"Good catch" — that's the phrase Claude uses with me when my thinking runs differently to its own, when I'm more curious than it expected. Lately I've started hearing it in my own head, for reasons that have nothing to do with AI and everything to do with thirty-odd years in commercial photography.
I'm seeing a real tail-off in work and commissions. Is that because no one wants to hire the old guy, or — more likely — because there just isn't the work around at the moment? I know all my clients are hurting, and they're trying to drive costs down wherever they can. I'm no different.
Where does that lead?
When I started out, I worked for a photographer who was considered a "safe pair of hands." He got the job done on time, on budget, on brief. He was never going to set the world on fire, but you knew your photography budget was safe with him.
I think I've become that guy. I have clients who've been brilliant over the years, who keep coming back with work year after year. I've become the safe pair of hands. But I also learned, all those years ago, that keeping momentum with clients takes enthusiasm, curiousity and connection — and that energised the way they approached the work, and the way we built briefs together.
Everything is changing fast now. The onslaught of AI. Cost-cutting that's put in-house photographers under real pressure — shooting stills, video, production, retouching, archiving, expected to know a wide range of software, effectively doing the job of a whole team of creatives with varied experience, all for a salary under £30k.
Half of what little work I've been commissioned this year has been briefed by AI. I get it — there's no time left to sit down, think about what you actually want to achieve, work out what's possible on the budget, and write a decent brief. You're probably already doing two people's jobs because your colleague was made redundant. "Let's just AI it."
I can hear myself chanting "good catch" as I read a brief asking me to get several expressions from the backplate landscape. Copilot hasn't realised yet that backplates don't have emotions.
So where does this lead? Technology has democratised photography — everyone wants to be Photoshopped. It leads to flat, vanilla marketing content. It leads to the creative industries being undervalued. It leads to defined, narrower lanes of creation. There will always be AI'd photography and AI'd briefs now — that genie is out of the bottle. But for those who stay curious, I believe there will still be a level of creativity that holds real value.
To stay curious is to stay self-aware, present, and grounded in what you do and what you make. I don't think AI can give you those human qualities.
Keep your clients curious about what's possible. We should all be aiming for a few more "good catch" moments — because that still means we're putting the work in, and still thinking.
#Photography #ExperienceMatters #AI #Artistry #CreativeVision #ClientFocus #HumanTouch #ProfessionalPhotography #ImageSelection #VisualStorytelling #advertisingphotography #lifestylephotopgraphy