Artificial Intelligence / How AI is Revolutionising Wedding Photography
While AI is still in its infancy, it's already revolutionising the way wedding photographers work.
That’s not actually the opening line I wrote for this blog post, I went for: ‘We’re at the very early stages of AI, but this tech is already proving to be an incredible tool for wedding photographers.’
I then asked Chat GPT to write it better and the above is what it gave me.
In this post, I’m going to explore what AI can do for wedding photographers and just how much it’s going to change the whole world.
(I’ll also be noting where in this post I’ve used AI to help me write, it’s going to be a lot of it)
AI Culling
Culling wedding photos is a long process that comes post-wedding. The task of going through literally thousands of images and picking out the best is time-consuming and really not the fun part of the job (shooting the wedding is the fun part)
Enter AI culling software.
I’m currently using Narrative Select which ingests my RAW images and provides quick previews for selecting and rating them.
It tells me if there are open or closed eyes in the shot, wheather shot is soft focus or just completely out of focus, and which one out of a set it thinks is best.
It groups images into sets of the same scene, so once I choose the images I want I can skip the rest of the set and move onto the next one.
All in all, this cuts my culling time way down and is only the start of AI culling, pretty soon this tech is going to be doing 99% of culling and is going to nail it every single time.
AI Editing
I’m getting into AI editing this year so my knowledge isn’t great on it, but what’s on the horizon seems insane.
Software like Aftershoot can analyse your images in Lightroom and then take that to edit your pictures in your style in seconds. You can then go through and make tweaks but this kind of software is going to take things most of the way for you.
I’m going to get more into this in the coming months, so expect more on AI editing in the future!
AI Blog Posts & Writing
With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), there has been a significant change in the way we produce content, including blog posts. Writing blog posts for wedding photography is time-consuming and demanding, but AI-powered tools have made the process easier, faster, and more efficient.
AI-powered software can analyze a photographer's wedding photos and use the data to create engaging content, including blog posts. This feature can save photographers time and effort while providing them with a range of options for blogs.
AI-powered content optimization tools can also help wedding photographers with their blog posts. These tools analyze blog posts and provide recommendations for improving the content's readability, search engine optimization (SEO), and engagement levels.
With the help of AI-powered tools, wedding photographers can create blog posts that are more engaging, optimized for search engines, and provide value to readers.
I didn’t write any of that, not a word.
I prompted Chat GPT to ‘write about using AI to write blog posts about wedding photography’ and it gave me this in about 10 seconds.
I then went through it and took a bit out and changed a couple of words around. Now, I’m not suggesting using AI to write content from scratch, the above, while ok is missing my own input, but what AI can do is improve and elaborate on what you’ve already written.
AI Marketing Strategy
Coming up with a marketing strategy is a time-consuming and rather boring process, but with AI you can get the ball rolling on ideas and take this and develop it as you see fit.
Let’s ask Chat GPT to ‘write a social media marketing strategy for a UK based documentary wedding photographer’
Here’s the result:
Define your target audience: The first step in creating a social media marketing strategy is to define your target audience. Identify who your ideal customer is, their interests, values, and pain points. This will help you create content that resonates with your audience.
Choose the right platforms: There are several social media platforms available, but you don't need to be on all of them. Choose the platforms where your target audience is most active. For a documentary wedding photographer, Instagram and Facebook are great platforms to start with.
Create a content calendar: Planning ahead is crucial for social media success. Create a content calendar for the month ahead, including the types of content you'll be posting, the themes, and the dates you'll be posting them.
Share your portfolio: Your portfolio is your best marketing tool. Share your best wedding photos on your social media profiles and link to your website where clients can see more of your work.
Use hashtags: Use relevant hashtags to help potential clients find your content. For example, #UKweddingphotographer, #documentaryweddingphotography, #realweddings.
Show behind-the-scenes: Share behind-the-scenes photos and videos of you at work, setting up for a wedding, or editing photos. This can give potential clients a glimpse into your process and help build trust.
Run social media ads: Social media ads can be a powerful tool to reach your target audience. Run ads targeting engaged couples in your local area, promoting your wedding photography services.
Engage with your followers: Social media is a two-way street. Engage with your followers by responding to comments, asking questions, and sharing user-generated content.
Collaborate with other wedding vendors: Collaborating with other wedding vendors such as florists, venues, and wedding planners can help you reach new audiences. Partner with them to offer joint promotions or to showcase each other's work.
Measure your results: Finally, it's important to measure your social media results to see what's working and what's not. Track your follower growth, engagement rates, and website traffic to see how your social media efforts are impacting your business. Adjust your strategy as needed based on your results.
This to me looks like a pretty solid marketing strategy, and it took 10 seconds to come up with it.
If I was doing this without AI it would take me perhaps 30 minutes to write this and come up with the ideas, and it would be the same or probably missing certain bits.
Hashtags
I hate thinking up and writing hastags, it’s boring and time consuming and more often that not I just use the same ones over and over which is no good for getting a range of engagment.
AI can be prompted and generate hashtags with ease and in the future it is 100% going to be able to do this based on your content and following, giving you the best hashtags to use for your brand.
Heck, in the next couple of years it’s going to tell you what kind of photo to post when and with what caption to get the best results on social media.
Prompt: ‘Write 10 hashtags for a UK documentary wedding photographer’
Result:#UKWeddingPhotographer #DocumentaryWeddingPhotography #WeddingPhotojournalism #RealWeddingMoments #CapturingLoveStories #UnposedWeddingPhotography #AuthenticWeddingPhotography #BridalPortraits #GroomsmenShots #WeddingDetails
Prompt: ‘Write 10 more’
Result:#WeddingPhotographerUK #CandidWeddingPhotography #NaturalWeddingPhotography #ReportageWeddingPhotography #EmotiveWeddingPhotography #WeddingPhotographyInspiration #IntimateWeddingPhotography #RomanticWeddingPhotography #BeautifulWeddingPhotos #FineArtWeddingPhotography
Prompt: ‘Write 10 more but make them more specific to using a Fuji XH2 camera’
Result: #FujiXH2WeddingPhotography #XH2WeddingPhotographerUK #FujifilmXH2WeddingShots #FujiXH2DocumentaryPhotography #FujifilmXH2RealWeddings #XH2WeddingStorytelling #FujiXH2BridalPortraits #FujinonXH2WeddingLenses #FujiXH2GroomsmenShots #XH2WeddingPhotographerLife
All of that took about a minute to prompt and give me back the results, and saves me time thinking about and writing out hashtags that to be honest I wouldn’t have ever come up with.
To Sum Up
AI is poised to revolutionise various aspects of our lives. However, failing to keep pace with this technological transformation could leave one lagging behind.
I'll be producing more blog posts and YouTube content in the near future, I'll also delve deeper into the topics covered in this post.
If there's anything specific you would like me to address, don't hesitate to reach out.
Best regards, Col
The above is the AI re-writing my original sign-off, which is below:
AI is going to change everything, and if you’re not moving with it then you will get left behind.
I’ll be doing more blogs and Youtube content soon, as well as exploring the things in this post in more detail, but if there’s anything you’d like to see then let me know.
Please let me know what you think of AI + Wedding Photography!
Cheers,
Col-