AI in your photo workflow, where it works and where it doesn't
Two years ago, AI tools for photographers were mostly something to argue about. Now, in 2026, they are in your camera, in your editing software, in your website and in your accounting. Some photographers embrace them, others pretend they don't exist. Both are a missed opportunity, because the smart move is learning where AI genuinely helps you and where it actually weakens your work.
This article takes an honest look at what AI can do in 2026, which parts of your workflow it makes a difference in, and where you are better off trusting your own eye. I wrote earlier about my first experiences with AI in photography and how I look at it now. This article takes a more practical angle: what do you actually do with it, today, in your own work.
What AI does well by now
The biggest leap of the past few years is in the boring tasks. The work nobody enjoys, and that used to eat up a lot of time. Culling, for example. After a shoot of six hundred photos, picking the best hundred is now a matter of setting filters in any editing software and letting the AI show you the choices you probably would have made yourself. You keep the final say, but the groundwork is done in five minutes instead of an hour.
Noise reduction and sharpening are another example. Topaz Photo AI, DxO PureRAW, the built-in tools in Lightroom and Capture One now pull detail out of files you would have simply discarded a few years ago. Photos shot at high ISO or in poor lighting get a second chance. Masking backgrounds, retouching body parts, filling in empty areas, that kind of precision work is done by AI in seconds these days.
For portrait photographers who shoot high volume, for product photographers, for anyone who works a lot with composites, it genuinely saves hours per week. And on the business side: writing assignment briefs, drafting contracts, composing emails, coming up with social media captions. A solid prompt and a couple of editing rounds produce texts that used to take you an hour.
Where AI flattens your work
But then there is the other side. Because the more convenient the tools become, the more often you come across photos that all look the same. A kind of hyper-sharp, hyper-bright, hyper-colourful image where you can no longer tell who made it. AI presets and automatic edits lead to an average, and average does not stand out. That is the risk of leaning too heavily on the smart buttons. Your work becomes predictable. It loses its signature. And in a time when everyone is working with the same tools, your signature is precisely what gives your work value.
Generative AI, creating images from nothing, is a separate chapter. For concepts and mood boards it is useful. For publication as a photo of a real place or person, it is deceptive and legally dangerous. A client who discovers that the skyline on his brochure does not exist is no longer a client.
A workable middle ground
A few starting points that work for many photographers in 2026. Use AI for the boring tasks, not the creative ones. Culling, noise reduction, masking, basic corrections: let the software save you time. The look of your photo, the tone, the choices that make your work recognisable, those you handle yourself. Always go over AI presets and automatic settings manually. An AI preset is a starting point, not a final destination. Adjust it to the photo, not the other way around.
Be honest about what AI has done. Especially with commercial work and with journalistic or documentary photos. Clients and viewers appreciate transparency more than a fake-natural result. Invest in your eye. A good AI does not sharpen your eye. Workshops, feedback on your work, looking back at your portfolio from three years ago, those are the things that make you a better photographer. The tools are a supplement, not a replacement.
And the future
What is going to change in the coming years is mainly how deeply AI sits inside your camera. Cameras that suggest settings based on what they see, that pre-sort photos during the shoot, that warn you when an important moment is about to be missed. Some brands are already close to that.
What is not going to change is that the photo that moves people is made by someone who looks, feels and chooses. AI can help you get to that photo faster. Not make that photo for you.
If you want a quick tool to find the right camera settings for a specific situation, the camera settings advisor is available at apps.michielheijmans.com. You fill in what you are going to photograph and you get a recommendation. Not a replacement for your own experience, but a good starting point.