Think of Generative Expand as Cropping in reverse gear.  It’s mind-blowing. Instead of making the image smaller and deleting pixels, the new feature allows you to expand image content beyond its original borders by using the Adobe Firefly-powered Generative Fill function to create additional content that never existed but blends naturally with the original image. The new content can be an extension of the original data or based on the Command Prompt you type.

Generative Expand joins the popular Delete and Fill Selection and the Generative Fill features in Adobe Photoshop (beta) that’s available with all Creative Cloud subscriptions, including trial versions. Start a free trial of Photoshop or update your Photoshop (beta) app to try these exciting new editing tools. You can watch a short video about Generative Expand here.

900 Million Images and Counting
Are these AI features popular? Since these gems were introduced in May of this year, Photoshop (beta) users have generated more than 900 million images. Adobe also announced that these Firefly-powered capabilities now support text prompts in more than 100 languages.

More Features Under Development
Adobe directly stated that here are more generative AI developments coming this fall. We’ll try them and report our findings as the new features are added to Photoshop (beta). For access to the updated language prompts and Generative Expand, download a free trial of Photoshop or update your Photoshop (beta) app today.

Conclusion?
Generative Expand is EASILY the most compelling feature I’ve ever encountered in an image editing app. Ever.

Over the past few months, AI has enhanced the world of image editing more than at any other time in history, but reaction from academics, scientists and imaging professionals has been divisive. Some say that the evolution is irrefutably positive. Others warn of the dangers of AI and its threat to creativity—and perhaps even humanity.

Three things are clear. AI-driven apps will continue to grow in power and worldwide acceptance.

Second, AI-powered image editing apps like Photoshop and Photoshop (beta) are enormously entertaining and boost user productivity; Adobe is clearly the leader in this arena.

Third, it’s much too early to conclude whether AI is our salvation or our damnation.

If You Enjoyed This Article
Click here to choose from more than 500 reviews, how-to articles, quizzes, attempts at humor and other alleged insight into the world of photography written by yours truly.

Become a Member of the Shutterbug Community
Register for a free account. Sign up for our newsletter. Spend five minutes (or less) uploading your best shots once every week or so. Potentially become a Shutterbug Photo of the Day winner. Enjoy viewing the fantastic work being done by thousands of photographers all over the world—and add your images to the enduring collection.

—Jon Sienkiewicz

More Images Below

From now on, we are putting the results and information about the photography challenge in this weekly news article to make it easier to see everything in one place. Don’t worry, the challenges will still continue and we will still feature a few of the submissions every week! I’ll give you a hint about Week #8’s theme with the following photo from the Slovenian mountains. So, any idea yet?

Whether your strategy to beat this summer’s heat involves the beach, the municipal pool or the backyard sprinkler, you can capture the fun with a waterproof, all-weather camera. Bonus— they’re not just for summer. They also stand up to spring showers, wintry blizzards and the grubby hands of children.

Cameras and lenses have two natural enemies: moisture and impact. If your photo gear never gets wet or banged against an unforgiving surface, odds are it will function properly for as long as you own it. However, a little water—sometimes very little water—can do more damage than a squad of starving squirrels in a peanut butter factory.

So how does one take pictures under water, let alone mere in inclement weather?

Here are five popular cameras that, to one degree or another, have all sorts of “proofs,” i.e., waterproof, dustproof, crushproof, klutzproof. The terms “all-weather,” “waterproof,” et al, are defined differently by various manufacturers. Consult the documentation that’s supplied with the camera and the manufacturer’s website before pursuing extreme conditions. Please note that all focal lengths indicated below are expressed in their 35mm equivalent.

Olympus Tough TG-6
A leading manufacturer in the waterproof camera arena, Olympus has been at the forefront of the category for many years. Their current offering, the Olympus Tough TG-6, combines great styling with innovative features over and above most other candidates, including an electronic compass, GPS, thermometer and manometer. It also features a 12-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor, 25-100mm f/2.0-4.9 zoom, 3-inch LCD and 4K video at 120p, plus all of the proofs: Waterproof to 49.2 feet (15 m), Crush, Shock, Freeze and Dustproof. It weighs less than 9 ounces (253 g) for comfortable carry and is available from Amazon for $499.

Ricoh WG-80
Featuring an ingenious built-in 6-LED ring light, the Ricoh WG-80 is a great choice for imaging in normal weather, too. It offers a 5X optical zoom (28-140mm f/3.5-5.5)  plus a 7.2X digital zoom. It sports a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor, 2.7-inch LCD and weighs a scant 6.8 ounces (194 g). Presented in orange or black, the slightly farfalle-shaped Ricoh WG-80 is available from Amazon for $277.

Ricoh WG-6
A sizeable step up from the WG-80, the Ricoh WG-6 has a 20-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor, 28-140mm f/3.5-5.5 optical zoom (and 8.1X digital zoom), 3-inch LCD plus onboard compass and GPS modules. Capable of UHD 4K recording and Water, Crush, Shock, Freeze and Dustproof, it has a built-in ring light like its cousin the WG-80. It’s also chemical resistant for industrial use. Weighing in at 8.6 ounces (246 g), this all-environment travel camera is available from Amazon for $377.

SeaLife Micro 3.0
The SeaLife Micro 3.0 features a 16-megapixel (1/2.3 inch) CMOS sensor and can capture JPEG or DNG files (to the delight of enthusiastic images editors). Captures UHD 4K video, and the SeaLife Micro 3.0 can also shoot bursts of up to 10 images of 16-megapixel resolution in about one second. The 19mm f/2.8 prime lens covers about 100° but does not zoom. It has the deepest dive rating—200 feet (60 m) as well as the highest price point. Tipping the scales at 11.6 ounces (329g), it’s available from Amazon for $599.

Kodak Pixpro WPZ2
At the budget end of the price spectrum, Kodak Pixpro WPZ2 is waterproof to 49 feet (15 m) and features a 16-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor. The lens is a 27-108mm f/3.0-6.6 zoom and it also offers a 6X digital zoom. It has a 2.7 inch LCD and captures 1080p Full HD video. Accepts Micro SD and Micro SDHC only. The Kodak-branded Pixpro WPZ2 is offered by JK Imaging through a global licensing agreement with Kodak and is available from Amazon for $149 in yellow, blue or red.

Become a Member of the Shutterbug Community
Register for a free account. Sign up for our newsletter. Spend five minutes (or less) uploading your best shots once every week or so. Potentially become a Shutterbug Photo of the Day winner. Enjoy viewing the fantastic work being done by thousands of photographers all over the world—and add your images to the enduring collection.

—Jon Sienkiewicz

 

(As an Amazon Associate, Shutterbug earns from qualifying purchases linked in this story.)

It happens to the best of us: Sooner or later we all run out of fresh ideas and inspiration and fall into a rut. So how do you escape the doldrums and get the get the creative juices flowing once again?

The answer can be as simple as breaking the so-called “rules” of photography and trying something different or unconventional. Unique images are typically the result, and in the process you’ll expand your vision, skills and interests.

The quick tutorial below from the Photography Course YouTube channel is installment 45 of the 52-Week Project that’s designed to simplify common techniques and provide interesting ideas for shooting images that stand out from the crowd. Today’s episode will provide a heavy dose of inspiration to get back out in the field and on track.

Instructor Tara Iv encourages you to pick any (or all) of the three familiar rules she describes and break them to bits. It’s a fun and liberating exercise that we encourage you to try over the weekend. As we’ve said numerous times before, rules are meant to be broken, right?

The overarching goal is to rediscover your creativity by taking a more intuitive approach to photography with alternative techniques for capturing familiar scenes. Iv begins with the well-known Rules of Thirds that involves dividing the frame with two evenly spaced vertical lines and two evenly spaced horizontal lines. Then, as it goes, you place subjects at points where these lines intersect.

Breaking this rule is simple: Just forget about any guidelines, loosen up, and take whatever approach to composition that strikes your fancy. Even try placing a subject smack dab in the center of the frame, heaven forbid, and you might capture a compelling image.

Tip number two involves the common goal of maximizing sharpness. Here Iv suggests you try the opposite approach with a technique known as Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) during a slow exposure like 1/15. And by all means, leave your tripod at home. This often results in photos with a beautiful painterly look.

The lesson wraps up with a rule we were all taught early on; namely, keeping the horizon straight and level so your photo doesn’t appear careless. Here the trick is to tilt the camera left or right to skew the horizon on purpose. This method adds unexpected impact to street scenes, landscapes, and environmental portraits.

There’s much more to see on Iv’s instructional YouTube, channel, including past and future episodes of the popular 52-Week project. So pay a visit when you have time.

And if you want to protect all your hard-earned images, be sure to watch the recent tutorial we posted explaining a safe and simple method for backing up your files so tragedy never strikes.