This phenomenon is storming into all aspects of life. Every aspect of photography, from news to camera features to editing tool are morphing at light speed alongside the AI tidal wave. In photography’s realm, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, AI tools help with a major shortcoming of the Micro Four Thirds system for me, excessive noise from high ISO images of birds in flight. Topaz AI’s programs called Sharpen and DeNoise help to overcome this problem nicely. To my thinking, using this tool is a shortcoming of the camera and not of my skills. When it comes to transforming an image with drastic changes with the click of a button, the jury is out. Here is an image I enjoyed out of the camera, in before and after. It reminds me of myself as a boy. After a one-click experiment with Topaz Sharpening, the gull in the top center of the image is blurry in the original image became a clearly distinguished (if unnatural looking) gull.
What is a “photograph” today? Does the craft of photography remain rooted in the vision of a creative individual’s mind? Needing a break from this, I am going to shoot film for the foreseeable future and get back to my roots.
