Bird Photography and AI
I’ll admit, Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) is a bit of a boogeyman - you know its out there, and you are scared of the horrible issues that it might create in the future. Anyone who watched Terminator as a kid in the 80’s knows that its only a matter of time before Skynet decides we humans are all a pain in the ass and wipes us out entirely.
Skynet is watching.
Many artists have concerns that AI might replace the human touch and creativity someday, and I think to some extent that concern is valid. I myself have said on several occasions that “AI art” isn’t really art, especially “AI photography”.
That said, AI can be a useful tool. I’ve been using several applications over the last 2 years that incorporate some form of AI in how they operate, and have found that if used properly it can be a great tool to have in your photography toolbox. Let’s dive into the ways that AI can help with editing bird photographs.
Noise Reduction and Sharpening
I’ve been using On1’s “No Noise” program for a few years now, and its is an excellent tool for removing noise and enhancing feather detail. Recently Adobe added a DeNoise feature to Lightroom, and I’ve been using that as well. In some cases No Noise works better, and in some cases DeNoise is the way to go. Both utilize AI and algorithms to enhance the image.
Warbling Vireo
The photo above was shot at ISO 2200. The morning light was soft and in order to get a shutter speed fast enough to freeze the action of the Warbling Vireo bouncing about in the tree, the Auto ISO was creeping up there. You’d never know it was shot at that high of an ISO by looking at the finished image. In this instance, I ended up using Lightroom’s DeNoise feature plus a little subject sharpening, as it did a slightly better job than No Noise, especially in the greens of the background. Compare the 100% zooms below.
I’ve found that On1’s No Noise is my preferred method for any photos that are below ISO 2000, because it does a decent job and the built in sharpening and detail enhancing is nice to have all in one application. Anything above that, I’ve found that Lightrooms DeNoise does a much better job - but at the expense of speed (it is SLOW) and also you have to then sharpen afterwards.
What about REALLY high ISO’s, you ask?
Blue Grey Gnatcatcher - shot at f/5.6, 1/250th, ISO 12,800
The above Gnatcatcher image was shot at ISO 12,800. Yes. 12,800. The sun had not really made it above the trees on the opposite side of the lake when this was shot just before 7am. I was shooting at only 1/250th, hoping that was fast enough for when the bird stopped moving - while trying to keep the auto ISO as low as I could. Obviously this isn’t ideal, but I took a few shots like these that morning just to prove the point that if you have to take the shot, and do the best that you can in the field, there’s a chance that post-processing with AI tools can help save the day. 100% zoomed in images are below, showing the difference before and after noise reduction with Lightroom’s DeNoise feature.
Removing Distracting Elements
Photoshop’s Generative AI Fill has been a gamechanger for removing distracting elements from my bird images. In the past I’ve just used content aware fill, or did some creative work in layers in an attempt to remove bits that otherwise took away from an image. Now the Generative AI Fill feature does it with lightning speed and accuracy.
Gnatcatcher Perched on a Branch
The Gnatcatcher image above was processed thru No Noise to remove any background noise and add sharpening, and then I imported it into Photoshop to remove distractions with Generative AI Fill. The original is below:
All this stuff has got to go!
Fixing Background Issues
When teaching others about bird photography, one of the best tips I offer is to “pay attention to your backgrounds”. If taking a step or two to the side improves what’s behind the bird, its worth doing. Most of the time I am visualizing where I want the bird to be and try to put myself into position to get the cleanest background.
But that’s not always possible.
The Warbling Vireo image above seemed fine when I took it, but when editing I just did not like the light foliage in the lower left corner and the brown of the tree bark on the right. A few moments of Generative AI Fill work in Photoshop took care of that for me. AI to the rescue.
The original image of the Yellow Rumped Warbler was just fine, but the distracting vertical elements of the branches in the background bugged me. A few moments of Generative AI Fill and they were gone.
The image of the Palm Warbler above would have been a throw-away for me. I made the rookie mistake of getting a tree in 2/3 of the background, and then when I tried to move left to get just the sky the bird took off. Using Generative AI Fill on the sky area made the background much more uniform and ultimately saved the image.
As you can see from the few examples I posted above, using AI-driven editing software to enhance your bird photography can be another tool in your photography toolbox. Of course from an ethical standpoint, if you are entering your images in a photo competition, you would need to disclose that you used AI to edit your image, especially the Palm Warbler image above where I replaced 1/3 of the background. In some instances such editing would not even be permitted in a competition.
Are you currently using AI-driven software to edit and enhance your bird images? Why or why not?
Please feel free to comment below or drop me a line.
And as always, thanks for reading!
Jeremy
