѕ (35mm еquіvаlеnt)
Аdvаnсеd Нуbrіd Vіеwfіndеr (ОVF & ЕVF)
Тwо-wау 3″ tіltіng LСD tоuсh ѕсrееn
Vеrѕаtіlе аnd соmрасt
17 Сlаѕѕіс Fuјіfіlm fіlm ѕіmulаtіоn mоdеѕ
Вluеtооth аnd Wі-Fі соnnесtіvіtу

Price: £1299 / $1399

DPReview also award this camera gold.

The X100V is an engaging, well-built camera that produces beautiful images, has best-in-class video, excellent autofocus and optional weather-sealing. Meaningful updates like a tilting touchscreen, updated viewfinder and redesigned lens have us largely looking past its imperfections. Assuming you like the 35mm-equivalent focal length, it makes a strong case as a photographer’s carry-everywhere compact that’s good for all kinds of photography.
DPReview

The APS-C sensor does not fit the ideal profile, but reviewers assure us of beautiful RAW images

This may be unfair but there are still doubts about whether Fujifilm RAW files can be processed successfully in Lightroom and Photoshop. I have come up against this problem before albeit on older Fujifilm cameras.

Fujifilm camera owners recommend that RAW files are processed in Capture 1 but you may not want to change your workflow.

Ricoh GRIII

This camera has cult status. It is small, it does not have a viewfinder, but it has a zen like quality and is built for street photography. There is even a street photography version of the camera.

There is a front rubberised grip and the magnesium body feels sturdy and purposeful. The matt black look is very discreet.

There is autofocus but to make focussing even more instant for street photographers there is a version of zone focusing. This allows you to pre-set a focusing distance to which the camera automatically ‘snaps’ at a full shutter button press. It can also be set up to work at the touch of the rear screen.

Recently Ricoh have launched the GRIIIx which has a 40mm lens. This is better for street portraits whilst the 28mm remains better for urban scenes

This is the spec for the Ricoh GRIII

8.3mm f2.8 lеnѕ (28mm іn thе 35mm fоrmаt)
APS-C 24.24 МP Ѕеnѕоr
Ніgh-ѕрееd аutоfосuѕ ореrаtіоn uѕіng а hуbrіd АF ѕуѕtеm
3-Ахіѕ shаkе rеduсtіоn sуѕtеm
Соmрасt аnd ruggеd dеѕіgn. Ѕuреrb іmаgе quаlіtу аnd роrtаbіlіtу
Fast ѕtаrt-uр tіmе оf аррrох. 0.8 ѕесѕ
3.0″ LСD mоnіtоr wіth quick tоuсh-ѕсrееn ореrаtіоn
Price £799 / $936

DPReview gave this camera a silver award.

If you shoot street, documentary, or just want a genuinely pocketable travel camera with excellent image quality, and if you can afford the admission price, just buy one!
Fred Abery Petapixel

The downsides are no viewfinder, no flippy screen and the battery life is only around 200 shots.

However, it is the minimal aesthetic and the quality of the images that make this camera so special. Special enough to have a fanatical following including the renown Japanese photographer Daido Moriyama and German freelance photographer Samuel Lintaro Hopf, who has used Ricoh since 2013.

Then there are the GRists. Go over to their community webpage and suck up the vibes, and dont tell me you dont want one.

The Best Street Camera for 2022

So where does that leave us with fixed lens compact cameras which are so right for street photography?

Well, for most camera makers their attention is elsewhere, concentrating on mirrorless cameras. Compact cameras have largely been replaced by mobile phones. The compact cameras that remain are aimed at the travel market with catch-all mega zoom lenses.

So well done to Leica, Fujifilm and Ricoh who have stuck with the tradition of the street camera. This stretches back to the 1930s and Brassai, Cartier-Bresson, and Helen Levitt and now thanks to them, proudly continues into 2022.

My Wildflower Images at an Exhibition

by John Gough

A couple of my wildflower images are on display at an exhibition at the Willow Tree in Walthamstow, London.

Details of the exhibition are:

Kindred

We delve deep into Biophilic design and explore our innate connection (kinship) to the natural world. We celebrate the magic of this home on the edge of the Wetlands, with the River Lea and Epping Forest on our doorstep.

The artists featured in the collection find an abundance of inspiration within their environment. They are artists who pay attention to the delicate patterns on leaves and the way sunlight dances upon water. These are artworks for adventurers, stargazers, escapists, foragers and birdwatchers. For the explorers who love the wind in their hair and the crunch of leaves underfoot. Artworks to bring the urban wilderness of Walthamstow into our homes and onto our walls.

Purchase

My wildflower artwork can be purchased at Artsnug

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