This photograph hides an extraordinary secret. You know her?

Nowadays, everyone modifies photos. Of course, to varying degrees, but that doesn’t change the fact that before a photo ends up in an album or on social media, some magic happens. A breath of fresh air on this topic was introduced by Galaxy AI, which can significantly improve our staff. But it wasn’t always so easy.

Red eyes, bad composition, someone closed their eyes in the photo… Are you fed up with this too? Fortunately, today this is no longer a problem, even after taking the photo. Indeed, such a correction is sometimes downright childishly simple. Especially when we have a suitable smartphone to take and correct photos, especially a representative of the Samsung Galaxy S24 series. Although it was not always as easy as it is now, there is no shortage of spectacular examples of photomontage in the history of photography. Today I will show you the best of them.

How do we improve photos today?

But first, let’s make one thing clear: today almost everyone modifies the photo they have taken. What’s better, sometimes we don’t even know about it – many smartphones have advanced algorithms that improve them on an ongoing basis while taking a photo, even without our direct action.

However, one question arises here: Do you know people who always posed perfectly in photos? Especially if we only have a moment to take a photo. And of course, today photography is much easier thanks to smartphones, especially with cameras as good as those in the Samsung Galaxy S24 series. But from my own experience as a father of very active children, I can tell you that sometimes even the best reflexes may not be enough.

But does this mean that we have to write off these teams? Thanks to Galaxy AI, not anymore. Samsung’s solution can be great for saving photos that seem unsuccessful at first glance. What can the S24 series do?

First, it’s a matter of removing reflections from the photo. An option that is perfect for traveling by car or train, when there is not much time or conditions to open the window, but you can see the inside of the carriage or car. This will work equally well on windows, glass or shop displays. Do you dream of taking a photo of a dress without your shadow on the window? Here you go. And speaking of shadows, they can also be improved.

The second possibility is “Process” option, which will not only improve a regular photo, but also help improve low resolution images. It is also worth adding that in black and white photos it appears additionally “Colorize” option, which may be a great attraction for many former staff of our parents and grandparents. It’s a pity to have memories in poor quality and without color.

The next solution may completely absorb you. When editing a photo, we can move and resize parts of the photos – Didn’t you manage to catch the jump at the highest point? No problem, you can change it. Is there a pole or lamppost bothering you? Remove them. Interestingly, we can use this option in two different ways. We either circle the area we want to change or touch only the selected area, and Galaxy AI will suggest the part to be modified.

One last thing is ability to fill in the missing background. This is where total magic happens. Simply rotating a photo usually involved losing part of the photo. But that’s a thing of the past. Galaxy AI will complement our frame so as not to lose any part of our shot. No more severed hands or other elements that would be better kept in place. Algorithms can already do a lot, and since it is a matter of software that can and will probably be updated, it may be even better in the future.

This is also where you can easily add a fragment of another photo and mix it with the original photo. No more of an age-old problem – whoever takes a family photo is not entirely in the frame. This option is also great for solo trips. You don’t need a second person, a tripod or a selfie cropped to the waist to appear in the photo.

You will admit that there is a lot of it, and this is only the beginning of the applications of Galaxy AI. It’s definitely easier and faster than before. Of course, it is worth being moderate about it – it is supposed to be a tool that will slightly improve our photo, and not create a total variation that we will present as reality. I also appreciate that Samsung watermarks photos that we have modified using AI. Thanks to this, there are no doubts. And there have been a lot of them in the history of photography.

A story as old as… photography

If you are still wondering whether real photos are only those that capture the moment or whether you can allow yourself some interference, I have an interesting story for you about the first “edited” photo. It is probably a photograph from 1840 by the Frenchman Hippolyte Bayard. Its author pretended to be dead in protest against not being recognized as the creator of the photos. The hero himself, of course, lived for many years, being one of the most important photographers not only in his country.

Two girls from Great Britain who took a series of photos of the Cottingley Fairies in 1917 and 1920 became equally, or perhaps even more, famous. The photographs turned out to be one of the most successful hoaxes of the 20th century. This story remained a magical mystery for several decades, until two – then much older – ladies revealed that the fairies were not real, but cut out of paper. In the meantime, however, the credibility of the photo was confirmed by many photography experts, and the media picked up on the topic as evidence of the existence of supernatural phenomena. Even the famous Arthur Conan Doyle used the material – author of, among others, books about Sherlock Holmes. Watson wouldn’t be proud.

But of course there are many more such cases – Do you remember the famous photo of the Loch Ness Monster? It was actually a toy submarine. A similar effect was caused by an alien spacecraft over George Adamski’s house, which turned out to actually be an ordinary lamp. How many theories have been created on this subject? – hard to count. But historical photos were also modified after they were taken. It perfectly shows the famous photo of the US president, Abraham Lincoln, which is actually a combination of Lincoln’s head and the body of politician John Calhoun.

New times, new ideas

Years passed, and fans of modifying photos did not stay idle. Both in terms of simple photo improvement and, unfortunately, not always humorous manipulation. You probably know the famous MGM intro with the roaring lion. How about a photo that was supposed to show this motif from the inside? But in fact it was a photo processing of a lion from an Israeli zoo undergoing a CT scan. The story about a cyclist running away from a bear attacking him is equally untrue. The cyclist was stuck there.

Unfortunately, real photos do not help in recognizing such photos, they look very unlikely at first glance, such as this literally magical beach in the Maldives, which is covered with plankton with bioluminescent properties. The story of the underwater session also deserves separate material, which even made it into the Guinness Book of Records due to the depth of the photos taken with the use of a model. The photos at a depth of over 6 meters underwater are completely unbelievable and it was only when I watched the film from the set that I was able to believe them.

What does artificial intelligence change?

However, it was definitely a very dangerous task. What if such risks are not always necessary? Or if we don’t have enough time to focus so much on our photos in the whirlwind of everyday life. This is where Galaxy AI comes in handy.

In addition to the functions mentioned above, it is definitely worth appreciating the work of the algorithms that work when taking zoomed-in photos. It used to be that even a simple digital zoom meant pixelated and low-quality photos – now, however, the detail can be enormous, thanks to the combination of images from all cameras, better optics, matrices and, above all, great computing power that can process this huge amount of data into one, perfect photo. Similar processes also do a great job with night photos, which have been considered problematic for years. Thanks to phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24, it’s much better. Also when it comes to the night sky.

It is also worth adding that Galaxy AI also has many other very useful functions. In addition to the photo functions already mentioned, our smartphone can also translate phone conversations in another language on the fly, and also provides great support for creating notes, which now include a whole range of different solutions. From improving the appearance of our notes, by converting them into typed text, to developing a summary highlighting the most important points.

In addition, in S24 we will find facilities that help us find the items we are interested in using the select and find function, and even the largest article, the phone will automatically provide us with the content and bullet points.

Well, there’s nothing to hide. It’s much simpler. As you’ve heard, the history of photo modification is long and colorful. But what is most important is that today it is easier to capture our stories and unforgettable moments – even if we did not succeed in everything when the photo was taken. And if you have your favorite photo manipulation, be sure to let us know about it in the comments.

Sponsored text commissioned by Samsung.