Use Case IV - Creating Background Images from Scratch
After we have studied how AI-art could inspire our portrait photography regarding outfit, hairstyle, make-up, posing, light, colours and mood, it is now time to find out how it could support us in creating background or backdrop design. In this post we will create background canvas from scratch, i.e. just by prompting expressions that describe our photographical intention. The next post after this one will involve parts (areas) of a given background photo and let it out-paint with new content for the intended background theme. But first things first: here we will check out how a background canvas can be stitched by several AI-created images that are each extended (out-painted) out of to the information of an overlapping part of neighbour image. Dall-E2 has a new out-paint function that we have already used in the previous post of this series.
As a background theme, we want to get some steampunk inspired futuristic cityscape that could be post-edited as a blurred background to an open aperture portrait studio shoot.
Experiment 1: Create a Horizontal Panorama Stitch
We ask Dall-E 2, to propose an initial, central tile of our background by prompting:
Steampunk skyscraper architecture, exterior view, future city skyline, award-winning architectural photography from magazine.
We choose this version out of four:
Now we stay in the edit mode and move the squared frame to the left just so far that approximately 30% of the image is included in the right part of the frame. Then we instruct dall-E 2 to out-paint the rest of the frame while keeping the prompt. The result is a "semantic" transition to the left of the central tile. Like after every creation, we must choose one of for solutions, and this one will be the seed for the next out-painting process (which again creates four solutions). Obviously, Dall-E 2 interprets the image information of the 30% overlap and seamlessly creates new content. Next, we move the frame to the right, again including 30% of the left area of the central tile as overlap. Again, we let Dall-E do its job. The result is a horizontally extended (stitched) image with higher resolution:
Experiment 2: Create a Vertical Panorama Stitch
If we want to use the panorama as a background for a portrait shoot, we might need another perspective and include the ground and horizon line in the image. Keeping the same prompt, we repeat our experiment I in a vertical manner:
That is really an unseen scenery! But what will happen, if we extend this vertical panorama stitch to the left and right?
Experiment 3: Create a Horizontal and Vertical Panorama Stitch
To extend the image, we need to out-paint three squares to the left and three squares to the right, while all of them overlap with the vertical one in the middle and with the previously created neighbour stitch. Each of them is a choice of four proposed variants. Every selection influences the next tiles to choose from, and so on.
Experiment 4: Can't Stop the Game - Two More Vertical Panorama Stitches
Before we close this task, let's play with two more vertical cityscape stitches with alternative prompts. Here are the final images:
In the next blog post (Use Case V) we will experiment with modifying a given background photo to insert it into another landscape.
All chapters of the series "How AI-art Could Inspire Portrait Photography":