It is a question I get asked a lot - How do you take good portraits of your dog with your iphone?
In truth, I rarely take photos using my iPhone. I may occasionally reach for my phone as I watch TV to take a quick snap of Tess as she lies next to me on the sofa as she contorts herself into some weird position.
but that is about the extent of my expertise with taking dog photos using an iPhone.
But there are similarities between using an iPhone and a £3,000-plus camera. that anyone can put into practice to get better dog portraits
There is nothing wrong with taking out your iPhone and snapping away as your pup decides to destroy the new toy you just bought them. They can make for some great photos to keep in your dog's photo album and to show colleagues at work. Heck, it's something I do all the time with Tess, but of course I use my DSLR, along with a trained eye and experience, which of course is going to produce something quite different.
Even if you are just taking a quick snap of Florence, Benbo, or whoever, there are three fundamental things you can do to improve that shot which will make all the difference.
The closer you are to your subject the better in focus and sharper your final photo will be.
Of course, it goes without saying that you need to be close enough but not too close that you cut off ears or tails. but not too far away
that you lose detail.
Getting down to the same level as your dog will give a much better photo than taking it from above
I wanted to hire the best and after looking at several other companies i knew jacob was the perfect.I wanted to hire the best and after looking at several other companies i knew jacob was the perfect.I wanted to hire the best and after looking at several other companies i knew jacob was the perfect.
I saw you smile. Yep, there is nothing more appealing than seeing a photo of a badger with its cub, and if you saw that on Facebook,
you wouldn’t pass it by without giving a like and even a comment. Something like, “I just love this. O its's so cute”
But the truth is it is fake. It took me less than 30 seconds to produce that. All I had to do was type Badger with cub in woods into the AI program, and I could post it on Facebook, and get hundreds, if not thousands, of likes and comments without even leaving my desk, and you wouldn’t even know I hadn’t spent hours waiting patiently in some freezing woods to get that photo.
So why do people do it? For the reason I have stated, to get likes and comments.
But should we really care how the photo was generated, after all what harm is it doing?
Well yes I think we should care. First, there is the fraudulent side of posts such as these. If you leave a comment or even a like on Facebook, someone can potentially find out details about you, depending on your privacy settings and what information you choose to share on your profile, including your name, location, friends list, and other publicly visible details. Many sites use this information for advertising and unsolicited emails etc.
Secondly, and as far as I am concerned, the most important is the moral side of the argument. As many of you know, I am as passionate about my photography as most photographers. We have spent years learning our craft, and to see AI-generated images and videos portrayed as being real is, to say the least, annoying. Many photographers will spend hours in the freezing cold waiting for the perfect sunrise, and yet someone can sit in front of their computer and generate something straight out of the British Journal of Photography in seconds.
So how can you tell what is real and what isn’t? In truth, without a trained eye, you can’t. There are telltale signs, like photos that are too perfect or things in a photo that look strange, but for most people, you won’t be able to tell. My advice is to be very careful not to like or comment on photos or videos that are not from a reputable source, such as pages that don’t show the name of the photographer. Don’t give them the attention they crave, and maybe, just maybe, we can rid social media of these undesirables. And if you see a photo that you know is genuine from a real photographer, then please do give them a like and a comment. They have put a lot of effort into taking that photo, so it is nice to get some appreciation.
Is there a place for AI in photography?
Yes, there is, but in the right places.
For instance, it is a great tool for generating adverts. Stock images can be expensive to buy for advertising, so for the small business, AI is a great asset to have.
Even on websites, AI can help to get the message across. I have used it on my forthcoming website
“Street Photography North.” I needed an image of a judge to highlight a particular point, and unfortunately I am no longer in touch with one, and so AI came in very handy.
The one thing I would say, however, is that in this context I believe mention should be made that the image was indeed AI-generated, as I have done.
