5 reasons why you need to play with AI for your photography.

There has been a lot of controversy about the use of AI generated art. Just recently an artist (yes I do mean artist) used MidJourney to generate a piece of art that won first place in a fine art competition at the Colorado State Fair. The image is quite beautiful. Check it out. 

Okay so is it legitimately the artist that prompted the AI to create it? The short answer is yes. MidJourney, which I personally use, says that the artwork generated is owned by the artist that generates it. The prompts are public and available on the site in which it is used. Those can be used again, but because the software is always learning and evolving you probably wouldn’t get the same results anyway. So, onto my reasons.

Reason 1. It sparks creativity. The computer doesn’t know what’s possible and what’s not possible. It only tries the best it can with the information that’s given to it. I created this in MidJourney and it gave me the a new perspective to my photo idea, that is going to make the actual photo I use amazing. Check it out below.

 I haven’t finished the photo yet, but my perspective in my sketch is looking from behind the crows looking into the plague doctor in the cage. This brings me to my next point.

Reason 2. Get rid of the old fashion notebook. MidJourney can be the new sketchbook to getting your idea down on “paper” and out of your mind. I can’t wait to work on the above photo based on this concept. 

Reason 3. Are you in a creative rut? As creators, we all get there from time to time. I was trying to think of my next photo project and didn’t know what to do. I was thinking about doing a photo shoot with a tornado in the background. I decided I could use MidJourney for a background to a photo. Well, I had a vision in my mind, but couldn’t quite get what I was looking for. I changed the criteria a little bit by using the prompts rope tornado in a wheat field. This is what it came up with. 

Not exactly what I was looking for, but that didn’t matter because it got my crazy mind going and I got to thinking what if make a tornado scene but using stuffed animals, a yarn tree, etc. I created a few more images in MidJourney, took a photo, added some components together in photoshop.  By the time I got off the airplane 2 hours later I had this.

Reason 4. Create backgrounds that will make the image pop. I have a friend who wants me to make him into a centaur (half horse half man). I got with a good friend that had a wonderful horse that I could use, but I really needed an epic background for this project. I used MidJourney to create a fantastic Greek mythological background with epic skies. This is what I got. 

I put this incredible photo into photoshop and upscaled it so that it would be large enough for print, then I added and blended in a foreground and lastly a picture of a horse. Although I have not yet finished the centaur, the horse was definitely enough. I printed it out and delivered it to my friend that let me borrow the horse for a couple hours.

This image is going to be totally epic when I can finish the centaur look.

 Reason 5. It’s just plain fun. I have been using it for over a month now. I have generated some crazy images that I would otherwise never be capable of doing. Give MidJourney a try.  

Although there is nothing that says you can’t take these images and claim them for your own, I feel that I owe it to fans of my art and images to let them know the truth if I do use images that has been generated through AI.

Thanks for reading this article.  If you have any opinions about this, I would love to hear from you.

Topher.

Special Thanks to my cousin Belle Goode Novelist for proofing my blog.

Abandoned

So, I have been completely busy the last couple of months. Working on a Job transition, 148 hours in the last two weeks. With all this, it hasn’t been all bad. I was able to get out and explore some wonderful places in Virginia and South Carolina.

There are a ton of abandoned places around here and I have been spending most of my free time exploring them. Some I have been able to get inside, and some I have not. I have been able to create a huge database of abandoned house photos.

Not only have I been working long hours, exploring long hours, photographing and editing, I have also accomplished to get a video put out on TikTok that has has had almost 11k views at the time of writing this.. This has sparked me to spend more time putting out video content, which I am very new at. I hope to put out better and better content every time. I am going to add an abandoned places page to my website. Pop on over and see what I have.

Thanks,

Topher

Not for Sale

So the creepy elf on the shelf did not work out. I was given an all stop by The Elf on the Shelf Company. I guess they didn’t like the idea of me selling photos with the Elf on the Shelf in it. So thanks for all your interest in the series, but it is no longer for sale. However some of the photos that do not fall under that copyright are for sale by the individual on etsy. Check it out. https://www.etsy.com/shop/topherkeenphotos. They are only $3.00 per digital print, and the proceeds will go to me to develop more beautiful photos.

If you are reading this blog, I thank you very much. If you have a crazy idea and want to work with me to create a custom photo for your needs, hit me up.

Thanks,

Topher Keen