Using AI to Make Composites : Firefly, MidJourney & Generative Fill in Photoshop Beta

[@waynedennyphoto]

That's an insane amount of knowledge you just dropped. Really enjoyed seeing your post process. Too many people think that things can be done in one click, but that just gives you a really solid foundation. It's all of the little touches at the end that really bring this to the next level.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks Wayne! I’m glad you enjoyed it! I looked at some composite images I did 8 years ago and I just want to do them over again. But maybe I’ll wait another year for better ai images.

[@emergecreative_]

You’re not lying haha

[@letsgoletsgoletsgoletsgoletsgo]

as a pro photographer for the past 20 years , i am very impressed by him dropping details like why turned certain lights away... why he started out with a clamshell and evolved into just a single light for the front.

[@the_ah_photo]

You're an amazing educator. Such composure, efficiency and awareness while you're delivering all this incredible knowledge. Thank you! It would be awesome that clients could watch this so they understood how much goes into professional photography.

[@JohnGress]

Wow, thank you!

[@mcdigitalvision2630]

This right here is why I go to KZbin. No matter how much I think I know, someone does it better. Nice work.

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much! We can all learn from each other.

[@RafiBarides]

very very very well done. Great video

[@JohnGress]

Thank you very very very much!

[@harrisongould9460]

I have been a photographer for close to 45 years and love the direction it's going. I do miss the sound of my Pentax 67 but also relish in the silent shooting of my R6...it's all good. I admirer the tenacity with how you embraced the direction we're going with AI. I look forward to finding my niche with the same subject. FYI...each one of your chapters could be two hours class at RIT.

[@JohnGress]

Ha! Thanks for your kind words and I appreciate how we share the same world view. Someone commented on here yesterday, "I heard the word AI and I closed the video." Well as we both know, change is coming whether we like it or not! I started just at the end of the film era, and it seems like there was B&W, then color, then 35mm, then digital and now whatever this is going to be.

[@janisbalcuns89]

Thanks for your time :) Wonderfull job here .. i will deffenitly try out firefly ... thanks for inspiration ;) Liked

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much! My pleasure 😊

[@EvotoAI]

Wow, this video is really well done. I didn't realize how much effort you put into editing just one photo, and I'm amazed by the creative possibilities that can be achieved using artificial intelligence. I sincerely appreciate your work, and you truly are a very professional and passionate teacher. I would love to learn from you, whether it's about shooting techniques or post-processing strategies.

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much!

[@sbraudrick]

I was ready to jump in and say "Nooooooo! Not you John! Not the guy with all the cool props, NOT AI" Then I saw your process in creating the images for the purpose... props, my friend!

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much! The props can stick around too, but the AI can fix my mistakes =P

[@GeoGlock]

This was amazing. Learned a lot. Thank you! Just one thing: Not to be that guy, but clicking the "Create new fill or adjustment layer" button on the bottom of the layers panel and then "Solid color" would help you avoid having to paint in your solid color layers. Thanks again!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks for the info! Now i learned something new.

[@JM-ve4tw]

This is by far one of the best tutorials I have seen in a long time! Thank you so much for sharing.

[@JohnGress]

Wow, thank you!

[@bala1000mina]

Very rich in information, thank you so much John for the great tutorial! I learnt a lot! God bless and good luck!

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much. Glad it was helpful!

[@bala1000mina]

@@JohnGress You're most welcome Dear John!

[@vonpotatostein]

Beautiful photos!!!! thanks for sharing the process with us!!!! One thing to consider John: Midjourney, like Dall-E and Stable Diffusion, have been trained with images without the consent of their authors (they took all the images from the net they could and fed them to the "AI") Adobe Firefly on the other hand has been trained with images with the consent from the authors. I say this because using Dall-E, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion is in itself an ethical problem (stolen photos used to feed the AIs) Each person will have to decide if they are OK or not using these services, in my case I won't.

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Totally agree as a stock photographer

[@ThisIsOurRetirement]

Totally agree as a stock photographer, it’s not just the image but the description and keywords the A.I. have taken, which takes us quite a bit of time to research and upload.

[@adrianvanleeuwen]

Excellent demo and tutorial on photo merging with Firefly generated backgrounds. I definitely have to give this a try!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

[@artandadventurerv]

OMG John you are brilliant. This looks incredible!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks so much Paige! You are too kind!

[@chriscaselli7465]

Love learning how to embrace the AI. I hope you share more videos on this technology. I really appreciate learning your PS techniques too. I am your newest biggest fan!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! That is great to hear. I will have more soon.

[@thanhhuuvu2617]

John, this is amazing. an immense amount of knowledge that I just absorbed and might need to replay this over and over again :D

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

[@dannyfisher3641]

some great stuff in here thanks :) For that grain layer, for speed you can hold option when you click on new layer, set it to soft light/overlay & click the box that says fill with neutral colour. :)

[@JohnGress]

Thanks for the tip!

[@bySterling]

Amazing! And I didn’t know about Neural Super Zoom, fantastic for upscaling our MidJourney images 🎉

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

[@Chickboom34]

wow. tons of great stuff! have to watch this one more than once. thanks for sharing!

[@JohnGress]

Awesome, thank you!

[@EliInfante]

Great video John! I learned a lot.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks Eli! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@RafaelOrtizPhotography]

Wow that was a lot to digest. The end result is worth it. Practice makes perfect.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks Radael! It's like there is a whole new world of possibilities out there!

[@triercherry]

Thanks for sharing your process. Definitely my go to tutorial for creating realistic AI images. So well done.

[@JohnGress]

Awesome, thank you! I am sure it will only get better with time.

[@FirstLast-il6ok]

This is incredible and so well explained. Learned some new tricks in photoshop as well. Thank you!

[@JohnGress]

Great to hear it! Thank you!

[@_HMCB_]

A masterclass. Wow. I’d forgotten about your channel and am so glad KZbin suggested this video. Thank you!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Welcome back!

[@jasonblake5576]

OMG, that was amazing! Now I'm gonna to watch again 10x to understand fully.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

[@TheNaturaltay]

Thank you for sharing. The information is so using as I am learning all of this! Thanks for sharing so of the "why's". That is key for me!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

[@davidlogan5267]

Of all your video tutorials, this may be the zenith, great job. Gotta come by with my combo strobe/continuous Rotolight Aeos Pro 2…hard to believe but zero re-cycle time among other incredible features.

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much David! It makes me really happy to see this video do well. A friend of mine has a pair.

[@nemocreativestudio]

You're so calm, John I appreciate sharing this with us. Subscribed

[@JohnGress]

Thanks for subscribing! I appreciate it!

[@janlasalle8845]

I just started using GF in beta and I love some of the features...I work a lot with dancers on grey muslin, black and grey seamless,,,what is great is to be able to add some variety with interesting backgrounds...I dont shoot much out of the studio and yes sometimes the studio look gets boring,,, I'm not as sophisticated a user but I am excited about having interesting choices,,,and it all comes down to my taste in the end..thanks for the video!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! It always makes me happy to hear about people embracing change.

[@markemirali778]

Thank you for the end-to-end process, covered so much and all very clear in the practical use of combining AI and Photography

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

[@aquaphotoboy]

Wow this is amazing!!! Thank you for taking the time to create this amazing tutorial and thank you for sharing 🎉

[@JohnGress]

You are so welcome! I am glad you enjoyed it.

[@izgecomer]

Outstanding video. Clear, honest, to the point. Thanks.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! I hope it was helpful!

[@carlchandler5946]

Dang John!!! So glad I came across this today. Love this.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks Carl!

[@QuantzPhoto]

Great video John! It's really cool to see your process from start to finish and that Elinchrom app looks pretty fantastic!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks James! Did you see your influence on the layers? The app is really great and it only melted down one time and the solution was a force reboot of the ipad.

[@bobsykes]

This all fascinating. It’s neat how adding film grain helped a little bit with making the example look less like a Photoshopped cutout, but honestly, images like this still look kind of fake to me. I mean, I get how you couldn’t take 50 athletes out to 50 locations at dawn, sunset and midnight and shoot them all with a wide open Leica Sumilux, and you did an amazing job with the example project, but still… if I were a Sports Illustrated art director, real location photos are what I’d want you to make. Still, great lesson. I think the best part of it all is how you used so many lights with that iPad app controlling them all to instantly set up all those scenes. That’s a fantastic way to save everyone so much time. Really interesting video.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks Bob! Shooting on location would always be preferable but sometimes you gotta make the best of what is possible and part of that is using the app, which I love!

[@Awthentik]

great work. this is one of my dream jobs. Your lighting setup is complex and amazing. thanks for this amazing content.

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much! Glad you like it!

[@plambert71]

This is amazing, John!

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much!

[@iammaxwellcole]

This is fascinating! The end touch ups are complicated but this is amazing. Thanks for sharing.

[@JohnGress]

Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@JohnBrentTinsley]

Great overview John. Thanks for sharing

[@JohnGress]

Thanks for watching!

[@Mikesht]

If you use Stable Diffusion instead of MJ, you just upscale the final picture to your heart's content.. Plus ability co correct partially with in-paint. The rest of a process makes perfect sense. Great job!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! MidJourney has added up scaling. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f367c6ufpM2ierc

[@Mikesht]

@@JohnGress great.

[@ashleybraganca6952]

Ton of knowledge in one video Thank you John :)

[@JohnGress]

My pleasure 🙏🏼 Glad it was helpful!

[@eddyseabra2351]

Loved to know your post-processing tips! Just subbed :)

[@JohnGress]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@jkinze]

Thank you for this content. I'll be replicating this athletic style shoot for dance teams. I love how articulate and concise you were in photoshop. Cant wait to blow away the dance moms

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much! That’s great to hear. I was worried I went too fast so if I lose you just watch the mouse moves. 🙏🏼

[@BojanKordic]

Awesome results! 😱

[@JohnGress]

Thank you! 😊

[@DigitallyReArranged]

Will definitely give this a try with my son soccer photos!

[@JohnGress]

Do it!

[@quirkworks4076]

So good to see your workflow. Definitely going to incorporate some of your techniques into my work.

[@JohnGress]

Awesome, thank you!

[@GeorgeAllanPortraits]

COOL ASSIGNMENT!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks George. It almost seems surreal everytime that I get to do it.

[@ickledotco]

Hugely impressive, thank you. Subscribed and video saved!

[@JohnGress]

Awesome, thank you!

[@StonetreeCreative]

Fantastic tutorial, John. Thanks for such a thorough explanation!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

[@kaliorify]

Great video. Thank you for sharing your experience

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@TheFriendlyReviewer]

Amazing walk through!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it

[@leomendesdigital]

I've been watching this video. That's awesome. Congrats.

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much!

[@davidcolephoto]

Thanks John. This is really helpful.

[@JohnGress]

Very are very welcome!

[@Tyrell_ai]

Just to add to the process: first instead of using brush to paint all frame…just click on alt + delete, that’s gonna add the color to the frame or selection….also I will finalize the color grading by going to camera raw filter…the noise is better and there is more control of color and light retouching.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks for that tip!

[@Tyrell_ai]

@@JohnGress So I use shortcuts without realling paying attention on the keys, so it s not Option + delete, it's alt + delete ( on mac) sorry!

[@michaelwaldau]

Thank you for the great inspiration and showing the meaningful and creative use of crafted portrait photography, Firefly, MidJourney & Generative Fill in Photoshop Beta. I have to admit that after my initial rejection of AI, I'm now enthusiastic about it. Especially to be able to integrate great and fascinating backgrounds in portrait shots. Greetings from Berlin Micha

[@JohnGress]

Danke Schone! That is great to hear. I resisted using it myself until this project came up.

[@barrakelmahmoud]

Amazing skills you have, well done, great video too!

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much!🙏🏼😊😊🙏🏼

[@FrankThom]

Excellent John! Thank you!

[@JohnGress]

My pleasure!

[@antpruitt]

definitely my fav video of yours. Nicely done, sir. Thank you for sharing

[@JohnGress]

Wow, thanks! I really appreciate it!

[@travispatenaude9139]

This was a very good tutorial! I really liked your use of lighting to create multiple looks that is easy to move between and set back up. I have to play with the strip box as main light again. Also really liked you showing how you are doing your editing and composites. Makes a lot of sense on how you are merging the images and matching color. I really need to play with the filters more. Thanks for the motivation the play around more in PS and lighting!

[@Pezinokrm]

Excellent a lot of information to process well done John!

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much!

[@fcoker73]

JOHN!!!!! THIS IS THE SH**!!! What you put out was the best tutorial information I've seen!! I made my decision into going into action sports photography and you made this video right on time!!! You took your time to explain what you did with the BTS (im so happy you did) and using AI to manipulate the photo!! Im going to have to watch your over and over to get the hang of the software and the steps you mentioned. Great work and THANK YOU FOR SPREADING YOUR KNOWLEDGE!!!

[@JohnGress]

Awesome! Thank you! I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment and best of luck as you put things to work! 🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@SkullysPlace]

We all have our own ways of doing things but an easier way to paint a color on a separate layer is to grab the paint bucket tool (under the gradient tool) and one click fills the layer with your color chosen:)

[@JohnGress]

Thanks. While I didn't show it in this photo, on others I painted a variety of colors on the highlights in other photos in order to match various sources in the background.

[@kickzo]

Could also use a quick key, command + delete. I’ve also noticed when using the same mask on multiple layers the mask begins to lose its anti-alias, it’s cleaner to group your layers and use a single mask on that group folder layer that contains all the layers within it that need to be masked.

[@DaleSteadman]

Thank for sharing John!

[@JohnGress]

My pleasure thank you!

[@raledrkbld]

Really good tutorial, thank you!

[@JohnGress]

Thank you! You're very welcome!

[@cocorise9797]

I love the tutorial, but when you referenced Keys on your Mac, you didn't give the reference for PCs. Also, when I dragged the madk layer, I was not able to perform the function if painting the highlights on the mask.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! My bad. I thought they would be the same stokes or something similar. I will keep this in mind for next time.

[@Fernucho2007]

Thank You!!! I found this video/tutorial excellent. You are an inspiration to me. Once again thank you

[@JohnGress]

Thanks you so much Fernando! I really appreciate you taking time to say that.

[@Fernucho2007]

@@JohnGress you know me a little bit by now and you know I meant it.

[@chriswilson5174]

Amazing to see your process and embracement of AI as a replacement to the traditional ways of creating composites.

[@JohnGress]

Thank you very much!

[@ruiantunesguitar]

Pure GOLD! Thanks John

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much!

[@yuriajones]

This was an amazing tutorial. Thanks John.

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

[@studiomsports7373]

Great vid! Thanks for sharing!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks for watching!

[@dirty47]

Great video, sir. Subscribed!

[@JohnGress]

Awesome, thank you!

[@ziaphotography2056]

Thank you so much.

[@JohnGress]

You're welcome!

[@simonekakabor9020]

Wow amazing… thanks alot for this🙌🙌🔥🔥🔥

[@JohnGress]

You're welcome 😊

[@Rene-cm6go]

If I have such amount of knowledge about photoshop.. I will be a wizard! How long does it take to get there?

[@JohnGress]

Try watching this playlist kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKfcmqyamZeXg8U

[@Justas49]

Really in depth tutorial. Thought about doing this.I think now I have to execute it. I'm waiting for really creative ideas hit me on how to use Ai. It has so much potential, but if we using it to generate, details, backgrounds or mood boards I found it disappointing, but still want to try it. This is probably on another level of creativity, but I think we need Ai for lighting setups or something completely of box of ordinary imagination. Do You have any crazy expectations of future Ai not in terms of quality but it's purpose in photography?

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! I think it will only help us to achieve more. I don’t think we should be resist learning it, because it will be one of our tools moving forward and we may just become art directors. As another photographer said, everyone has a camera in their pocket and we still have jobs. It’s our vision that matters.

[@pafredricks]

What a great video! Thank you

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@JasonandRachelOlson]

that was amazing. thank you!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@RACineFilmagensFotos]

What a class! So good!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! I really appreciate it!

[@valeryhilario8778]

This was amazing, thankyou sm!!!!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad you liked it!!

[@codyhornecinema]

These are awesome. Is firefly allowed for commercial use?

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much! I believe that it’s not for commercial use at this time.

[@seanfurlonger1760]

this is. insane work, thank you!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! I am glad you like it!

[@mordavian]

Very informative video. Thank you 🙏Is it possible to use the images created with Firefly in commercial projects? What software are you using for retouching?

[@JohnGress]

Thanks🙏🏼 Adobe says the images can’t be used for commercial use.

[@mordavian]

@@JohnGress maybe only for beta?

[@susanmichalthephotochik]

Looks amazing😊

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much!

[@patrikhennebold4463]

many thanks for that great video.

[@JohnGress]

You are so welcome! Thank you!

[@patrikhennebold4463]

@@JohnGress 🙌🙂

[@SarahHenderson-e3n]

Very grateful

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! I hope it helps!

[@jbphoto360]

Well done

[@JohnGress]

Thanks!

[@nagual2335]

Fantastic tutorial, you're the best! Thank you so much

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! I hope it helped!

[@nagual2335]

@@JohnGress it helped a ton 👏👏👏

[@sk8mcbang]

In mid journey you can upscale the image you make.

[@JohnGress]

I saw that as an option on a website but then when I went to mid journey I didn’t have the beta upscale options. Do you know how to activate it?

[@alanmatthews9260]

Noooooo….we aren’t making fun of you 😂 Great work 👍🏻

[@JohnGress]

#oblivious thanks!!

[@Peteristrate]

Great stuff! Thank you :)

[@JohnGress]

My pleasure! Thanks!

[@valeriesorrells]

thank you, this was fantastic

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@JLCImagery]

GREAT BRO!!!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks!

[@Trip6Flicks]

i would like to get into this are you offering interships?

[@JohnGress]

I offer workshops johngress.com/workshops/

[@PraveenKumar-fs6of]

I'm not a fan of these, Background Replacement Type of things.( & Honestly they Don't Look, That Real to Me ) my be you are Learning too 😅 But i enjoy watching your videos,These are Really informative 👍

[@PraveenKumar-fs6of]

But I'm a Fan of your Lighting Knowledge 👍👍😇

[@thatryguygamer1616]

Please. Dont. Stop. Doing. These. Types. Of. Videos Long form editing content is so hard to come by, let alone ones that are so well versed as this one and yourself. Typical editing videos are sped up 2 minute videos with zero education or reference for all the ADHD typical short video content consumers Thank you for these videos

[@JohnGress]

Thanks! This video did great so I am sure there will be more to come!

[@WeiK0]

GREAT Video:) A+😊

[@JohnGress]

Thank you so much!

[@cocorise9797]

Is Firefly the same as PS Beta?

[@JohnGress]

No, its a website.

[@SantoValentino]

Dope!

[@JohnGress]

Thanks!

[@madadventures232]

love it

[@JohnGress]

Thanks!

[@fuzedlabs]

You can also use AI to upscale your lower res. images... fwiw