Canon announced at CES 2020 beta versions of two new services for professional photographers: the first photographer matching service Image Connect, and a Photo Culling plug-in for Lightroom Classic.

If you’ve ever wanted to have an assistant, now you can have one, thanks to Canon’s new plug-in for Adobe Lightroom Classic. Canon introduced at CES 2020 the beta of its Photo Culling plug-in, designed to support the workflow needs of photographers. You choose the key photos from a shoot, define the criteria and “tell” your assistant to do all the post-production work.

Your assistant, though, is virtual. Powered by the Canon Computer Vision AI engine, the new Photo Culling plugin for Adobe Lightroom Classic promises to save photographers countless hours in post-production by using technical models to cull for image sharpness, noise, exposure, contrast, closed eyes, and red eyes. No, it is not going to change a dull sky for a glorious sunset that has nothing to do with the original photo, but will deal with all the regular editing tasks, giving photographers more time to be doing what they like best: creating pictures.

Yes, it is another example of how AI is taking care of workflows in photography, but it may well be an interesting solution for photographers who shoot and edit a lot. According to Canon, “analyzed images will be flagged with different colored flags to remain true to the native Adobe Lightroom Classic experience (a subscription to Adobe Lightroom Classic service is required). The photographer also has the ability to customize the settings within each technical model to remain in complete control. The Photo Culling plug-in will be available exclusively on the Adobe Exchange App Marketplace for a monthly subscription.

Building customer confidence

The second service now announced by Canon has to do with the other side of a photography business: finding clients and be found by them.  The beta version of the company’s first photographer matching service Image Connect, aims to make the process of finding and hiring a photographer that you can trust that much simpler. It aims to help photographers boost their business and productivity, while helping to build trust and customer confidence.

“With a deep rooted heritage in imaging expertise, our company has built a trusted reputation in providing tools and services to professional photographers that help better their craft and support them in building their business with confidence,” said Kazuto Ogawa, president and chief operating officer, Canon U.S.A., Inc. “Services, such as Image Connect, will provide professional photographers with a great value proposition, offering reliability and peace of mind for their customers that can in turn increase their business opportunities as well as their productivity.”

Connecting photographers and clients

Image Connect is offered through the RAISE photo community platform, that connects customers with professional photographers, so that the customer can focus on the moment while the photographer captures it. The beta version of the service will be available in a limited number of markets in Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Image Connect will initially focus on family events like newborn portraits, birthday parties, family portraits, religious events, and engagements.

Here is how Image Connect will work:

• Through the platform, customers can provide basic details for the job, such as event type, location, and date
• Once photographers are matched with the customer through the platform, customers review photographer profiles and invite those they like to bid on the job
• Photographers create an offer which allows them to set their own price (rather than adhering to standardized pricing) and allows them to communicate their rates and value to customers
• Once an offer is accepted, the job is booked through the platform
• Following the event, images are delivered electronically to the customers through a Canon customer portal

If you’re not a Canon user, don’t feel you’ve to look elsewhere for a similar service. This service will also be brand agnostic, says the company,  opening up the portal for all photographers to use no matter the brand of equipment.

Both services are currently scheduled to be available in Q1 2020.To find more about the new services, visit Canon’s booth #16206 at CES 2020, where it is also possible to discover the new EOS-1D x Mark III, and other equipment from Canon. The show runs until January 10.