The AI generator—of which I’ve been a longtime fan—has introduced the ability to upload a single image of a person (or cat!), then use it in creating images. It’s hard to overstate just how long people have wanted this kind of control & simplicity.
For a deeper look, here’s a quick demo from the team:
Having worked on such features going all the way back to (OMG) 2002, I can’t wait to try this out!
#Photoshop beta new feature! Seamlessly composite images with Harmonize! pic.twitter.com/J4biVk702N
— Paul Trani (@paultrani) July 29, 2025
And yet, I must wait: as to why the beta isn’t available for me to download via the CC desktop app…
😉
The app promises to let you turn static images into short videos and transform them into fun art styles, plus explore a new creation hub.
I’m excited to try it out, but despite the iOS app having been just updated, it’s not yet available—at least for me. Meanwhile, although I just bit the bullet & signed up for the $20/mo. plan, the three video attempts that Gemini allowed me today all failed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
To be honest I’ve never taken a more than passing interest in most birds, and certainly in photographing them, but the insane diversity of those in southern Africa was too much to resist. Here are some of my favorites we spied on our journey through Zimbabwe & Botswana:
Meanwhile we enjoyed visiting Painted Dog Conservation and learning about their tireless efforts to preserved & rehabilitate some of the 6,000 or so of these unique animals that remain in the wild—and that often fall prey to poachers’ snares. Tap/click to see a rather charming little vid:
Here’s a bit more about their work:
Even though I got absolutely wrecked for having the temerity to use one of my son’s cute old drawings in an AI project last year (no point in now digging up the hundreds of flames it drew), I still enjoy seeing this kind of creative interpretation:
My mom sent me a 30-year-old drawing…
That I made for her when I was a kid.
Naturally, I animated with Midjourney..
+ It’s not perfect
+ But it’s awesome
+ And it captures the innocent chaos
+ Of my childhood imagination.Yes, my mother is fighting a dragon…
With a… pic.twitter.com/hMd1dOdoXR
— Rory Flynn (@Ror_Fly) July 6, 2025
Man, am I now gonna splash out for another monthly subscription? I haven’t done so yet, but these results are pretty darn impressive:
To turn your photos into videos, select ‘Videos’ from the tool menu in the prompt box and upload a photo. … The photo-to-video capability is starting to roll out today to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in select countries around the world. Try it out at gemini.google.com. These same capabilities are also available in Flow, Google’s AI filmmaking tool.
You wouldn’t think a hyena might require one of those “Do Not Pet” badges sported by service dogs—but you haven’t met all of our travel companions! :->
Hey friends—we’ve made it home to Cali after a whirlwind trip to Zimbabwe & Botswana. I’ll try to post some observations about the state of photo editing these days, and I’d love to hear yours. Meanwhile, while my body still tries to clue into where & when the heck I am, here are a few small galleries I’ve shared so far:
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D’oh—before heading to Zimbabwe & Botswana with my wife to celebrate our 20th anniversary, I neglected to mention that things will be a bit quieter around here than normal. We plan to return to the States next week, and I might share a few posts between now & then. Meanwhile, check out some new friends we made this morning!
Met some fun neighbors this morning: pic.twitter.com/J6gfr0NUEU
— John Nack (@jnack) July 15, 2025
“Sometimes the old ways are the best” — Kincade, Bond’s old groundskeeper in Skyfall
I mean, how would you describe it? No matter what, though, I love the aesthetics:
The 2D waves take me back to this old fave:
My family, having seen so many of my AI-powered image generations over the last 3 years, is just utterly inured to them. So, for my MiniMe’s 16th, I sketched up the patriotic little HO-scale engine we’re getting him, along with a cute large ground squirrel (to quote the Dude, “Nice marmot”).
I feel like this is my micro version of when the world revolted against too-perfect Instagram culture, swinging towards Snapchat & stories, where “rough is real,” and flaws are a feature. In any case, my dude was happy as a clam—and that’s all that matters to me.
For my son’s birthday, I ditched AI and broke out my pen. Felt good to work without a net. pic.twitter.com/TJedYCPWMj
— John Nack (@jnack) July 4, 2025
Okay, so this isn’t precisely what I thought it was at first (video inpainting), but rather an creation->inpainting->animation flow. Still, the results look impressive:
How it works:
→ Generate an image in Higgsfield Soul
→ Inpaint directly with a mask and a prompt
→ Combine with Camera moves, VFX, and Avatars to turn static edits into living, speaking visuals pic.twitter.com/ENHqdA3WHm— Higgsfield AI (@higgsfield_ai) July 3, 2025
“If you’re into weird cars, forgotten history, and stories that don’t end well, hit that subscribe button.”
I found this piece really interesting, not least because my wife & I are headed to Africa for the first time next week, and I’m eager to learn what kinds of vehicles & roads we’ll experience. Seems like something like the Africar would make a ton of sense in many places: