My career spans almost two decades now in the photography industry, and I have captured many beautiful moments through my lens and created stunning wedding portraits. I have also been given the front seat to many other photographers and their business as a Photography Coach and Educator. I have witnessed how digital photography and editing techniques evolved at an unreal pace—from the simplest editing software used early on like Pic Monkey ( yes, I used to use that) to the sophisticated AI-driven ones used today. I will say, having Imagen in my editing workflow has changed the game.

The craft of being a photographer has indeed changed dramatically and sometimes I laugh when I see how much film has made a come back for example- our industry is always changing, learning and adapting. One of the most impressive and my most favourite advancements I’ve experienced is Imagen.In this article, I’ll explain why Imagen has completely changed how I have edited images but also why I’m so passionate about it.

The Time-Consuming Reality of Photo Editing

Before getting into what really sets Imagen apart, let’s take a step back and first understand the role of editing wedding photography. Many wedding photographers report that they’ve to spend more than half of their working hours on editing alone. For any person involved in our line of work, that is really intimidating and laboriousᅳvery time-consumingᅳwhich sometimes eats into time that might be better used on other core parts of the job or personal life.

What if I told you that you don’t have to? Imagine being able to edit an entire wedding’s worth of photos while sipping a cup of coffee. Sounds a bit like a dream, doesn’t it? But for me and so many of my coaching clients, Imagen has turned this into reality.

As a Photography Coach, I love recommending Imagen knowing that my clients have more time on their hands to put my advice into action in their marketing strategies or build out passive income sources in their business.

The Rise of AI in Photography

Artificial intelligence has been revolutionizing every industry, and photography certainly is no exception. The AI-powered editing tools have been integrated gradually to offer features such as automatic detection of the subject, sky replacement, and even the generation of an entire image.

But a lot of these early AI features felt a bit gimmicky and didn’t meet the high standards that me and my photography coaching clients expect. This initial skepticism made many of us, including myself, wary of fully adopting AI in our editing processes. Boy, was I hesitant of AI when it first starting becoming an every day word in our industry.

Join Imagen AI: A Game-Changing Solution

Imagen is the breakthrough in AI-assisted photo editing. Unlike some predecessors, Imagen is solution-minded to make life easier for professional wedding photographers. They think about the entire workflow from start to finish for not only wedding photographers but all photographers alike with their new real estate features, skin smoothing, portrait cropping for school photographer, background masking and more. They truly think of everything!

What is Imagen AI?

Imagen AI is an AI-based editing software with capabilities that go far beyond basic adjustments. 

Here’s what it can do:

• White balance and color correct images.
• Adjust exposures and tone sliders.
• Crop images.
• Straighten Images
• Skin Smoothing
• Perform subject selection.
• Cull images.

The most impressive feature of Imagen is that it can mimic any editing style by analyzing thousands of your previously edited images to create a personalized editing profile. As you refine the AI-edited images, it continues to learn and adapt, perfecting its ability to match your unique style and speed up your editing workflow.

How Imagen AI Works

Getting started with Imagen is straightforward:

• Sign up for a free trial (you can get 1,500 free trial edits to start).
• Choose between creating a custom profile based on your past edits, selecting a “talent AI profile” created by other photographers or try a Lite Profile out where you get started by uploading your fav preset.
• Create a new project and upload your images for the AI to edit.

The speed at which Imagen AI works is mind-blowing. It can edit images at a pace of 0.33 seconds per image. To put this in perspective, a gallery of 1000 images takes only five and a half minutes to edit. Once the Imagen robot finishes, you can download the edits and begin a quality check in Lightroom.

Practical Applications in My Workflow

Integrating Imagen AI into my workflow has been transformative. Here’s what my editing process looks like now:

1. Initial Culling: I still prefer to do this manually to ensure I select the most emotionally resonant and technically sound images.
2. Bulk Processing with Imagen AI: I run the selected images through Imagen AI, which applies my base style to hundreds of photos in minutes.
3. Review and Fine-tuning: This typically takes me 10-20 minutes max. I’ve found that nearly 80% of all images edited by the AI need no adjustment at all. Of the remaining 20%, most need only minor tweaking, such as a small re-crop or slight exposure adjustment.
4. Creative Edits: With the bulk editing done, I can focus on creative edits for key images, especially from sunset sessions and couple’s portraits that require more artistic attention.
5. Final Review and Delivery: After a final review to ensure consistency and quality across the entire set, the images are ready for delivery to the client.

All in all, an event that used to take days to edit now takes me around 30 minutes from start to finish once the culling is done. It’s truly mind-blowing.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Having Imagen In My Editing Workflow

What Imagen AI Excels At

Imagen shines in several areas:

• Color correction and color grading.
• Exposure and tone adjustments.
• Cropping to match your typical style.
• Consistency across large sets of images.
• Adaptability to different photography styles and scenarios.

This AI editing tool has shown outstanding adaptability in all sorts of settings from an outdoor wedding under bright sunlight to a dimly lit indoor ceremony. It really gets the feel of every image and knows what to adjust accordingly, whether working on a high-contrast outdoor scene or a low-light indoor shot.

The Impact on My Business

Using Imagen for an entire wedding season has made a big difference in my life as a wedding photographer:

1. Increased Productivity: Editing used to take up all my time. Now, with Imagen AI, it feels like part-time work. I can take on more clients and bigger projects without losing quality or getting burned out.
2. Faster Turnaround Times: My clients are absolutely surprised by how fast I can deliver photos to them without compromising on quality, which actually increased the satisfaction rate and more referrals.
3. Competitive Edge: In a busy market, delivering high-quality photos fast helps me stand out. I can do more kinds of projects and grow my client base.
4. More Time for Creativity:I have more time to try new things, learn new skills, and focus on the creative side of wedding photography.
5. Improved Work-Life Balance: I now have more time each week for my family and hobbies.
6. Cost Efficiency: Outsourcing used to cost me $0.50 per photo. With Imagen, it’s only $0.05 per image. This saves me and my clients thousands of dollars a year.

Pricing and Value

Imagen’s pricing structure is extremely affordable, especially compared to traditional outsourcing:

• Basic rate: $0.05 per photo
• Additional features (cropping, straightening, subject selection): $0.01 per item per photo
• Annual plans available with discounts:
  • Up to 18K images/year: 10% off
  • Up to 36K images/year: 15% off
  • Up to 72K images/year: 20% off

These plans offer significant savings, making Imagen AI an excellent investment for professional wedding photographers.

Ethical Considerations and Transparency

When using AI like Imagen in wedding editing workflow, ethical considerations are crucial. I prioritize transparency with clients about my AI-assisted workflow. Most find it intriguing and appreciate the enhanced quality. It’s important to keep in mind that AI supplements do not replace human creativity. The artistic vision, ability to capture meaningful moments, and final creative decisions remain the photographer’s domain. Imagen AI is a tool to enhance, not overshadow, the photographer’s skill and artistry.

Looking to the Future

AI will continue to evolve into a powerful assistant, enabling photographers to focus on these core elements of our craft, while also creating flexibility and free time so that photographers can focus on their client experience, creating passive income in their business or just spending time with their loved ones. The future promises opportunities, allowing us to concentrate on the heart of our art.

As a photography educator, I believe that Imagen AI has revolutionized my editing workflow. It perfectly captures my style while saving time and maintaining quality across various wedding photography scenarios. For pros seeking to streamline their process without losing their unique touch, Imagen AI is a game-changer. It boosts productivity, ensures consistent, high-quality work, and allows focus on creative passions.

In this tech-driven era, embracing tools like Imagen could be key to staying competitive and pushing creative boundaries. It’s worth exploring for anyone looking to enhance their craft and adding Imagen in My Editing Workflow or streamline their workflow. Curious? Start with 1500 free edits. From my experience, you won’t regret giving it a try. Imagen AI might just be the secret to staying ahead in our ever-evolving field.