Before & After Photo — How I Mix AI & Photography
They say magicians aren’t supposed to show you their tricks. Probably because for some it takes away the magic. But since I consider myself a photo educator as well as a photographer, I wanted to use this short article to show you where I started and where I ended with this photo and to discuss how I got there.
Before I go on, if AI isn’t your thing feel free to move on. But if it is, this article is about how I use AI and mix it with straight photography.
This is an art piece I created featuring Loki. Loki, Prince of Asgard, Odinson, rightful heir of Jotunheim, and God of Mischief, is burdened with glorious purpose. His desire to be a king drives him to sow chaos in Asgard. In his lust for power, he extends his reach to Earth. This is from the Marvel series that many of you may be familiar with.
I photographed this 1/10 Art Scale statue from Iron Studios against a photo backdrop in my studio.
I used this particular background because I also wanted one I could use for a straight photograph later in case I needed it.
But right from the start, I knew that I wanted to create something mystical and that I wanted to use gold as the dominant color in the final product. I also wanted a mystical, outer space feel.
A week or so before I actually received the Loki statue, I started working on the background. Most people use Midjourney for this kind of work but I used to be president of a photo software company and I got used to working with programmers in Eastern Europe to build stuff so I created my own AI art tool. I use it with a combination of two commercially available tools (not Midjourney) melded together. The combination of commercial tools with my home brew tool gets me an AI I used to make the universe I was aiming for.
I actually created two different AI backgrounds. (See below.) I decided to have the clean, gold, starry background as the bottom layer and the more detailed as the top layer.
Since I made the Loki photo with a Fuji X100V, I worked up the straight photo using OnOne’s tool because it handles Fuji X-Trans RAW conversion better than Adobe Camera Raw.
Then I imported the RAW conversion to Photoshop. I made a mask of the main character and lifted him out of the background. Then I dropped him onto the first AI background layer. I did some minor cleanup of the image and then added the top AI layer. I set that second layer’s Mode to Multiply so it would screen back the details on the top layer and make them much less prominent.
Then I added some gold smoke and the fire effect on Loki’s staff in BorisFX Optics 2022.5. Once I had it where I wanted it I finished the whole thing off using Topaz Labs Photo AI.
The end result is exactly what I had hoped for. This is what I saw in my mind’s eye long before I ever acquired the figure to photograph. I practiced using the right AI prompts to get the background right and just for fun one of the words I used was ASGARD. I didn’t expect the AI to know that word but it created the top layer as a result of the ASGARD prompt and it’s exactly what I needed.
CONCLUSION
As a toy photographer, the advent of AI along with SFX tools like BorisFX, I am thrilled with what I can create. I don’t do this for money so it’s strictly for fun. I create what makes me happy. Hopefully someone else likes it too but I am completely okay if that doesn’t work out.
Photography for fun (without a client) is new to me. I have always been a professional photographer who makes a living with his camera. Now that I am doing it strictly as a hobby photographer, I have to say I am learning and experimenting more freely and having the time of my life.
If I can learn this AI stuff anyone can. Give it a try. See what you can dream up. If you know how to use your camera and can think up the right background (describing it word-for-word) you might get something that you like for your own work.
Good luck and have fun. If it’s not fun, you’re doing it wrong.
Remember, toys are joy.
For a list of my toy photo gear and props go to:
bit.ly/toyphotogear
