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Our Favorite AI Tools for Photographers · Luxe & Legacy Podcast

Hey friends.
Welcome back to the Lux and Legacy podcast.
This is the show for photographers who want to build a business that feels elevated, intentional, and rooted in a deeper purpose.
We are here to help you create meaningful art, attract aligned clients, and grow a brand that feels luxurious and sustainable.
I'm Marie from Marie Elizabeth Photography.
And I am Amber from Light Live in photography.
If you love learning about artistry, business mindset, creativity, and all the layers that make a photography brand truly stand out, then you're in the right place.
Every week we share honest conversations about what is working in our businesses and what we are still refining.
So you can create your own version of a luxe and legacy driven business.
Mean into something that has been everywhere lately.
That's ai.
It is reshaping how we create, how we work, and even how we communicate with our clients.
And what's wild is that the tools have changed so drastically within the last year, even the last six months.
Yes, and before anyone feels intimidated or nervous about today's topic, it's really about showing.
How AI can support your creativity instead of replacing it.
These tools can give you more time, more clarity, and more freedom so you can pour your energy into the parts of photography you truly love.
I.
Grab your coffee or open up Lightroom and let's dive in.
Okay, so first we're gonna chat about chat, GBT and chat.
GBT is probably one of the most well known forms of ai especially with photographers.
It's definitely one of the most popular ways to incorporate ai and I use it for tons of things, photography related, and otherwise, I am definitely what I would be consider myself a basic chat GBT user.
So I'll have Amber elaborate a little bit more about how she uses it, but basically if I need to reword an email to a client that is.
Tricky.
Like for example, I had a client ask for a discount a few months ago, so I told chat gt what I wanted to say, but I asked chat GT to say in a warm, casual way that sounded natural while still getting my point across, and it helped generate that response.
So those are big, like I've used it for copy and emails, that kind of thing.
But Amber, I would love for you to dive into all the ways you use chat, GBT.
Yes, absolutely.
And I have created a very custom chat, GBT, so it, I feel like it knows me so well, and that's because I've done some specific things to train it that way.
And before I explain how I use chat GBT, I wanna emphasize something that's really important.
Chat GBT is only powerful when you have a strong foundation for your brand and your messaging.
You know your ideal client really well, you know you mission statement, your voice, your values, and you really understand your ideal client.
If those things are not clear, chat, GBT will give you a very generic risk.
That sounds like it came from every photographer's website on the internet.
And this is an actual problem you guys, if you deep dive into the response it gave you.
If you ask it to make a blog on X, Y, Z, you'll actually see links there.
So.
Will, there's like a little thing, you can tell it's a link, people ignore that and they don't click on it and go, oh my God, this is actually pretty much plagiarizing from somebody else's blog.
And that is a big problem.
You never wanna plagiarize.
That's gonna bring your.
energy of your business down, it's not authentic, and your business really grows from being authentically who you are.
So I want you guys to realize that you can take the time to define who you are as an artist.
Who you serve and then input that into chat GBT and tell chat GBT to use that information in every bit of messaging, emails, content that it creates for you.
And then that way it's amplify, amplifying your own voice and not just copying someone else's.
It becomes an extension of your brand.
you feed chat, bt your tone, your purpose, your aesthetic, and ideal client details, it begins creating messaging that feels aligned, recognizable, and deeply tailored.
And this is key you guys.
So I do use chat GBT all the time at the center of my messaging.
I write one core message that holds the emotional intention behind what I wanna say.
Then I ask Chacha PT to repurpose it across different platforms so you can create Instagram captions and blog posts and Pinterest posts, all from the same little piece of what you intended behind the message for your ideal client.
get them to then convert, whether that's for photographers that would be wanting people to book or buy high-end artwork and albums, that sort of sort of thing.
For Instagram, it can write long captions that feel warm, connected, along with short attention grabbing hooks for reels for email.
It writes deeper, more intimate content that actually understands me.
It remembers my story, things that I've input into it.
It helps my ideal clients feel seen and supported.
For Pinterest, which I need to get back on the wagon for Pinterest because I love Pinterest.
But yeah, it's something that sometimes takes a back burner, but it's really helpful.
If you can start incorporating that into your content.
So for Pinterest, it creates keyword rich descriptions that help me reach mothers searching for elegant outfits, natural light sessions, or luxury family photography for blogs, it outline lines, topics that answer real questions.
Real frequently asked questions by my clients that way.
Are already feeling like they've had their, their obstacles removed before they even reach out.
Things like styling kids in a way that feels timeless or bringing out really natural, beautiful, authentic smiles and how to really have fun during their sessions.
So all these things help clients feel like they know, like, and trust me.
And they boost SEO building that trust.
Okay.
And then for sales pages, it's really important that your sales page, like your investment page with your pricing and whatnot, doesn't just say your pricing.
We've talked about this before, that it really needs to help your clients know, like, and trust you.
And that'd be a little bit more fleshed out.
So if this was the one place your clients went the only place, and they give you like or three seconds to decide if they're gonna continue on with you.
You need to make sure it's really good and not only are the images powerful, the most powerful ones from your portfolio, but it's also speaking directly to their heartstrings.
As a mama, if you're a motherhood photographer if you're a wedding photographer, whatever type of photographer, it needs to speak to that direct client.
That is also great, and I feel like the big takeaway from that, Amber, is how you train chat GBT and the direction the questions you provide, so you're able to use it to its full potential and it's not some, you know, generic.
Response so it sounds true to you and your brand.
It's definitely on my to-do list this slow season to dive a little bit more into chat GBT and really fine tune it for my brand.
So next we're gonna talk about editing a big time sucker for photographers.
And in the past year, I have begun to use a couple tools that I am obsessed with.
The first is imagine.
I have used a few different editors over the years, and with each and every one, I wasn't quite happy.
So before I continue, imagine is editing ai so it will edit.
It can also call all of your photos for you.
And making tweaks is normal with editing.
But I found that when I was using an editor, I had to make.
Too many tweaks with Imagine I barely make any tweaks at all.
It has my profile so tuned in now, and what's great is that you can keep feeding it your recent edits that it already provided you.
So any tweaks you made to catalogs edit for you, you re-upload them.
So your profile is getting more and more fine tuned and stronger.
Now to get started with Imagine ai, I think you need about 3000 raw files for the software to read, and then it creates a profile.
Based off your edits, you'll re-upload each catalog or gallery you have at edit.
Once you make any tweaks to it and every 3000 images, it will refine your profile.
You can also make different profiles for different settings if you'd like to.
So, for example, you could make a studio profile for indoor studio sessions and an outdoor profile for all of your outdoor sessions.
If you shoot with different film stocks, you could also make a different profile for each film stock.
So for example, you could have a Portrait 800 profile and a Fuji 400 profile.
I currently.
Just have one profile I use for all my sessions, outdoor and indoor.
And that's because I use the archetype process editing profiles, and I only use one profile primarily.
And so imagine does a great job with both my indoor and outdoor sessions, however.
If you are using, let's say, refined for indoors and tap for outdoors, then it would be in your best than just to do two different profiles.
I also recently started using Portrait 800 from the Yellow Pack for a few sessions, so I'm working on creating a new profile for them.
Then the best thing is imagine it's only 5 cents per photo, which is insane.
It literally gets the edits closer than an editor would, significantly cheaper, and it has them done within about 15 or 20 minutes.
So once I upload the files to imagine, I usually will go and grab a cup of coffee or a snack, and when I come back, they're completely.
Done so it can greatly increase your turnaround time, and it truly just saves an enormous amount of time in my business.
That's so awesome and because of you, I went back and tried Imagine again because a couple years ago they actually reached out to me and asked me to try it and, and.
Sell my profile on there and I tried it and it could not get the edits right, like it looked orangey and contrasty and I was like, no, this isn't gonna work for me.
I'm so picky about my, my photo, my editing.
Fast forward to a while later, after shoot reached out to me and wanted me to use theirs.
So I tried theirs and.
that one didn't work with the background masks that I use, it was like they said, well, we don't, we don't really learn from the tone curves or the background masks.
So I'm like, well, that won't work for me because I strongly use tone curves and background masks.
Mm-hmm.
later when Marie told me she has so much success with Imagine now, I tried it again.
And it did work way better this time.
I don't know if they made some major updates and it's a lot better.
It does have a spot now where I can.
Make sure that the background mask is set to a certain amount, which I'm pretty consistent about.
My background masks being one number.
and this is with my custom presets, I should say, and those come with my courses.
But I'm very picky about using my own custom presets, and it has been really speeding things up for me, but it's not perfect yet.
I need to.
Do the uploads and the updates to refine it a little bit more.
I'm still having to go in and make, especially I've noticed in the studio, because I probably have way less studio examples for it to pull from than you know, my outdoor sessions is.
I only recently got a studio and very rarely did indoor shoots before that.
So I'm noticing like the morning light sessions, it's doing really well.
looks great.
Almost no refinement.
And then the afternoon ones I've noticed is like not right.
The highlights are way too far down.
The, the white balance is way too cool.
It just doesn't look quite right.
So I have to refine that.
But I think over time I'm really, really gonna love it.
And I will say I do wish it was a little bit easier to set up.
I did.
I'm not a techie person.
I usually hire people to do backends.
Linking things and all that good stuff.
I did have to get on a call with them and go over, 'cause yeah, it's a long story, but I had to have them help me set it up.
Whereas other things like Voto, which we're gonna talk about is so easy and user friendly, like you can just start using it immediately.
But with imagine.
It is speeding things up for me a lot.
This week I had a major, I think I have a virus on my computer.
You guys, it's, it is.
In 10 years I've never had anything like this happen where all my images like unsynced from my external hard drive, and it's been a nightmare.
Anyway, imagine has saved me because I had 700 photos from my studio, holiday mini sessions that I was delivering, and I was just about to deliver them and everything.
Got.
Unsynced from my external and, and it would not work.
So it has been helping me speed up the process a lot, but I am still having to go in and tweak and refine individual image right now.
So it's not quite as exceptional as for Marie.
It sounds like it's working like a dream.
But I think it'll get there and I'm really glad that I've finally started using it and incorporating it in my business.
'cause I know that it's gonna really save me a lot of time.
Yeah, saving time is is huge.
Now Amber mentioned Voto and that's what we're gonna talk about next.
And I am a recent Voto user.
It basically can do a lot of.
Intricate kind of like Photoshop edits.
Using AI quickly, it can elevate your images and just basically take care of editing issues that used to either take ages to manually fix or.
Costs a lot to outsource.
So for newborn sessions, I almost always use the acne remover, infant blemish remover, and skin evening tools.
These help make a baby's skin clear, smooth, and evenly toned.
Before Voto, I had to go into either Lightroom or Photoshop and individually clone or heel each pimple for every photo, which was such a time suck.
With a photo, I literally apply this preset, or action, I forget what they're called, and it can have it synced with every photo in the gallery in seconds.
The second most popular feature I use is the double chin remover for both moms and dads.
With young kids, it's common for parents to be looking down and the double chin remover is fantastic.
It naturally removes the double chin like I think it.
Looks better than some professional edits I've had.
For moms, I also will remove flyaways and hair frizz.
I recently had a session that took place right after a rainy night, and it was incredibly humid outside.
Mom's hair was super frizzy and Voto literally removed not only like the frizzy hair on the outline of her head, but also like the frizz on the hair, which was always like the really hard part before in Photoshop.
You can also add things like hairs shine.
It's wild.
And the last major thing I'll do is add a little catch light in the eyes.
It really makes the eye pop and just elevates the look of the image so much.
There are some other little things you can do like remove wrinkles and hand veins.
But Amber, I know you use a lot of neat makeup features in Voto, right? A little bit.
Yeah, there.
And I do wanna say that.
first of all, it's so user friendly.
If you're not using it, definitely try that one today.
If there's something you can quickly use to speed up your editing, this would be like download it.
You can use it right away.
It's so easy.
But I have to be honest, I think I went a little overboard with it first because you're like, oh my gosh.
Like you can enhance the lipstick, you can enhance the eyelashes, and there's these different options for making this.
Skin dewy or smooth and all these things.
And do think at first I maybe went like a little too heavy on it 'cause I was like really excited about it.
And then when I kind of looked at the images again, I was like, okay, we need to dial it back.
And now I have decided like what are my favorite features? Which ones look a little bit unnatural? So that one where I was talking about where the skin enhancers, the option where you can hit dewy skin, matte skin, blah, blah.
I'd leave that on none because.
does kind of make the skin look a little bit like a filter on it if you're not careful.
So I've decided let's not use that one.
Because really my brand has been all along about not changing someone, but enhancing their natural beauty.
I don't want someone to be like, oh, wow, that doesn't look like me.
But I also want them to say, wow, I look really good.
So it's a fine line to balance, right? We wanna elevate their natural beauty that's already there.
I, I've been using it more sparingly, but my favorite thing about it is, like Marie mentioned, you can create a preset.
So I pretty much create a new preset, quote unquote, for each client because they have different.
Things like maybe this client needs a little bit more of the double chin, remover.
And this client, the husband, has really dark circles under his eyes, so we need to add that feature in where it reduces dark circles and wrinkles under the eyes, which I love that feature.
And the D wrinkle, the clothing might be a little more or less depending on the session of course, and how wrinkly their clothes are.
So what I'll do is I'll say.
Say my client, Chloe I'll create that, name it, that client, and then you can sync it to all the images.
So you can finish all your edits in Lightroom, it to all those images, and then in five minutes have them back in your Lightroom.
And then you do need to go through 'em and check them.
The stray hair remover.
I love it, but.
On some of them.
It's not perfect yet.
I, I need to see if maybe there's another update, but it, it is a little broken sometimes.
Have you noticed that? Where sometimes it'll be like, mostly better, but there's like broken edges where it's not right and you still have to take it into Photoshop and fix it a little bit.
So it's a, it is a lifesaver though.
I had a session this summer that was.
only day we could not change the date 'cause she flew in just for the shoot.
It was, you know, we had a lavender Resa reservation at a lavender farm and it was, I, I swear to God, you guys, 90 miles per hour wind like a tornado wind.
And I opened my diffuser and I actually got knocked over onto the ground.
It was that Ugh.
the wind.
And that's not common here for us in Northern California unless you're on the beach.
And her hair and her daughter's hair were wild, and it was a bad wild.
But when I did the Voto stray hair remover, it became a good wild.
So of course, you can't completely make the hair look like it's not in the wind, but it looked so much better.
She was so thrilled with the images.
She's like, oh my God, I thought it was gonna be a nightmare with like, my hair was gonna be a nightmare with the wind, and you made it look really good.
So I was like, oh, good.
I didn't have to outsource all of those to my Photoshop person and pay more than $2 per image to fix each one of those images.
And this is like Maria said, so much cheaper and faster.
And then the touchups in Photoshop take a lot less time.
Like Marie said with newborn sessions, oh my gosh.
That's one of the reasons kind of avoided newborn sessions for a long time.
All the skin touching up with the baby acne, and this is just.
dream there is an actual baby acne removal button and it works so well.
I will have to say, I was adding in also like the skin smoothing one, and I realized, okay, that looks a little, and at first I thought it looked really great and then later I looked back on it and I'm like, that was a little too much.
So.
You get used to it and like what works for you, what looks a little fake, and you start to develop your style and how you want to make your clients look and feel their best.
Yeah, for sure.
And Amber and I have been learning so much about, you know, these different.
Programs and kind of figuring out what works for us.
And what's crazy is that like in six months time, I bet they'll work even better.
And who knows? AI is growing at just a wild rate.
So there's probably gonna be new stuff for us to be talking about six months to a year from now.
Definitely.
so that wraps up today's conversation.
Hopefully this gives you a clear picture of how AI can actually support your creativity instead of replacing it.
These tools can save time, reduce burnout, and help you show up with more intention and clarity.
Whether you are brainstorming with chat, GBT speeding up edits with imaging or adding beautiful refinement with Evo O, the goal is the same.
More space for creativity, more presence with your clients, and more energy for the parts of your business that matter the most.
You enjoyed this episode, we would love if you shared it or left a review.
Right now, both Amber and I have huge Black Friday sales, so all three of my courses, my posing course, my artwork course, my client experience course, each of those is 200 off.
And we'll link everything in the show notes and you can come find us on Instagram.
I am@marie.elizabeth.photo.
Yes, and send us a DM.
I am light.
Live in.
photography.
Please send us a DM and ask us questions.
Give us ideas for what you'd like to hear on next episodes.
We love hearing your thoughts and if this episode impacted you and my Black Friday ex.
Exclusive bundle is open now as well.
It includes my light live in transformation course, which is my full formula for how I shoot in cam in camera accurately with beautiful light white balance exposure.
Editing everything and the playful posing course, which goes over all my authentic posing ideas.
My style guide and my contract templates are all included in this one amazing bundle bundle, and it's the only time of the year that all these resources are offered together and it creates the foundation for consistent high-end work.
The link with the full details will be in the show notes.
Yeah, and as Amber said, don't hesitate to reach out to any of us, and it's a dm.
Let us know what you think, what you'd like to hear, and if you're ready for deeper education, more confidence, more consistency, and a brand that feels aligned and elevated now is the perfect time.
We cannot wait to see what you guys create.
Thanks for listening and here's to creating with intention and building a business you love.
Bye.
Bye.