Here's how I show that photos taken from my mobile phone weren't taken using AI

With AI everywhere these days, you may be wondering how you can make it clear that your photos were created by you. The good news is that it’s very simple, and in this guide, I’ll show you the best ways to make it clear that my photos weren’t created by AI.

1 Give details about my aperture settings.

One of the best ways to show others that your photo wasn’t created by AI is to highlight the technical specifications. If you swipe up in the Camera app on iOS, for example, you’ll notice that you’ll see the aperture and other aspects of your photo.

If you share your photos on Instagram, your blog, or another social media platform, you may find it a good idea to disclose this information. Many of your mobile photos will have the same aperture if you took them without an app, but third-party smartphone camera apps may allow you to change the aperture.

You don't need to do anything crazy here; just add a note about the opening in the description.

2 Do not remove too much clarity from the image.

I’ve experimented countless times with AI-powered image editors and generators to explore different areas of the technology. One of the most obvious signs that something was created with AI is that the images are often very flat. This, among many other reasons, is why I don’t think manual editing will ever become obsolete — even with AI.

While you will naturally need to de-sharpen some images more than others, I think it becomes too obvious when you overdo it. Generally speaking, I will keep the slider between 0 and -20 (at most) when de-sharpening my images. There are some exceptions to this rule, but they are few and far between.

3 Use my unique photo editing styles.

While some people disagree with me, I always think it’s pretty easy to tell when something was created by AI. My friends in other creative fields, like music, agree with me when it comes to their expertise. Given this, I think the easiest way to show that your images aren’t created by AI is to make them for you.

Regardless of whether I take photos with my phone or my camera, I always try to make my photos unique. It should be obvious to someone that they are looking at an image created by Dani Mallorca. To do this, I often use editing styles that no one else can replicate (unless I release a preset that allows them to).

Although I usually edit my photos in Lightroom, you don’t need a paid subscription to the software. Canva has a number of free photo editing tools, and I also recommend VSCO and Fotor.

4 Capture unique perspectives

While I recommend learning how to edit photos and developing a unique style over time, the path to taking more unique photos starts inside the camera. When taking photos on my smartphone that I plan to share with others, I always try to think outside the box and capture the world through my eyes.

Sometimes I take photos that you would normally see in other places. However, as a photographer, I tend to see the world differently than others and will highlight it through unique perspectives. But I also recommend photographing anything you see as you see it.

If you need a starting point, check out this experiment that involves different photo compositions. Learning how to get the perfect composition in your smartphone photos is also a great idea.

AI photo editing features have made their way into most apps, and some are definitely more useful than others. For example, I think Lightroom’s AI noise removal tool is amazing. The app’s ability to detect subjects for editing is also, in my opinion, the best on the market. However, to make sure my photos don’t look like they were generated by AI, I try to limit the amount of time I use the editing tools.

My motto with AI is that it needs to deliver the results I actually want more quickly. Features like denoising and masking will do the job, but I don’t care for gimmicks like sky replacement. What works and what doesn’t work for you will be different than what works for me, so I encourage you to try different things.

6 Making sure things in my photos look real

Another way to tell that an image was created by AI is that you will often see problems with the objects in the image. For example, when this image was created in DALL-E, you can see that the sign on the building has very obvious defects.

Photos aren’t perfect at capturing things either, but it’s clear whether something is real or not. Many AI tools let you add different things, but I prefer to avoid using them. Every element in my photos should at least resemble what it looked like in real life, regardless of whether I used AI noise removal or another feature to adjust it.

If you download an image from an AI image generator, you'll notice that its metadata often tells you that it was created using AI. I sometimes remove metadata from my images, but most of the time, the metadata is a good indicator that the image was taken by you and not by a random online tool.

Your image will have metadata by default, and you don't really need to do anything to keep it there. You'll have to put in a lot of effort to remove it.

8 Don't overthink

Whether you’re an artist or a regular photographer, it’s easy to overthink things these days. You may worry that others will accuse you of using AI in your photos and wonder how to prevent that from happening, but the truth is, you can’t please everyone. Some people may try to belittle your skills, but it’s important to know that these individuals are skeptical of everyone and everything.

Above all, I try not to think too much about what others might think of my photos (and I suggest you do the same). For me, my main goal is to share great things with the world – even if others don't like them.

If you’re worried about your photos looking like they were created by AI, there are a few things you can try to prevent this problem. You can share details about your aperture and shutter speed. Furthermore, you can make sure that the objects in your photo look real.