Examples of Karen's work for winery clients
I want to share a fascinating case study from a customer who is using synthetic photography to improve her real-world photography with real-world clients.
Karen Schmautz is a customer in my synthetic photography course who runs a thriving photography business serving wineries in California's beautiful wine country.
I was intrigued when Karen mentioned that she was using Midjourney to pre-plan photo shoots for her clients. I reached out and asked her to explain. Below is her story.
"I work with small wineries and I can ask Midjourney to give me ideas on poses for staff and owners, ways to arrange wine and food for their social media shots, etc. I used to pore through Pinterest to get ideas, but that can be cumbersome and frustrating. This is so much more fun! I don’t copy what Midjourney has created, but those creations spark my creativity for composition, poses and even locations."
Below are some examples of real photo shoots that Karen pre-planned in Midjourney, along with her descriptions of each setup and photo shoot.
Wine and Cheese Pairing
Task: various combinations of wine and cheese pairings with client’s wine and label clearly visible. Must be light and bright. Must include the client's cheese, wine, glasses of wine. Also use of client’s crackers, pickles, nuts, marinated grapes, etc. Need vertical, landscape, and flat lay formats.
Midjourney imagined these for me, which gave me some starting points:
Midjourney Idea Set 1
Midjourney Idea Set 2
There are some obvious difficulties, like the wine laying halfway on the cheeseboard, and the large flowers/vases which overtake the wine. But the arrangements and additional items like the cloth napkins, the boards and plates were good inspiration.
Here’s my interpretation of the ideas I got from Midjourney.
Karen’s actual client photo, inspired my Midjourney’s ideas
They are changed up a bit but the feeling is the same.
I felt the flowers were too prominent in the Midjourney, but I liked the addition. So, I placed them a little off to the side and slightly cut off. Aside from the green of the vase and bottle, everything else was quite neutral as per Midjourney’s imagining.
Karen’s actual client photo, inspired my Midjourney’s ideas
The flat lay was the most challenging but Midjourney’s choice of angles and the addition of a loose cloth sparked my creativity. I needed to work in the orchid as they use that orchid on their food plates. I suppose I could have asked Midjourney to imagine something with these colors, but I didn’t think of it at the time.
Chef Photos
Task: Take casual photos of estate chef at local vegetable stand. Do not make him look like a farmer out in the field.
Midjourney imagined:
Some of Midjourney’s ideas for the chef photo
I really liked the examples provided by Midjourney and they were helpful in setting up my scenes.
One of Karen’s actual client photos, inspired by Midjourney’s ideas
This chef was a bit camera shy, and since it was a working farm stand, there were other customers shopping who were quite curious about what we were doing, which added to Chef’s anxiety. So, he was not as relaxed as I would have liked. At any rate, I think I got some good ideas, especially for poses.
Winemaker/Owner with Dogs
Task: Photo of winemaker/owner in the vineyard with his two dogs.
Midjourney imagined:
Some of Midjourney’s ideas for the winemaker photo
Some of Midjourney’s ideas for the winemaker photo
My photos:
Actual client photo, inspired by Midjourney’s ideas
Actual client photo, inspired by Midjourney’s ideas
Dogs are always difficult to deal with when taking portraits of people, so I was thankful for some of the photos Midjourney came up with. I was encouraged by Midjourney’s imagining of the winemaker crouching down to be with his dogs.
Tasting Room Manager
Task: Casual photo of tasting room manager overlooking lily pond at the outdoor tasting room.
Midjourney imagined:
I noticed that Midjourney sometimes struggles with arms, legs and hands. Note the two arms on #2. Just a quirk, I suppose.
[Phil’s note: First rule of AI images: always count the fingers! And arms, and legs…]
My Photos:
Actual client photo, inspired by Midjourney’s ideas
Actual client photo, inspired by Midjourney’s ideas
Actual client photo, inspired by Midjourney’s ideas
I loved the options given to me by Midjourney and I was able to reimagine my own versions.
“Thank you so much for your class, as it is really helping me to get the photos that I want. “
If you'd like to see more of Karen's work, visit her site at https://www.sierraspringsphotography.com/
What will you do with synthetic photography? You can read about how some of my other customers are using it here.
When you're ready, you can get my synthetic photography course here:
