AI as a Tool, Not A Crutch Nor An Enemy.

Well, hello there, weary photography friends! As we can see, my monthly blogs have started to fall by the wayside. Not for lack of trying to keep up, but what you get when you read these blogs is almost completely all me. Everything on this website is what cycles through my brain. Being that I also work 2 other jobs in addition to my photography, sometimes the time tables are not in my favor. This brings up an extremely controversial topic: why don’t I automate with AI? Can’t I use AI to create the blogs for me? Why can’t I train my own AI assistant?

Well, I’ll be honest. I use AI, but sparingly. There is a lot of research that shows the environmental impact of AI and the sources to run these mainframes. I’m not going to completely forgo the benefits of AI though. It is important to see AI as a tool, not a crutch to rely on, nor the robot that will steal your job if you train it too well. In efforts of transparency, this blog post will explain where I utilize AI technology so you see that at the end of the day, you’re still working with a fellow human being just trying to bring your vision to life.

Culling

It’s no secret that I LOVE to shoot in burst mode, especially for event coverage. Trying to get everyone looking at the same time in a group photo or following around the toddler guest of honor can lead to way more photos than you anticipate delivering. I use culling software like Aftershoot and Lightroom’s new AI culling to group similar photos together and help me pick the best ones based on criteria I set. Hundreds of  raw doubles and triples can now turn into a tight well curated album of 100 of the best photos to showcase your day. Now I can focus on editing to perfection and not which raw is more than just ok.

Brand Consistency and Research

I write all of these posts and copy myself. Sometimes I still need to check the grammar and tone, even though I work in education. I have AI tell me how different blogs sound and ask for advice on how to balance myself and who others expect me to be. Thanks to a course I took with Ben Hartley, I know how to ask AI for the right kind of help in understanding others' niches and how to stand out from the crowd.

Bulk Post Scheduling

Life happens. One minute, you are nonstop, back-to-back work, just enough time to sleep if you’re lucky. Next, all of the dust suddenly settles, and you are wandering around trying to figure out what’s next. Sometimes you only have one free weekend a month, so you plow through enough general posts where you can schedule them out for the next few weeks, where you know you’ll be too swamped. There are AI tools built into Meta and other content services that can tell you when most of your audience is online. I was surprised to see that I have so many night owls! Then many also read my posts while they scroll on their lunch break. This tool allows me to schedule bulk posts at the best times likely to get more traction.

Repeated Action

Photography has a lot of invisible work attached to it. Renaming files, organizing folders, exporting multiple sizes, and preparing galleries can eat up hours. AI helps automate some of those repetitive tasks so I can spend more time focusing on color, storytelling, and the human moments that make a photograph meaningful.

In other words: the computer handles the paperwork. I handle the creativity.

A Personal Secretary

Think of AI less like a replacement and more like a personal secretary. It keeps track of tasks, helps organize ideas, and occasionally reminds me where I left something in the digital chaos of creative work.

But the storytelling, the editing decisions, and the energy behind the brand still come from a human being behind the lens. Technology can assist the process, but creativity will always belong to the artist.

Still human. Still behind the lens.

Amanda

Vivid & Vibrant Photography 📷✨