Digital Nomad Photography Tips with Lola Delabays

Big Photo Hunt Member Lola Delabays is a French photographer living the digital nomad lifestyle in Lombok, Indonesia, an island off the coast of Bali. 

Join us for our honest conversation about what it takes to be a traveling photographer, to earn a living abroad and to power through the ups and downs of the lifestyle.  

Recently, Lola's started teaching herself how to use AI - or actually teaching herself how easy it is to use AI. We talk about the benefits of Photoshop's new Generative Fill feature and what it means to all of us. 

Spoiler Alert: It's a powerful tool that we're all better off adopting to save time and improve our photography.

Welcome to the Big Photo Hunt, arguably the worlds friendliest photography community.

Some more stuff for you:

• The Big Photo Hunt is the world's friendliest photography community.
• Ken Deckinger created a YouTube channel for learnings and tips.
• And of course, the Big Photo Hunt is on Instagram.

Transcript

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00:00:00:06 - 00:00:39:27

We're talking about this lifestyle in Lombok and like being a, you know, this trend of being a digital nomad. And like a lot of people I was inspired by when I wanted to work online and travel the world. Now they are almost all like they all settled somewhere and they are all now saying they were really close to burnout or they had a burnout. And I think, yeah, it's important to kind of break this fake reality, because sometimes I feel like people that share their life or make it look better as a responsibility because you're sharing a, um, vision of success that is not necessarily realistic. 

00:00:42:28 - 00:01:04:12

Welcome to the Big Photo Hunt Podcast, a show where we talk with aspiring and professional photographers to help us all grow and improve our photography together. I'm your host, Ken Deckinger. If you're one of our community members and you'd like to be a guest on the show, please visit Big Photo hunt.com for more information. 

00:01:15:00 - 00:01:51:01

My guest today is Lola Delabays. She's a photographer from France, but presently she lives in Lombok, Indonesia, which is an island off the coast of Bali. I wanted to chat today to learn what it's like to be a traveling photographer, including how she earns a living. I've seen people on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube showing off their journeys, living in Paradise without a care in the world. But in reality, it's a very small amount of the almost 8 billion people who live on planet Earth who get to experience this. 

00:01:51:03 - 00:02:10:26

So today we're going to talk about that. And recently Lola's dabbled in photography. I so we're going to talk about her experiences there because only in its infancy AI is already impacting how we make and edit photos. Lola, welcome to the Big Photo Hunt. 

00:02:10:28 - 00:02:12:24

Thank you. Thank you for having me. 

00:02:13:00 - 00:02:19:25

Before we start, I did some research on Lombok. Have you seen this place? It is gorgeous. 

00:02:20:27 - 00:02:21:18

It is. 

00:02:21:20 - 00:02:29:11

It is a bit less now because it's a dry season right now. So it's less, you know, like a Paradise. 

00:02:29:20 - 00:02:30:10

So if it's a. 

00:02:30:12 - 00:02:36:00

Ten out on a scale of 1 to 10 in wet season, what is it in dry season? Like a 9.8. Yeah. 

00:02:36:02 - 00:02:51:13

I mean, right now it's really extreme because it's the end of the dry season. So even it didn't rain for the past seven months. So it's very dry. It's it still looks like Paradise. But I would say maybe it's 7 or 8. 

00:02:51:19 - 00:02:52:04

I think. 

00:02:52:06 - 00:02:53:28

Compared to where I live it's probably still a. 

00:02:54:00 - 00:02:54:28

9.9. 

00:02:56:03 - 00:02:57:27

I've never been to Indonesia or Bali. 

00:02:58:05 - 00:02:58:24

Never. 

00:02:58:26 - 00:03:18:21

I have a friend who lives in Bali. He owns a co-working facility. I've been telling him I want to come visit for years, but I can never find the time because I live on the East Coast in the United States, and every time I try to get there, I just can't allocate 24 hours of travel on either side. Yeah. It's far. 

00:03:18:23 - 00:03:19:08

Yeah, yeah. 

00:03:19:10 - 00:03:22:09

It's not easy to reach. Yeah, definitely. 

00:03:22:11 - 00:03:28:02

So in preparation for our talk today, I turned up the heat in my office and I found this ambience to add. 

00:03:30:19 - 00:03:31:24

So we can pretend that's. 

00:03:31:26 - 00:03:36:00

Exactly what I'm hearing at the moment. Serious? 

00:03:36:19 - 00:03:47:27

Well done. Yeah, I found it online, and I figured that if I turn the heat up in my studio, put the ambience on and close my eyes, we can pretend that I'm actually there in Lombok. 

00:03:47:29 - 00:03:48:17

Definitely. 

00:03:48:26 - 00:03:51:07

So let's start by telling everyone who you are. 

00:03:52:15 - 00:04:24:19

My name is Lola, I'm French, and I'm a 26 year old photographer living in Lombok, Indonesia. I have a background in communication and marketing. I studied that for five years, but I've always had like a passion for photo as far as I can remember really. I started travelling when I was 20. I did a exchange program in in Malta, so it was the first time I travelled solo and I fell in love with it. 

00:04:24:22 - 00:05:03:02

Totally love meeting new people, travelling alone, the adventurer living on an island already. And uh, yeah, I loved it so much. Then one year after I took a one way ticket to Vietnam with no plans and just a backpack and travel there, I mean traveled all over Southeast Asia for a year, that was just before Covid, so that was a very good move for me. I was just very hungry for more travels, more adventures, just discovering the world. And, um, I traveled alone and then with friends for a year, and that's when I fell in love with, uh, photography, documentary photography. 

00:05:03:12 - 00:05:39:00

Everything was just so inspiring. When you are discovering a new part of the world, you know? And, like, I was not really working, just living on my saving for a year. So that was really, really nice to just be able to take photos every day. And I was posting some things on blogs, also making some videos on YouTube. I had to come back in France to finish my studies, but as soon as I had my diploma, I knew I didn't want to work in a in an office, in an advertising agency in Paris. So I did what I do best, which is jumping on a plane and, uh, travelling again. 

00:05:39:02 - 00:06:00:14

So, um, yeah, that was during Covid. So I travelled a lot to spend some time in Spain, in Morocco. Basically, I was just waiting for the borders of Indonesia to open again, because I knew I wanted to go back there because on my trip to Southeast Asia, that's the country I love the most. And so as soon as the border opened a year ago, I was back here. 

00:06:00:26 - 00:06:05:16

A lot of people that want to live that lifestyle go to Bali. Why did you go to Lombok? 

00:06:06:08 - 00:06:39:11

So a year ago I came back to Bali actually, because I thought that would be easier as a photographer, because there are a lot of people with a big budget too. So I was kind of sure I would find clients. But Bali is very crowded now. Uh, and after the war in Ukraine, a lot of Russian arrived and a lot of people from everywhere, really. And, uh, the prices went up. And now Bali isn't as cheap as before, so it's still a Paradise. But in some places it's also just a hell to many people. 

00:06:39:13 - 00:07:11:17

A lot of pollution. People don't really respecting the the community, the locals and the traditions and just the price going up. And I remember three years ago I spent a part of I spent the beginning of the pandemic stuck in Lombok, in this Paradise island that was completely empty. And I just loved it so much. So as soon as I saw that Bali wasn't it anymore for me, I took a ferry and just went on the next island. And yeah, it's way more wild and quiet here and I love it so much. 

00:07:11:21 - 00:07:14:28

Are there tourists there? Like if someone wanted to go on a holiday to Lombok, do. 

00:07:15:00 - 00:07:16:14

People go there? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

00:07:16:16 - 00:07:49:16

And more and more people go there. I don't think it's going to become as popular as Bali. So Indonesia is the one of the most I think it's the most, uh, the biggest, uh, Muslim country in the world. And I think Bali is so popular because Bali is this Hindu island in the middle, and the Hindu culture is very interesting and exotic. Uh, and I think that's why Bali is so special. And so it's not the case here in Lombok. So it's it's a different type of tourism. I think people come here more for nature and and surf really. 

00:07:49:29 - 00:08:13:22

You mentioned this idea of travel and photography and how you just had to get back out there and travel. Do you think that those two things go hand in hand? And I know this is kind of a rhetorical question, because I find that most photographers also have that travel gene where they just want to explore and want to get out there and see and experience more. 

00:08:14:07 - 00:08:48:10

For me, it's all linked to inspiration, really, because even here now in in Indonesia, I'm not as inspired as I was three years or four years ago. And I think there is this thing where you want to leave new things, see new places and just being in different atmospheres. Because for me, I want to document, uh, what I'm living. And when it's intense, I'm very inspired. So when you start creating your routine, yeah, you're just less and less amazed by the things surrounding you. 

00:08:48:12 - 00:08:52:05

And traveling just gives you this boost of inspiration. 

00:08:52:11 - 00:08:54:12

So are you thinking of leaving? 

00:08:54:14 - 00:09:24:14

Yeah, for a lot of reasons. But it's also not as easy to leave from photography here. But it's also because I've been traveling a lot for the past six years now. I kind of miss being home, so I don't know if I'm going to be like, go back home forever. But Indonesia is just very far from Europe and very expensive to visit family. It's a bit scary because, uh, I'm just less amazed than before, but am I going to have the same feeling about all the places I go to? 

00:09:24:16 - 00:09:35:12

Maybe you touched on this idea of finding clients and and photography work in Lombok, but also Bali. Is that how you afford the lifestyle or is that how you make a living? 

00:09:35:18 - 00:10:07:19

Not 100%. So in Bali, things were definitely easier because as I said, people have a bigger budget and there are also way more people in Lombok. It's pretty small, not that many expats living here. And yeah, like I'm selling my services to expats and not locals. And yeah, so in Bali I was working as a personal branding photographers. So doing portraits for all the type of coaches or yoga teachers, anyone that has a business and it's portraits really here. 

00:10:07:21 - 00:10:42:23

Now that I moved to Lombok, I had to expand my services because it's like there are less people and with a smaller budget too. So I also started to do, uh, hotel photography. I did it a bit before, but that's something I. Doing here, but now I find it hard to make a living 100% from photography here. You can after a while, but you need a network like everyone else and I'm slowly building mine. But it takes time and I don't think I have the patience for it anymore just because, like as I said, I'm ready to go back home and things didn't go as quick as I hope. 

00:10:42:25 - 00:10:53:25

So I was also using my savings and doing some other things online, like, you know, doing like French classes and other kind of stuff, but not 100% from photography yet. 

00:10:54:04 - 00:10:55:25

What do you think you want to do when you get home? 

00:10:56:00 - 00:11:23:04

I'm kind of torn because I'm dreaming of working as a documentary photographer and being sent, I don't know, in the Middle East to document some kind of event there, and then going to South America to document a festival, this kind of thing, but I don't I'm still like trying to find ways to get there, because I feel like when you're nobody, when no one really knows you, when you're not famous, when you're not a part of the influencer system, it's kind of hard to get that. 

00:11:23:12 - 00:11:48:19

I've spoken to a lot of people who also want to be documentary photographers, and some who are documentary photographers and are successful, and the common thing that I've heard is that it comes down to practice and getting out there, and people seeing your work and knowing your work and knowing you, which takes time. Eventually, if you build it up, it will happen. But it does take time. 

00:11:48:23 - 00:11:49:18

But it's gonna be. 

00:11:49:20 - 00:12:20:09

Hard because at some point you're like, like I've been travelling for the past six years documenting all my travels. So my portfolio is really evolved now. I have some good work to show, and now it's just a matter of like finding the right people, the people that value this work. But it's a bit frustrating too, because, um, when it's been so long and you're not really like, I'm being paid as a photographer, but not as a documentary photographer. And I'm like, I've done the work like I've traveled all over, not all over the world, but I've traveled a lot. 

00:12:20:11 - 00:12:39:06

And like I did my part. It's hard keeping the motivation, but I know eventually will come. And yeah, as you said, it's important to share a lot of your work because I think one of my default is maybe to not share it enough that I'm not just not working on my Instagram or here, but in the end, no one really sees. 

00:12:39:16 - 00:12:41:02

I love your photos. 

00:12:41:05 - 00:12:41:27

Thank you. 

00:12:42:04 - 00:12:57:02

I love them, they're beautiful and they give a real sense of what life is like on Lombok and Bali, or at least the story that you're telling. I think they're great and I really enjoy looking at them. Okay, so before it's. 

00:12:57:04 - 00:12:57:21

Actually funny. 

00:12:57:23 - 00:13:28:05

What you just said like about like how I display Lombok, because I had a few friends visiting me here and before they came they were like, oh, we seen your photo. It really seems like Paradise. It seems perfect. And I was like, please don't forget, I'm a photographer and like art director too. Like, my job is to make things look beautiful. And it's not only like to show my friends my life is perfect. Like I truly love that. Like making things look beautiful and create ambiance. And and so I was like, just keep that in mind. 

00:13:28:07 - 00:13:34:26

Like I'm I'm good at what I'm like, good at my job. I'm good at Photoshop too. So it's not as perfect as it looks in the picture. You know. 

00:13:34:28 - 00:13:40:24

That's a good point. Have you heard of, uh, sailing YouTube channel called Sailing Vagabond? 

00:13:40:26 - 00:13:42:00

Yeah, I love them. 

00:13:42:10 - 00:14:18:27

They're great. Right. For our listeners who aren't familiar with that sailing band are a couple now. They have, I believe, two kids. There are couple who has been sailing for about ten years. They're Australian and they just bought a sailboat and took off. And over time they have become YouTube's number one sailing channel and they have evolved. First they upgraded their boat to an Altima beautiful catamaran, which was gorgeous. And now they're upgrading again to, I believe it's called a rapido 60, which is a trimaran that goes super fast. 

00:14:18:29 - 00:14:52:12

They live this amazing lifestyle on YouTube. The other day, they came out with a video that was pretty honest, talking about their life and the struggles that they have doing this because of how hard creating content is and how there's a whole other life behind it and what it's done for their relationship and how hard they've had to work on their relationship. So I commend you, and I really appreciate you speaking about both sides, because it is important that people understand how much work goes into this, but also it highlights your skills because you're able to do this. 

00:14:52:14 - 00:14:57:26

I don't think my photos would be as good as yours. They would probably not tell the same story because I'm not as talented. 

00:14:58:01 - 00:14:59:04

Man. I don't know about that. 

00:14:59:06 - 00:15:41:27

Thank you. But I think it's also like we're talking about this lifestyle in Lombok and like being a, you know, this trend of being a digital nomad. And like a lot of people I was inspired by when I wanted to work online and travel the world. Now there are almost all like they all settled somewhere and they are all now saying they were really close to burnout or they had burnout. And I think, yeah, it's important to kind of break this fake reality, because sometimes I feel like people that share their life or make it look better as a responsibility because you're sharing a vision of success that is not necessarily realistic. 

00:15:41:29 - 00:16:14:20

So yeah, when people tell me, oh, you're so lucky, uh, your life seems so great. You live by the beach. Yeah. Okay. Lombok is far from being perfect. Like anywhere in the world. Like you don't have a perfect place. And to be able to live here, you have to afford and to work legally. You have to afford a visa or working visa that is very expensive. Like, it's not perfect, really, but it's it's some choice, like you have to make to have some priorities. And at some point, mine was to live in, in nature and have this sense of freedom and have a cheap lifestyle. 

00:16:14:22 - 00:16:20:22

And for this, like Indonesia, works perfectly. But then other priorities. It might not work for you. 

00:16:21:00 - 00:16:21:20

I get it. 

00:16:21:22 - 00:16:43:25

I've been an entrepreneur my whole life. I've always started businesses and people look at entrepreneurship and traveling photography in similar ways where it's this idealized lifestyle, but it's really hard. It's really, really hard. So I completely get it. While you're still in Lombok, I've got to ask you some questions just because I'm curious. So what is a typical day like for you? 

00:16:45:09 - 00:16:45:26

Go ahead. 

00:16:48:02 - 00:17:23:24

Let's take a day when I have a shoot. Um, I would, uh, wake up and prepare to shoot some inspiration on Pinterest, talk with my client, maybe meet him or her for a coffee, and then, uh, go on with the shoot. Um, like. Yeah, if it's a hotel. For example, sometime I ask some friend to come with me and, um, to make, like, the photos a bit more alive. And we will shoot in those, like, they are perfect locations. It's, like, pretty nice to work, uh, in the, in those hotels and. Yeah, come back home, retouch some photos, probably, uh, have a walk on the beach for sunset. 

00:17:24:03 - 00:17:39:07

If I'm not shooting, then, uh, the rest of my time would be, uh, deal with making quotes for clients, social media. Uh, I also have a YouTube channel. Like, I'm doing a lot of different things. So, like, every day is different, really. And that's also what I like about it. 

00:17:39:20 - 00:17:51:03

How's the coffee there? I know this has nothing to do with our conversation, but I love coffee and I love Sumatra coffee. I know there's different regions in Indonesia, but. 

00:17:51:05 - 00:17:51:28

Just gonna be. 

00:17:52:00 - 00:17:53:06

So disappointed by my. 

00:17:53:08 - 00:17:53:24

Answer. 

00:17:53:26 - 00:17:56:06

Uh, just patronize me to make me feel good. I don't. 

00:17:56:08 - 00:18:14:22

Drink coffee. I've heard my friend told me Bali coffee is very good. Lombok coffee is very good in Lombok. Coffee, actually, they had, um, a dry, uh, rice on the bottom. Apparently changed the taste too. Uh, that's all I can say. Really? I don't like coffee. Yes. 

00:18:15:03 - 00:18:18:01

I had high expectations for this conversation. 

00:18:23:00 - 00:18:56:25

Hi everyone. It's Ken here, taking a quick break to congratulate our top ten most upvoted Big Photo Hunt members from last month Hailey Flint Aherne, Sara Chakraborty, James Burns, Kevin Wilson, Stefan Shave, Lola Delahaye that's right, the Lola we're listening to right now. Congratulations, Lola Ryan Adams, Brad Panther, Amy Kaufman, Alan Turner and Daniela Hurtado. Congratulations to all of you. If you're listening to this and you have no idea what I'm talking about, head over to Big Photo hunt.com. 

00:18:56:27 - 00:19:08:24

Click on current giveaway. You'll see what kind of magical pizza were whipping up over there. Not Hawaiian pizza though. That's weird. Now back to the show. 

00:19:12:24 - 00:19:25:03

I want to thank you for being so transparent about your experiences, because I think it's really important that people understand that you have to be prepared for this lifestyle, because it is hard. It's really hard. 

00:19:25:10 - 00:19:57:06

It's important for me to share about it because I've suffered from it. Seeing other photographers travelling the world. And I was like, how is it that easy? And just like, uh, selling La Vagabond. The YouTubers used video like for an interview years. After a while they actually like share that. It was not easy at all. And I'm like, damn it, I was suffering from comparing myself to them, asking myself why I couldn't do what they were doing, but they were actually, like, struggling too. So it's good to kind of share that. So no one has like unrealistic expectations. 

00:19:57:17 - 00:20:25:21

I want to talk about AI. When we were talking about your experiences with AI, one of the things you mentioned to me was that you're not an expert, and that is actually intriguing to me, because I want to hear from the perspective of someone who is not an expert, someone who is dabbling in AI and starting to understand how to use it and understand what impacts it may have. So could you maybe touch on what you've played with in the AI realm as far as it relates to photography? 

00:20:26:13 - 00:20:26:28

Mhm. 

00:20:27:03 - 00:20:59:04

First, I think I really wanted to start using this, this kind of I will call it medium because I've, I love trying a lot of things like from the beginning I love photography but I am like I consider more myself as an artist. And I've tried like I've recorded my own private podcast, I've co-created books, I have a YouTube channel, I made fanzine collages, I designed board games. And recently I was kind of bored because I was like, I was going back to photography a lot because I was like, okay, I don't have any new media. 

00:20:59:06 - 00:21:34:03

I'm like, I don't know what to do anymore. And then people were starting to talk about AI and the fact, like before it was introduced in Photoshop, I was like, okay, it's this nerd thing that I won't really understand is to like technical for me. So I'm just gonna wait. And then when I've seen some videos on Instagram about like people using it on Photoshop, I was like, okay, that like I'm just going to give it a try. And I just found it really crazy how how easy it was really, for me, the thing that changed everything was the tool generative field on Photoshop beta. 

00:21:34:08 - 00:22:06:02

I was just blown away to see how easy it was to remove elements in a photo. I feel like when I become more professional in photography is when I started to pay attention to details more and like to give to my clients a clean photo where I spend hours removing all the distracting things that for me, that makes a big difference. And with this new tool like generative feel, you don't have to spend hours on details trying to clean, but it doesn't look really clean. You just draw a circle around your objects. 

00:22:06:05 - 00:22:40:01

Click on generative fill with a blank like with nothing written, and it disappears. And the photo is so clean. I was like, wow, I'm just going to save so much time, you know? So after I played with like cleaning my images, I was like, okay, let's see how now I can add new elements and try this new tool. And I just started the same process as cleaning my images. I cleaned them, but by adding elements like for example, I had a group photo and like some palm trees and banana leaves on the back and there was some weird hole at some point in the photo. 

00:22:40:03 - 00:23:14:16

So I started to just create a like a new banana leaf there, and it was just so real, like, so I was like, okay, I can really use this AI generative tool to make my photos better, that really natural. And then I pushed it a bit further and I started to have fun, like adding surreal elements to my image. And when I saw how easy it was, like I was just blown away because it opened so many new doors for me. Like, I'm not really a technical person, I'm a bit lazy. Like, there are a lot of effects that I would love to do on my photos, but I would never do them because it takes so long to learn the technique. 

00:23:14:18 - 00:23:48:08

And this helped me so much. Like saving time to like, have crazy images without spending really too much time on them. And recently I've discovered this new website called Leonardo. It's like Midjourney, but you have a free, uh, you have a free and a paid version, but you really can like, create some AI, uh, graphics and photos for free. And, uh, I feel like today it's really important to master those skills because, I mean, we cannot do anything right, like, it's going to develop anyway whether we want it or not. 

00:23:48:10 - 00:23:59:20

So as photographer, I think it's better to adapt than to try to fight. Uh, and for me, it's really open new door, new doors in terms of creativity because as I said, like I see it as a new medium. 

00:23:59:26 - 00:24:10:13

Are you able to tell a difference between some of the photos versus photos that you haven't used the eye on? I know you're able to tell, but do you think that the average person is able to tell the difference? 

00:24:11:16 - 00:24:41:23

Absolutely not. Now I've sent some photos to clients that are also friends, and I told them, did you realize that I changed something here? And they didn't? And I had a whole new tree in the background in their backyard. They didn't realize. I shared recently a reel on Instagram where I show the process of like, adding surreal elements to my photos, and a friend of mine texted me and she was like, I don't see what you added in the last one because some some of them were pretty like crazy. 

00:24:41:25 - 00:24:54:24

It was obvious that I added something, but on some of them they were like, I don't see what's not really here. And I had a whole like an old person hand with a drink and no one could see what's fake. So now I think it's it's really good. 

00:24:54:26 - 00:24:55:14

Does that scare. 

00:24:55:16 - 00:24:56:01

You? 

00:24:56:25 - 00:25:26:14

It scares me. For social media because like it's a form of art. But so I think it already happened when? Years ago, when Photoshop arrived and everyone was scared because you would retouch models. But we know it exists now, and so I think we can adapt to it and it's not a danger anymore. I think it's the same for AI. I think it's important to mention it when it is. Um, but I'm not that scared anymore. 

00:25:26:20 - 00:25:44:24

How do you think this impacts purist photographers who want to create their images with the scene that they have? And now a whole new crop of young people come along, and the first time they're getting into photography, the only thing they know is how to make it better with AI. 

00:25:45:06 - 00:26:16:13

I understand it, I don't understand like I agree and I don't agree at the same time. Because like I also do illustration. And when I saw that with just a few sentences, you could do a full illustration that I would spend hours doing, like shit that's going to steal my job. And, and that's a pity, because all these work, all these techniques that I've learned are like not useful anymore. But then if you don't want to be left out, you have to evolve and to adapt, like things are going to change anyway. 

00:26:16:16 - 00:26:44:13

So I think today not anyone can do a crazy good picture with AI like you need an AI, and I think all the things you've learned in the past are going to be useful anyway, because you still need artists to make good AI art. I don't want to be part of those who are purists. It's different. You can be a very good photographer and you can be a very good AI artist, but it's not incompatible and I think everything is art anyway. 

00:26:44:26 - 00:27:12:28

Do you think that it needs to be regulated, or do you think there needs to be some type of rules with AI and photography? Because if you look here around the world, but particularly in the States, there is this big discussion about AI and social media and technology and whether or not it needs to be regulated and controlled, and that that's an American thing. But I also think it's a societal thing. People need to be protected or do they not need to be protected and just protect themselves? 

00:27:13:00 - 00:27:14:15

Yeah, yeah. 

00:27:14:17 - 00:27:49:19

I think some kind of regulation would be good. But also it's scary because it's new and we don't know the limits of it and the possibilities of it, but I really compare it to Photoshop. We managed to adapt to it and we know it exists, but it's not like I don't consider it as a real danger anymore. So I think it's going to be like this for a while. Like the time we can get to know the tool and and what we can do with it. And once everyone can understand that, okay, now we kind of have to be more critical about what we see because this is possible and that is possible. 

00:27:49:21 - 00:28:12:02

Then things are going to be better on my side. Like for me, for example, if I share a photo that is completely fake, like made out with some like Midjourney or stuff, I mentioned it like I like mentioning and I think it's honest to do so it can be dangerous, but I want to believe that it's nothing really different than it's just Photoshop push, push to the extreme. 

00:28:12:13 - 00:28:27:27

I also think in ten years, 20 years, 30 years from now, we're going to be laughing that we're even having this conversation because it's in such its infancy. We don't even know what we're talking about. And it's such silly stuff right now. For us, it's mind blowing, right? It's all new. It's like, wow. 

00:28:27:29 - 00:28:28:29

But yeah. 

00:28:29:08 - 00:28:36:24

One of the things that really scares me is actually is the deepfake. Like when you make people say things, that's really scary. 

00:28:36:29 - 00:29:10:18

That stuff's all coming no matter what, and there's going to be no way to change it, and it's going to be in everybody's hands. And so I think you're right on when you say we need to adapt to it, because it's where the world is going and the world is going in places that we can't even think about right now, that we can't get our heads around because we don't have the context or the perspective to understand it. And so we'd all be better off understanding that this is happening, understanding what it is, and understanding how to adapt to it because it's where the world is going and beyond which, like I said, exactly. 

00:29:11:00 - 00:29:12:12

Yeah, we don't even know it. 

00:29:12:14 - 00:29:42:19

Actually, my first reaction to it was, oh, it's not fair because I spent so long learning skills as a photographer and now someone can make my photo just writing a sentence. But in the end, like, yes, it's not fair, but it's no one's fault. Like now. Now what? Do you adapt? Do you learn? And do you use your previous skills and adapt them? Or you just keep saying it's not fair and you keep doing your photos or your photos, not using it and losing time compared to the others. 

00:29:42:21 - 00:29:46:01

Like it's just a choice. But sometimes it feels like it's not. 

00:29:46:03 - 00:29:46:29

Fair, right? 

00:29:47:01 - 00:29:51:22

You sit around and cry, or do you say, this is what the world is, let's go forward. 

00:29:52:04 - 00:29:52:19

Mhm. 

00:29:53:22 - 00:30:04:05

Lola. Are there any questions I didn't ask or anything that maybe is on your mind about either being a nomadic photographer or AI that you think our audience should hear? 

00:30:05:05 - 00:30:38:15

I just want to share maybe an advice, something that I've understanding nowadays. I'm trying to push myself to. Yeah, share more more of my work and just create more and worry less. Sometimes, like I found myself waiting for the perfect, knowing what I wanted to do exactly, to share some of my work so it fits with my future clients. But if you wait too long, you're not going in any direction. So I would say, don't wait to find exactly what you want to do and just keep creating and sharing. 

00:30:38:21 - 00:30:54:00

It might look not very cohesive, but at some point it will. And it's better to to create than just worry and wait because you're not like evolving. So I would say just keep creating even if you're not sure. 

00:30:54:09 - 00:31:04:16

Brilliant advice. Are there any resources that you can think of that might be valuable to people looking to be a traveling photographer, or for people who have an interest in AI? 

00:31:05:13 - 00:31:38:02

Um, I have this Instagram account from this guy, I believe. I'm not sure. Uh, that was a big inspiration for me. Uh, in I because I saw, like, the possibilities of it. And I found this is work beautiful. And at first I thought he was photos, but he was, uh, it was I made with AI, but I found it even, like, more beautiful knowing it's AI, because all these ideas come from these guys ahead, and it's crazy. So the name of the account is Saad Dot visuals aside, dot visuals and Instagram. 

00:31:38:04 - 00:32:04:11

Go check it out. It's it's beautiful. And uh, another there is this photographer, um, that is also a graphic designer. And she was a big inspiration for me because she's the first, like, professional who inspired me, who was kind of mixing mediums. She was not only a photographer, but also doing some videos and graphic design and just mixing everything. And, uh, she's very inspiring. Uh, her name is Shin Lagos. 

00:32:05:08 - 00:32:13:01

And I always ask three questions at the end of every one of my interviews. The first one is what camera system do you use? 

00:32:13:03 - 00:32:13:21

I use. 

00:32:13:23 - 00:32:15:19

A canon 77 D. 

00:32:16:12 - 00:32:19:14

And what is your favorite genre to shoot? 

00:32:20:01 - 00:32:21:12

Documentary photography. 

00:32:21:23 - 00:32:31:03

And the final question is, on a scale of 1 to 10, how often do you get that burning itch to get out there and take photos? 

00:32:32:19 - 00:32:35:00

Um. I would say a. 

00:32:35:02 - 00:32:45:11

Seven because when I have it it's very strong. But I need to be in an inspiring place to to feel it in a new place so it doesn't happen. Like every day. 

00:32:45:21 - 00:32:52:12

I go through the same thing where I love to do it, but sometimes I'm just not inspired. Sometimes I just don't want to do it. 

00:32:52:17 - 00:32:53:18

Mhm. Exactly. 

00:32:54:12 - 00:32:56:16

Lola, where can people find you online? 

00:32:56:27 - 00:33:01:03

Mostly on my Instagram. Lola Debs. 

00:33:01:12 - 00:33:02:07

And. 

00:33:02:09 - 00:33:11:24

I also have a YouTube channel where I talk about my life here in Indonesia, but also photography. And uh, I also have a website. 

00:33:11:27 - 00:33:40:13

And the website is Lola Delabays. And I said, the s on purpose because I want people to know there's an S at the end, even though it's Lola Delabays, Loladelabays.com Lola d e l a B a y s .com. Lola this has been such an enjoyable conversation. Thank you for being so transparent and open. I'm sorry more for me than for you that I'm not on location sitting under a palm. 

00:33:40:15 - 00:33:41:14

Tree in. 

00:33:41:16 - 00:33:42:01

A rice. 

00:33:42:03 - 00:33:42:18

Field. 

00:33:42:20 - 00:33:53:15

Next time, thank you so much for having me and for creating this community. And like connecting people together because it is very inspiring and it works. So well. 

00:33:53:17 - 00:33:54:02

Done. 

00:33:54:04 - 00:34:11:17

Thank you. It really means a lot to hear that. Thank you so much for joining me for today's episode. Our next show will feature more valuable stories from our community members. If you'd like to audition to be a guest, please visit BigPhotohunt.com for more information. Thanks again for listening today.