I tried AfterShoot + here’s what happened!
Should you use an AI Culling Software? It depends! Here’s what happened. I noticed one of my photographers had interesting keyword labels on their images, such as “blurred” and “eyes closed.” I didn’t overthink it and went through their images to cull them like normal. I would often find that they were missing one image, like there might have been another option, and it wasn’t in their catalog.
Then I was in my editing community group, and they were lamenting AI culling and that it was cutting into their business. Well I need to check out something that could potentially affect my work. So I tried AfterShoot, and here are my thoughts.
For Wedding Photographers
OK, seriously, if you are a wedding photographer, I wouldn’t let it cull for you. I’ll explain that part in a second. You won’t be able to trust any of your detail shots. The foreground in a ring shot or a veil swoop near the lens will cause the image to be labeled as “blurred.” Any romantic pictures with the couple’s eyes closed are marked “eyes closed.” The pro for wedding photographers is looking for the “eyes closed” or “blurred” on group shots. The jury is out on whether that will actually save you time. I also wouldn’t trust it to pick your highlights (which are supposed to be similar to popular images on social media).
Here’s an area that MIGHT save time… if you are a notorious over shooter. It will label your “similar” images, which could help you select and cull the best one out of the 25 images so similar it’s an eye exam.

For portrait Photographers
How about if you are a portrait photographer? If you are a portrait photographer that does traditional portraiture with the subject(s) facing and looking at the camera without foreground, this is for you! If you’re style is capturing emotion like someone laughing (with squinty eyes) then… Sorry, No. Not for you.
It’s supposed to learn your style… well I had been getting images from my photographer with these labels for months, but the images I received had “lower” grading levels and were sometimes the better images. Or before I realized they were using an AI system and saw “highlight,” I’d frequently think, but this other image is SO much better.
For now, leave it for a human, and if you do use an AI system and have an editor give them all the images anyway, so if the AI gets it wrong or doesn’t know you can do a head swap, they can edit both pictures. You can book your editing spot using this link here!