This is a real photo...
Nothing is Real
I was browsing through Facebook the other day, just killing time—or what my daughter calls "doom scrolling," whatever that means—when I came across a brightly colored photo of a beautiful cliff-side lighthouse at sunset. The photo was titled something like Acadia National Park Lighthouse, and it had thousands of likes. But I couldn’t bring myself to like it.
This Image Is AI
I knew the second I saw it that it was completely computer-generated—an AI image. I knew it because I’ve been there, to that lighthouse, at sunset. The scene on my phone looked nothing like the actual place, but thousands of people were amazed by it.
As a professional (self-described) photographer, I’ve seen some incredible places, and this lighthouse, Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, is one of the most stunning. I took some truly epic photos there myself.
The lighthouse sits on the rocky shores of Mount Desert Island, in Maine. You can view it from different angles, but to get the prized shot of it from the ocean side, you have to be willing to climb over some wet, slippery rocks. That’s what I did.
I got there over an hour before sunset. The clouds were low, and I wasn’t sure I’d see anything beautiful, but I wanted to give it a shot. I found a relatively flat rock at the base of the cliffs, set up my tripod, and waited in the chilly late-October air. A few more people showed up, also hoping for a show. Some left before the sun even started to set. But I stayed.
My feet got soaked from the rising tide, so I moved my camera to a higher rock—no sense in swimming that day. The rocks were slippery, some wobbly, but I was on an adventure, and I was going to get that photo.
I had spent all week in Acadia National Park, visiting this spot several times at sunrise and sunset, each time disappointed by rain or thick fog. But this time would be different. As the sun dipped below the clouds, it shot brilliant beams of light across the ocean. The spectacle was beyond words—refraction, reflection, and brightness in every color imaginable. It was magic.
In that moment, I didn’t care that my feet were freezing or that my hands were numb. I took shot after shot, trying to capture every second of this breathtaking display. I was there, experiencing it firsthand, feeling the cold air and the ocean spray, while witnessing one of nature’s most beautiful moments. I wanted to see every single second and capture all the beauty that God would give this fraction of time in the grand scheme of the universe.
The photos I took that day were calendar-worthy—if people still bought calendars, that is. But for me, it was about more than just getting the perfect shot. It was about sharing the beauty of the world. Success. And then came AI.
Conclusion: Why It Matters
AI-generated images like the one I saw on Facebook may look perfect, but they lack something crucial: the story behind the shot. They don’t capture the cold air, the slippery rocks, or the uncertainty of waiting for the right moment. They don’t reflect the magic of being there, in that little corner of the world, witnessing a moment that no algorithm could ever fully understand.
That’s what separates a real photograph from AI. It’s the human experience—the patience, the persistence, and sometimes the discomfort—that makes the final image feel alive. AI may impress with its colors and precision, but it can never replace the beauty of real-world moments that are truly lived.
Photographers, artist, and creators of all types are dealing with the onslaught of AI driven work, and while it may make our lives a bit easier, we can't let it show us how beautiful the real world can be. How amazing a single moment of reflection, refraction, and a million colors can change our lives.
