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Description

Photography has always been more about the creative input, rather than the tools used. If only you lived during the advent of digital cameras, you would know how some photographers voiced against them. Now that we look back, it’s only because of the advancements in technology and the passionate techniques developed over the years that have helped photography become such a creative powerhouse of an industry.

Guess what, we stand at the same cliff today. While some might view artificial intelligence tools as a threat to their jobs, true artists discover opportunities. This post discovers how using AI can help streamline commercial photography. When it comes to this genre, creating a mood board is essential for the process. A mood board helps in visually communicating emotions and the message while helping you anchor your ideas. Typically, this process can take up a lot of time, but if we try to be somewhat liberal with our approach, AI can help us achieve a lot. Without further ado, let’s get started.

The Journey from Canva to DALL-E
Before moving to the spotlight of the article, let’s take a stroll down memory lane. It’s 2013, and Canva just released. According to Canva, they are going all out with their design and publishing tools. Surely, this comes as a shock to graphic designers all around the world. Are their jobs in danger? Will the tool automate all designing till kingdom come?

Amusingly, Canva proved and continues to be an amazing tool for beginners and professionals alike. Rather than scourging designing jobs, it provides a canvas to put ideas to practice without extra friction.

Now, fast tracking our journey, we arrive at the dawn of AI tools. You guessed right, it’s 2021, and DALL-E is making waves across the internet. With its mesmerizing creations and stunning designs, will it be the final nail in the coffin of commercial photography? Indeed, DALL-E is an astonishingly beautiful tool. But people seem to forget that after all is said and done, it is a ‘tool’ – a means to an end, just like a camera. The way you use it will determine its place in the grand design of content creation. For us, these tools are excellent at creating mood boards.

Midjourney – Bring Ideas to Life
Unlike some other major tools, Midjourney is a small self-funded, and independent research lab. However, they are still in the beta phase, which means you can expect a continuous stream of new features. To use it, you create a discord account as Midjourney is available through a discord bot. Once the account is up and running, sign up for the beta phase. For now, the basic tier costs $10. Yet, the value it provides to experiment with thoughts is unmatched. From Inspiration to Execution: Using AI as a Mood Board for Commercial Photography .

The Traditional Way
Coming to our topic at hand, commercial photography normally begins with an extensive preparation phase. This is where we create the mood board. However, using traditional tools, a photographer can get attached to the prototype designs too quickly. Or, on the other hand, the time cost can become unbearable. Setting the direction of a photoshoot, combining images provided by the client, and adding inspiring imagery, are only a few steps to creating a mood board.

The Midjourney Way
Now imagine this, you head to a discord server, type “/imagine” and then add any prompt that comes to your mind, and lo and behold, your idea is brought to life. Wouldn’t that simplify the entire prototyping process? Well, hold on. Midjourney does this and even allows you to combine photos with its creations. Despite the limitations in its free package and certain skewness in the results, it does what we need it to do – providing a canvas for experimentation.

Stable Diffusion – Tweak the Designs
Say, you created a design with Midjourney. It’s good overall, but you need to make a minor adjustment. You can either modify your prompt or head to another tool called Stable Diffusion. Unlike Midjourney, it’s open-source, can run locally on your computer, and is completely free. The nature of this project enabled other developers to spin their own models, for instance, you can try DiffusionBee if you are on a Mac.

As we were discussing, you are working on a project. But that one element in the background seems a little off. Bring it to Stable Diffusion, select the portion, give a new prompt, and voila. It will give new life to your mood board. Also, if it seems that this article paints a purely positive image of the tools, that’s because we are hopeful for the future. These tools are not perfect yet, however, they work perfectly to help us create a mood board. Take them as such, and you would not be disappointed.

Google’s Mood Board Search
Here’s an interesting little tool from Google – Mood Board Search. Midjourney and Stable Diffusion allow you to create and tweak a mood board from scratch. Whereas, this tool will help you create new designs from abstract ideas. Provide it with a few images, enter an idea (say ‘serene), and it will generate compositions for you. Learn the Using AI as a Mood Board for Commercial Photography .

Key Takeaways
Photography is the creative output of a curious and innovative mind, and it will always be that. Just a few years ago, commercial photography involved the creation of physical sets for idea generation. Now, it can be done on a computer. Bring your images, add some sound, and you have a basic mood board. What AI intends to do is to take it up a notch. Even before taking some pictures, a simple prompt can help you discover the shoot’s direction.

Use Midjourney to bring your concepts to life, and play with Stable Diffusion to create a pristine mood board. For commercial photographers and filmmakers, these visual tools represent an opportunity of a lifetime. Of course, these tools leave much to be desired, but at least, they can give you a head start. Stay tuned to learn more about AI applications.

Description

Photography has always been more about the creative input, rather than the tools used. If only you lived during the advent of digital cameras, you would know how some photographers voiced against them. Now that we look back, it’s only because of the advancements in technology and the passionate techniques developed over the years that have helped photography become such a creative powerhouse of an industry.

Guess what, we stand at the same cliff today. While some might view artificial intelligence tools as a threat to their jobs, true artists discover opportunities. This post discovers how using AI can help streamline commercial photography. When it comes to this genre, creating a mood board is essential for the process. A mood board helps in visually communicating emotions and the message while helping you anchor your ideas. Typically, this process can take up a lot of time, but if we try to be somewhat liberal with our approach, AI can help us achieve a lot. Without further ado, let’s get started.

The Journey from Canva to DALL-E
Before moving to the spotlight of the article, let’s take a stroll down memory lane. It’s 2013, and Canva just released. According to Canva, they are going all out with their design and publishing tools. Surely, this comes as a shock to graphic designers all around the world. Are their jobs in danger? Will the tool automate all designing till kingdom come?

Amusingly, Canva proved and continues to be an amazing tool for beginners and professionals alike. Rather than scourging designing jobs, it provides a canvas to put ideas to practice without extra friction.

Now, fast tracking our journey, we arrive at the dawn of AI tools. You guessed right, it’s 2021, and DALL-E is making waves across the internet. With its mesmerizing creations and stunning designs, will it be the final nail in the coffin of commercial photography? Indeed, DALL-E is an astonishingly beautiful tool. But people seem to forget that after all is said and done, it is a ‘tool’ – a means to an end, just like a camera. The way you use it will determine its place in the grand design of content creation. For us, these tools are excellent at creating mood boards.

Midjourney – Bring Ideas to Life
Unlike some other major tools, Midjourney is a small self-funded, and independent research lab. However, they are still in the beta phase, which means you can expect a continuous stream of new features. To use it, you create a discord account as Midjourney is available through a discord bot. Once the account is up and running, sign up for the beta phase. For now, the basic tier costs $10. Yet, the value it provides to experiment with thoughts is unmatched. From Inspiration to Execution: Using AI as a Mood Board for Commercial Photography .

The Traditional Way
Coming to our topic at hand, commercial photography normally begins with an extensive preparation phase. This is where we create the mood board. However, using traditional tools, a photographer can get attached to the prototype designs too quickly. Or, on the other hand, the time cost can become unbearable. Setting the direction of a photoshoot, combining images provided by the client, and adding inspiring imagery, are only a few steps to creating a mood board.

The Midjourney Way
Now imagine this, you head to a discord server, type “/imagine” and then add any prompt that comes to your mind, and lo and behold, your idea is brought to life. Wouldn’t that simplify the entire prototyping process? Well, hold on. Midjourney does this and even allows you to combine photos with its creations. Despite the limitations in its free package and certain skewness in the results, it does what we need it to do – providing a canvas for experimentation.

Stable Diffusion – Tweak the Designs
Say, you created a design with Midjourney. It’s good overall, but you need to make a minor adjustment. You can either modify your prompt or head to another tool called Stable Diffusion. Unlike Midjourney, it’s open-source, can run locally on your computer, and is completely free. The nature of this project enabled other developers to spin their own models, for instance, you can try DiffusionBee if you are on a Mac.

As we were discussing, you are working on a project. But that one element in the background seems a little off. Bring it to Stable Diffusion, select the portion, give a new prompt, and voila. It will give new life to your mood board. Also, if it seems that this article paints a purely positive image of the tools, that’s because we are hopeful for the future. These tools are not perfect yet, however, they work perfectly to help us create a mood board. Take them as such, and you would not be disappointed.

Google’s Mood Board Search
Here’s an interesting little tool from Google – Mood Board Search. Midjourney and Stable Diffusion allow you to create and tweak a mood board from scratch. Whereas, this tool will help you create new designs from abstract ideas. Provide it with a few images, enter an idea (say ‘serene), and it will generate compositions for you. Learn the Using AI as a Mood Board for Commercial Photography .

Key Takeaways
Photography is the creative output of a curious and innovative mind, and it will always be that. Just a few years ago, commercial photography involved the creation of physical sets for idea generation. Now, it can be done on a computer. Bring your images, add some sound, and you have a basic mood board. What AI intends to do is to take it up a notch. Even before taking some pictures, a simple prompt can help you discover the shoot’s direction.

Use Midjourney to bring your concepts to life, and play with Stable Diffusion to create a pristine mood board. For commercial photographers and filmmakers, these visual tools represent an opportunity of a lifetime. Of course, these tools leave much to be desired, but at least, they can give you a head start. Stay tuned to learn more about AI applications.