How AI is changing the e-comm product photography industry
It’s the hottest topic right now: how will artificial intelligence (AI) impact the world? It seems like new AI comes out every week, primarily those that are image and editing-focused. So it only makes sense for us to think about how this will impact our commercial photography industry.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has permeated numerous industries, revolutionizing the way we work, communicate, and interact with technology. In recent years, AI has started to make significant waves in the world of product photography. As businesses increasingly rely on compelling visuals to capture consumer attention, AI is poised to transform the product photography industry, offering unparalleled efficiency, accuracy, and creativity. In this blog post, we will explore the various ways in which AI is set to reshape product photography.
Here at Elysian, a studio that specializes in creating captivating visual content for branding purposes and product listings, we have chosen to view AI optimistically. Rather than worrying about AI taking over and making our work obsolete, we are reevaluating the way we think about photography, discovering how we can start seeing AI as a tool and resource, not an enemy. The very nature of our industry demands constant adaptation to technology to further improve our workflows, and it’s clear that AI is the next tech we all need to focus on.
Here are 6 ways AI is not only impacting the product photography world, but also how we are using it to our advantage:
Dynamic Scene Generating & Customization
One of the most popular forms of product photography is lifestyle photography: incorporating products within propping, environmental scenes, and people to show product functionality and to sell the aspirational lifestyle of a particular brand. There have traditionally been 2 main ways to create lifestyle photos:
Building a “set” within a studio, or paying to shoot at a location, showing products within a real, customized scene.
Shooting products by themselves in a studio, and “Photoshopping” them into a stock photo background scene. This is called “Compositing,” and is much more affordable than the first option, but has limited flexibility.
The first thing to note about AI when it comes to lifestyle photography is that even our most pessimistic predictions don’t forecast AI taking the place of traditional forms of lifestyle photography anytime soon. Sure, we’ve all seen AI generate fairly impressive scenes, but the one thing AI cannot and will not be able to do is generate custom images of a company’s specific products. Even if it could, most detail and quality-focused brands will choose to capture their products with photography or rendering anyways.
However, we have already begun using AI as a lifestyle photography tool. While AI cannot generate product images itself, it most certainly can create flexibility for our teams to customize scenes more efficiently. For example: Adobe’s new Photoshop’s Beta generative fill AI.
We have begun using this Photoshop tool to manipulate imagery more efficiently and in ways we couldn’t previously have done, saving time and offering flexibility to our clients. Below are a handful of examples, but they all revolve around 2 main features:
Removing things from the scene, something that has always been possible with editing software, but is now infinitely faster.
Extending/replacing elements of the scene, generating items that weren’t previously there, ultimately offering significant flexibility to our clients with a specific creative vision.
Each of the 5 images below were manipulated or enhanced using AI only.
Creative Storyboarding & Concepting
Personally, this has become my favorite way to use AI. It has made our workflow so much more efficient, and our client conversations more collaborative.
Traditionally, the longest and most laborious part of our photoshoot planning process is trying to understand our clients’ visions, ensuring we are all on the same page with what their expectations are. This usually means lots of emails, phone calls, sending reference images, and ultimately trusting that we understand their request. We always do, but it takes a while to get there when done right.
However, we are visual people, and our clients tend to be as well, so we’ve always known this storyboarding process could be more efficient. AI has allowed us to do that. With revolutionary tools such as Midjourney and DALL-E, we can turn words into imagery, making our client conversations heavily visual, and making the process much more efficient.
These tools aren’t quite good enough to generate final, high-quality product imagery, but what they are great at is quickly generating a rough draft of what we want to do. Describing colors, compositions, or overall aesthetics can be virtually impossible with words, but with AI that can turn those words into pictures, it allows us to show, not tell. Our clients have been very receptive to this method and appreciate us putting in the work to show them what we are thinking.
Automated Editing and Retouching
Traditionally, product photographers have spent countless hours manually editing and retouching images to ensure they meet the desired standards. However, AI-powered tools are now capable of automating these processes with astonishing precision. By leveraging machine learning algorithms, AI can analyze and enhance product images, correcting imperfections, adjusting lighting and colors, and even removing backgrounds. This automation not only saves photographers valuable time but also ensures consistent and high-quality results across a large number of images.
Intelligent Image Recognition & Tagging
Product photographers often face the daunting task of cataloging and organizing vast collections of images. AI brings a game-changing solution by utilizing advanced image recognition algorithms. These algorithms can analyze visual content and automatically tag products based on their attributes, such as color, shape, or material. This enables photographers and businesses to quickly search, sort, and retrieve images, simplifying the process of asset management and streamlining workflows.
Pivoting from asset creation to asset usage, let’s talk about how AI can influence the way we use the images we are creating.
Virtual Try-On & Augmented Reality
One of the challenges in the e-commerce industry is bridging the gap between online shopping and the tangible experience of trying on products. We’ve done our best by creating more engaging, interactive content such as 360° spins, infographics, and model photography, but these have only gotten us so far.
AI-powered virtual try-on solutions are set to transform this aspect of product photography. By combining computer vision and augmented reality (AR), AI algorithms can overlay virtual representations of products onto images of customers or models. This enables shoppers to virtually try on clothing, accessories, or even home decor items, providing a more immersive and interactive online shopping experience.
While this doesn’t necessarily change the work we are doing in commercial studios like ours, familiarity with the new ways in which these assets will be used is invaluable as we continue to work for our clients.
Enhanced Image Search & Recommendation Systems
With the proliferation of e-commerce platforms, consumers are often overwhelmed with vast product catalogs. AI-powered image search and recommendation systems provide a solution to this information overload. By analyzing product images, AI algorithms can understand visual similarities, allowing users to search for products based on visual cues rather than relying solely on text-based searches. Furthermore, AI can leverage data on customer preferences and behaviors to offer personalized product recommendations, increasing customer engagement and conversion rates.
Conclusion
AI is transforming the product photography industry in ways that were once unimaginable. From automated editing and retouching to virtual try-on experiences and personalized recommendations, AI-powered solutions are revolutionizing the way businesses capture, enhance, and present their products. The benefits of AI in product photography extend beyond efficiency and accuracy; they unlock new creative possibilities and enhance the overall customer experience. As AI continues to evolve, we can expect further innovations that will shape the future of product photography, empowering businesses to create captivating visuals that resonate with consumers in unprecedented ways.
As we navigate this new AI journey, it’s important that we as photographers not stray away from the change or view it as the enemy. Instead, using it as a tool can only serve to help make what we do more efficient, freeing up our time to do what we do best.
Finally, as a little treat for those of you who read this article to the end, I’m excited to tell you that about 75% of this article was written by AI. Yes, that’s right. Knowing that, I’ll leave you with this: how many other ways can we use AI to help run a more efficient business?
