The fusion of beauty photography and AI generated jewellery by photographer Ava Pivot and retouch artist Jan Wischermann
At photopia in Hamburg in October 2022 we shot a beauty series during our Dedo Lights session, that yet anyone ever hasn't approached. With Midjourney just getting onto the radar of creatives and the buzz around, wether it would be a threat to photography, retouching and the creation of beauty images, we decided to embark on a journey full of curiosity. Seeing Midjourney as another tool in our tool stack and go with the flow.
We love new unknown territory. And that is why we decided to challenge the complete team and for the first time use AI-generated jewellery that we created in countless hours of playing with Midjourney's amazing interface on discord.
Hence, our October was full of late-night rendering and retouching sessions, where Ava and me connected while sharing my screen and bouncing ideas and possibilities. The result were 10 unique beauty portraits of our wonderful model Esther. She's wearing jewellery, headpieces, earrings and necklaces that actually don't exist.
We couldn't be more exited to share our series with you. Let us know what you think in the comments. This is just the beginning...
Case studies
At the bottom of this gallery, you will also find three case studies, taking you on a deep dive into our process of how we created these images. Please scroll down to learn everything about our worflow.
Team credits
Photographer: Ava Pivot
Retouch Artist: Jan Wischermann
Light: Peter Kalte @ Dedo Lights
Make-Up: Richard Wilkinson @LouisaArtists using CHANEL
Styling: Ridvan Cavus
Model: Esther Samuel @TwoManagement Berlin
Take a look behind the screens with our case studies we created for you.
If you want to know more about our approach on how to create these images, we have created three case studies below, that allow you to follow along step-by-step and find out about our thinking process and retouching approach. We are more than curios on your thoughts and feedback. Enjoy!
step 1 – retouched portrait
step 2 – skin color correction
step 3 – color adjustment of the dress
step 4 – placing of the headpiece created by AI
step 5 – integrating the headpiece
step 6 – integrating the headpiece with shadow and light
step 7 – animated integration of the AI generated earring
step 8 – animated creation of the final look
step 9 – final image
Case study 02
base material for our first image
retouched portrait
final result
animated retouching process
Case study 03
base material for our first image
retouched portrait
final result
