A few days ago I released my new course on synthetic photography.
Almost immediately, I began hearing from customers about how they were suddenly able to solve long-standing photography problems that they could not solve with their real-world photography.
I thought I'd share a few of these stories, and some of their images, below.
1. Overcoming Disability
One photographer wrote to me excitedly:
"After being badly injured in a car accident nearly twenty-five years ago, I have been severely limited in my ability to pursue my passion. I have done what I can with lighter mirrorless and mobile gear, but traveling has been out of the question!
"This course, and the underlying technology, will literally open a world of photographic possibilities that I had previously lost hope of ever experiencing!"
2. Creating "Stock Photos" that Can’t Be Obtained
The night nurse
Another long-time customer, a nurse, wrote that she had once tried to find a photo to illustrate a brochure...but the photo could not be obtained in the real world, for ethical reasons.
"I put together a palliative care conference once, and I would have used this picture on a one-page handout to really focus people's attention on the use of non-pharmaceutical intervention...
"I asked Midjourney for a tired old night nurse in a hospital with a patient.
"This would have made a great one-page handout to get them to really HEAR this, and it's a picture that would otherwise have been impossible to get.
"The benefit is that you don't need a model release, and you haven't intruded on a private, painful moment."
What "impossible" photos would you like to finally be able to create?
3. Creating Photos of "Models" for Personal Projects
My good friend Sebastian Michaels is one of the world's foremost instructors of "Photoshop Artistry."
Frequently, in the composite creations that he and his students make, the artist needs to start with a photo of a human model in a specific pose and a specific wardrobe.
Models in costume on a plain white background
Of course, if one is a skilled photographer with a studio, and lighting gear, and access to a large supply of models, and money, and time, one could shoot these images oneself. And some do.
But more commonly, the artist seeks out a stock photo to purchase—one which is never quite right, but which is "close enough" to settle on.
And so each piece of work begins with time-consuming process of searching through stock photo sites, followed by a disappointing compromise, right out of the gate.
With 'synthetic photography', however, the artist can simply create, in a few seconds, the perfect model photo, in the desired pose and desired clothing.
You can even ask for it "on a white background" to make it easy to composite into the finished work!
Sebastian asked me to try this as a test, and when he saw the results, including the first grid of photos above, he immediately decided to share it with his students.
He's currently creating a tutorial for his art students demonstrating the use of generative AI to solve the "people problem."
4. My Interactive-Novel Project
This one is still in the planning stage, but I’ll share it with you to put pressure on myself to actually go through with it.
I've always been a fan of science fiction, and I've even had some of my SF stories published in the distant past.
Ever since starting to use Midjourney to create ssynthetic photography I've had a burning desire to create a "collaborative novel."
The Star Gate
It would be a collaboration between me and Midjourney, in which I write some text, then feed that text to Midjourney to inspire an image, and then that image inspires my next bit of story text, and so on, back and forth, to create a kind of illustrated man-machine hybrid novel.
Of course, I’m too busy releasing this new course right now to start writing fiction.
But I hope to start it soon, and when I do I'll let you know.
What will you do with synthetic photography?
If you have an interesting use case, please write to me and tell me how you're using it.
Another Customer Story…
Want to see how a professional photographer is using Synthetic Photography to improve her photo shoots for real-world clients in the California wine country. Check it out here:
