AI and Computational Photography-When is it no longer a photograph?

Hosted by Daniel j Gregory

November 30, 2020

Episode Number:

Episode 299

I have been asked a lot recently about what I think about some of the new tools digital photographers have at their disposal. Many programs now offer “AI or machine learning” to help edit photographs. Now with the click of a few buttons, you can replace skies, change expressions, or quickly composite images together.

Now I have never been on enough drugs to think that photographs are without manipulation. They are manipulated by point of view, lens choice, depth of field, color vs. black and white, to say nothing of dodging, burning, and color correction. However, I do wonder as we are now at a time in our lives where we can question how much of a purely digital creation can still be a “photograph.” In the ivory white towers of academic research, I am sure there will be many papers and conversations about where that line is. Still, I also think it is important for those of us making photographs to have a better understanding of what all that means. In today’s podcast, we talk a little about a few issues that arise when you think about the nature of computational photography and the language and words we might consider when talking about photography moving forward. For some of us, the line will be a lot firmer and rigid than others, but I think the more we understand how all these changes impact our sense of a photograph is as important, if not more important than how we create the photograph.

As always, I hope you and yours are safe, and please remember to keep safe and wear your mask.

Gear used in the podcast

One of the questions I get asked frequently is what sort of equipment do I use to record my podcast. I have used a variety of equipment in the three years that I have been recording, but here is the current list of equipment that I am using. Also as an FYI and full disclosure, the links are affiliate links to Amazon.

Rode Procaster XLR microphone
Rode Boom Arm
Rode PSM Shockmount
All three Rode components a kit
Focusrite Scarlet 2i2
Adobe Audition (part of creative cloud subscription)
LogicPro X
Macbook Pro
OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock
Headphones

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