Keeping up with all your tech and gear can feel like drinking from a firehose. If you don’t pay attention to the constant changes, upgrades and advances, you can wake up feeling like a Luddite.
I just reviewed a bit of what I’ve discovered over the past year and then shared on my blog.
And here are ten ways I’ve learned how to skill up. (Each title below is linked to my original blog post.)
Here’s my photo from an alternate version of a past vacation. Yes, the image is fiction, but the photo is convincingly real. The fundamental reality of any photo album you choose to curate can now be ‘enhanced’ thanks to generative AI. If you are intrigued by the idea of bending (breaking) reality in your photos, here’s how it works…
I enjoy taking lots of photos of my life. Why exactly? Well, why does anybody?
To remember. To reflect. To share. To prove that it happened.
Family. Vacation. Adventure. Misadventure. Home. Passion. Life.
But now with a little help from generative AI, you can whip up your own life’s photos without having to actually experience… your life. Now, you can document your imagined life and share this alternate version if you want.
Sure, I know this all sounds rather absurd. But the fact that it’s possible now… easy in fact, should give us all pause. What is real anymore?
This is, of course, a big topic of discussion on any number of fronts. For the moment, I’m simply directing the focus inward from societal to individual impact.
Google Whisk’s ‘Precise Reference’ Mode Okay. So, with that set up, here’s how to have some ‘fun’ reinventing your life in pictures.
I’ve been experimenting with Google Whisk (one of several players in this disruptive and quickly evolving digital sandbox). Here’s the game-changing trick I’ve recently learned that turned this AI image generator into a reality-blending tool.
Activate ‘Precise Reference’ mode in Settings.
From there you simply need to upload at least one pictures of yourself for Whisk to see. That’s the critical reference point that puts ‘you’ in the new scene.
You can also upload photo backgrounds to help art-direct your shot or create them via text prompts.
Then, everything is ready for you to prompt your new photo into existence…starring you.
And then just click to generate.
Photos from My Vacations Not Taken I followed the above steps, and within seconds, I received back each of these vacation photos from my alternate universe.
Swimming with a Humpback WhaleSkydiving AdventureAt Mount Everest Base CampPacific Coast Highway Road TripSailboat Racing FunDog Sledding in AlaskaRiding in a Hot Air Balloon In Space Port Terminal before My Trip to the Future
Seeing is Believing? Whoa. This other guy sure is having fun. Maybe he should dial it back a bit. No, these AI-generated shots aren’t perfect. But they’re close enough to prove my point.
Creating a fake photo isn’t exactly new. Other tools have been available to do that for years. But it used to take a certain amount of skill and effort. Now, with a couple reference photos, a few clicks and a basic understanding of the process, everyone can access this great power.
And we all know the line from “Spider-Man.”
Time to Meet Your Doppelgänger I am fascinated. I am concerned. I am confused. My creative center feels in flux. My very existence can be morphed (as can yours).
But I’m determined to figure out how to properly integrate this AI-led creative revolution into my own reality (as we all should).
To truly understand it, you have to know how to operate within it. This is no time to ignore what’s already happened.
That’s why I’m spending time creating a vacation album from my alternate universe. Yes, it’s been a fun exercise.
Is this a real photo I took or one generated by AI? It’s both and neither. And then I miraculously converted it into a short video clip. Welcome to bending the rules of reality with just a couple of clicks.
The creative realm is no longer inhabited exclusively by human minds. Generative AI tools have revolutionized how you and I can develop our own creativity. Yes, AI may still require our inspiration, but then it magically does most of the work.
One way to quickly immerse yourself in this new creative workflow is through a simple shortcut. Just start with a real photograph/image that you’ve already created as a reference point. Then, it’s much easier for an AI app to develop it further as opposed to having to start the process from scratch through extensive prompts.
For me, that’s been the key to easily unlock AI’s visual powers.
AI Follows the Creative Direction from your Photography After uploading your own photo, you can create an AI-generated clone in one click that looks remarkably similar. The AI takes certain creative liberties, but it nails the framing and essential visual elements.
And then, with just a few more prompts and a click, you can generate short video clips that bring your photos to life.
So yes, we can now create videos out of thin air based on our photography.
Here are a few examples I generated after feeding my photos through Google’s Whisk and Veo generative AI models. (Other companies offer similar fast-developing technologies.)
Maine Sunrise I snapped this sunrise photo during our Maine vacation:
Here’s the Google Whisk version:
And here’s the Google Veo video:
Alaska Sunrise Here’s my sunrise shot from Homer, Alaska during our 2023 trip.
Whisk photo:
Veo video:
Baltimore Sunrise Here’s my photo of people walking by the water in Baltimore, Maryland.
Whisk photo:
Veo video:
Two Paddleboarders on the Ocean I photographed these two paddleboarders in Maine last year.
Whisk photo:
Veo video:
A Man and his Dog During our vacation in Alaska, I took a photo of a man with his beautiful golden retriever. I processed it through Google Whisk and Veo and generated this:
Whisk photo:
Veo video:
Generative AI Provides the Paint and Canvas I find these examples remarkable and clearly disruptive. I’m still adjusting to the massive implications to all this.
Generative AI tools have quickly become our new paint and canvas to bring our creative ideas to life. And the results will only get better.
So, it’s time for all of us to relearn how to paint, even as photographers.
At Home with Tech 