AI-Powered Imagery is Killing Product Photography and I love it.
- Anthony Smart
- Sep 9, 2024
- 3 min read
How Generative AI is Revolutionizing Product Image Creation for Start-Ups and Mid-Size Companies
In the past five years, the landscape of product image creation has dramatically shifted, allowing smaller players to compete with the big leagues without the massive budgets once required. While traditional photoshoots and lifestyle image creation still thrive for larger brands, the power of AI-powered imagery has leveled the playing field, enabling start-ups and mid-size companies to create custom, non-stock images like never before.
And we’re not going back.
A Quick History Lesson From 20 Years in Marketing
Years ago, creating high-quality lifestyle images for your product required a lot of moving parts: booking locations, hiring models, setting up lights and crews, coordinating with photographers, and crossing your fingers that the weather held up. These shoots would take days and cost tens of thousands of dollars. I know because I was that photographer, guarding RAW files with my life.
Fast forward to today: a well-crafted AI image generation prompt, combined with a little Photoshop magic, and I can create professional-grade lifestyle images without even leaving my desk.
How? Generative AI baby.
The Game Changer: AI-Powered Imagery
The power of generative AI is undeniable. I remember hearing Bill Gates talk about AI's "game-changing abilities" years ago, long before the launch of ChatGPT. But I didn’t fully grasp the potential until 2021 when I saw DALL·E in action. It felt like that pivotal moment in 2001: A Space Odyssey—the monkey touching the monolith. The creative field had shifted, and things would never be the same again.
I couldn’t get enough. More time, better image quality, more control—AI gave me all of that and more.
Enter MidJourney: A Breath of Fresh Air for Designers
MidJourney brought even higher quality AI-driven creativity to the table, allowing me to generate stunning product images with just a few keystrokes. With the right text prompts, I could transport my product to any location, under perfect lighting conditions, with beautiful models. What used to be out of reach for smaller brands became not only possible but easy.
Let me show you.
Real Example: Bringing Custom Images to a Start-Up
Take a recent project for a young company (Bug Guard) in need of social media and Amazon product images. Traditionally, a company of their size couldn’t afford a full-scale photoshoot. Their options would have been limited to snapping phone pics of friends using the product or using generic stock photos where the product isn't even shown.
But with AI, the process became much simpler.
Start with the Target Audience: I envisioned a 30-year-old woman at home, spraying the product while holding a plastic bag. I ran through variations of the text prompts, generating different lifestyle scenes until I found one that was about 80% of what I needed.
Enter Photoshop: With the image in place, I used an isolated hero shot of the product that I had previously taken. I matched the lighting in the image—since this was an outdoor scene, I made sure to use sunlight as the main light source for the product photo.
Blending for Realism: This is where artistry comes in. Using Photoshop, I seamlessly blended the AI-generated scene with the product image, ensuring everything looked natural. In just a couple of hours, I had a polished, professional lifestyle image—something that would have taken 20+ hours using traditional methods.
The Future is Here, and It’s Efficient
For start-ups and mid-size companies, the use of AI-powered imagery isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a necessity. Machine learning in design and AI image generation have opened the doors for smaller brands to create professional, customized, and engaging product images at a fraction of the time and cost. This shift in the creative landscape means more control, better results, and less stress.
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