Will AI Be A Better Wedding Photographer?

Issue #28

[Read Time < 6 Minutes]

“The machines are coming for the high-wage, high-skill jobs as well.”

– Martin Ford, The Rise of the Robots

I was on a recent trip to California and had a very interesting chat with my Uber driver as we headed from the airport to my hotel.

After a brief chat, I discovered he was a former wedding photographer.

We were both about the same age and had shot about the same number of weddings, but there was one big difference between us - besides the obvious fact that I had camera gear next to me and he was driving the car to my hotel.

“Brides have just changed so much and all this AI is killing photography.”

Hmm, interesting. I probed.

I’ll call our former wedding photographer “Cameron,” just to give him a name.

Cam was clearly disgruntled, though he had accepted his current situation with a fair amount of grace.

He was a musician and artist, and now had the time to pursue these creative outlets more. He no longer had to worry about all those brides, those long hours shooting, those longer hours editing and making money doing what he loved.

While I understood his issues with the changing landscape of bridal expectations, it was the AI part that perked my ears.

I started in photography before digital cameras. I saw first-hand the massive impact they had on photographers and their businesses. Some died, some survived, and some thrived.

Don’t call me callous, but whether they died, survived, or thrived was the photographer’s choice.

It was a supply-and-demand situation at its core, and supply increased significantly with the introduction of digital cameras to the market. Many photographers couldn’t handle the “competition,” so they bowed out.

I understood this reaction. I didn’t agree with it, but I understood it. The photographers who saw the shift as a marketing opportunity, however, thrived.

This is what I see with the introduction of AI into wedding photography.

For Cameron, the future doesn’t look bright - it looks artificial and contrived. He sees a decline in the craft of photography and AI cutting into his business somehow. Cam is missing the opportunities.

AI will NEVER replace wedding photographers.

Some may see this as a bold statement. I do not.

There’s an opportunity here to make the photographer more valuable than ever…if you’re willing to embrace what may seem scary. I want you to see this for what it really is…a tool.

“AI is the dumbest, most willing, talented, confident, patient and available intern you’ll ever have.” – Me

This is exactly how I describe AI to the college students I teach. It may be ready and willing, but it knows nothing about your wants and especially the wants and desires of a bride and groom…and does not care (ie, it feels nothing).

Oh sure, it may “think” it knows because it can scan the entire internet and gather data from people’s words, but let’s be honest, no heart = no mind.

Of course, the first thing that comes to mind when you think of AI is ChatGPT, but there are plenty of other “learning models” out there. If you’re an average writer who aspires to nothing more than being an average writer, AI will probably be coming to take your job.

If you’re a wedding photographer, AI is coming to help make your life easier.

Here are 4 reasons AI will NEVER replace you as a wedding photographer.

1. AI, at the moment, has no physical presence.

This might change with the advent of robots, but for now, this reality makes it rather difficult to attend an actual wedding or reception. OK, let’s be serious though.

2. No one connects and communicates with your couple better than you.

Wedding photography is about building trust with couples and understanding their desires for this day. AI can’t FEEL, and it can’t replicate the essential human connection needed to make clients feel at ease.

Oh, and did someone mention relationships? Try building a long-term, personal relationship with your phone or laptop. It didn’t work for Joaquin Phoenix in the movie Her, and it won’t work for your couple. You build and earn trust - you don’t buy it or download it.

3. The moments you capture are real

Sure, a bride can AI generate a photo of herself and her handsome groom on the precipice of a sun-drenched vista in San Juan (I assume they have something like that there), but it won’t be real. It’ll be cool, but there won’t be any “Do you remember that moment” in that artificially generated image. YOU get to deliver moments that preserve a memory.

There are emotions in moments, and a wedding day is filled with a LOT of moments. Each moment is a little slice of THEIR story, and you get to help preserve that for them.

4. The wedding day IS the experience

Someone brilliant once said, “You don’t buy a wedding, you assemble it from a hundred small, personally selected pieces with your signature on them.”

Ask any bride, and she tell you everything about her day...in every small, meaningful detail.

Every wedding is uniquely personal, and your presence becomes a part of it. Just like family and friends, every person lends themselves to making this day one of a kind. AI simply cannot do that.

When the ring bearer trips and tosses the little pillow, when one of the groomsmen drinks a bit too much and shows everyone how good of a dancer he really is, or when the bride throws the groom the cutest little glance during the ceremony - THIS is what a wedding is about, and there’s 0% artificially generated content here.

Your photographic style, your special brand of guest interaction, and your legendary care and consideration for your couple and the family are all part of what makes this day special and 100% real.

Of course, this all sounds a bit ridiculous, but trust me, someone right now is trying to figure out how to build an AI camera bot to take photos at a wedding.

It’ll be all fun and games until someone who has downed one too many Gin Rickeys grabs the bot and tries to have some fun with it.

“OK, Chris, I get it, AI can’t replace me, but how can it help me?”

I’m glad you asked.

Here are 3 big ways AI can help you build your wedding photography business.

1. AI photo editing is surprisingly good and getting better

There are AI tools that can help with your editing and photo processing, allowing you to get your photos to your clients faster.

I mentioned back in Issue #12 the importance of The Glow. Getting your processing done faster will help you deliver the photos to your couple while they are still in The Glow, making you look like the hero you are. AI can help make that happen.

2. AI is a really good retoucher

Photobombing mishap? Poof, they’re gone. An unfortunate wrinkle in the maid of honor’s dress? Poof, it’s gone too.

There are many ways AI can streamline your retouching faster than you can. Why poo-poo this fantastic feature? Incorporate this into your system and get things done faster.

3. AI marketing is a real thing

Using AI for inspiration with marketing or creative idea generation is fun, for lack of a more colorful adjective, and surprisingly helpful if I’m being kind to my dumb intern.

I’ve also seen some new, more efficient AI CRM tools that will certainly become industry standards very soon.

The bottom line? AI isn’t your competition - it’s a tool to enhance your business.

Nothing will replace the craftsmanship, artistry, authenticity, love, and genuine human touch you provide to your clients.

Brides hire you because of YOU. Embrace your work and your special approach to photographing weddings, and you’ll never have to worry about the robots coming to take your job.

As long as you’re not a robot yourself or a stockholder in Skynet, the future looks bright.

The business of business is relationships; the business of life is human connection.

– Robin Sharma

Helping you fight off the robots of creativity is just one of the little parts of the “inner game of wedding photography. THIS is what I write about each week in this newsletter.

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If you’re starting out and haven’t quite figured out to how to handle the hundreds or even thousands of photos from an event, I’ve created something special to help you with the organization.

It’s a guide to help you process a wedding in one week and it’s a system I’ve used for over 25 years and still use it to this day. Don’t spend weeks trying to process and missing out on The Glow. This system will help you get your photos to your client, make them happy and make you look like the professional you want to be.