I recovered an entire deleted photoshoot today.
But not just because AI is smart — there’s more to it than that.
The real hero wasn’t the tech.
It was my relationship with it.
The reality is, a super-experienced photographer who’s made this mistake before could have helped me too.
(Heck, I’ve been shooting for 20 years and never done this — so even the most experienced photographer you know would have said your situation is bleak.)
But here’s the difference:
I knew I could explain my exact situation to a couple AI models in seconds… and just ask.
And low and behold — a glimmer of hope.
The Lesson: JUST ASK.
Seriously.
Why not ask?
Are you that sure there’s no answer? (or that you really know the answer)
WHY I’M WRITING THIS
For over two years now I’ve been asking — about everything.
My curiosity has exploded.
Not because AI has “taught” me to be curious,
but because the ease of getting real, thoughtful answers has made curiosity rewarding again and my go to reaction.
That’s the real byproduct of AI — curiosity revival.
Kids growing up now can ask a million random questions about how the world works…
and actually learn instead of hitting a wall of “I don’t know, maybe Google it.” (But google of yesteryear was excruciating experience... even though better than going to the library i suppose)
BUT HERE’S THE THING…
Every single one of you reading this — my friends, peers, fellow humans —
you have no idea how much AI can actually help you.
I know because I talk to so many of you about it.
Most of you are still treating it like Google.
(Some of you barely use it at all — maybe you just skim the “AI results” Google adds in now.)
When I speak in my prompts people are shocked... "You really just talk to it like that"
I have empathy... how can you be good at something you barely use?
You don’t know what it’s capable of if all you've done is have it write a poem or two or rewrite a business email.
You don’t really know when to use it.
And you probably don’t even know that there are multiple models (all with different capacities)—
some of which can do deep reasoning or full-on deep research that would take you days if not weeks to do.
And you know what? I don’t blame you on your relationship with this new technology.
No one’s trained you how to use it — not really.
You likely don’t have examples of what is even possible
You think it’s just for rewriting a business email or summarizing a doc.
OKAY — BACK TO MY ALMOST-SAD STORY
So there I was, tearing my place apart looking for a memory card.
Maybe it's on another memory card... well i found them ALL
I had to come to terms with the reality ... I’d formatted the card. They were all deleted.
All the photos… gone.
And this wasn’t just any shoot — it was for a friend and a single mom. And she had traveled so far and put so much effort into getting the kids there and happy.
My heart sank.
I started writing the message in my head:
the “I’m so sorry, I lost your photos” a text that no photographer ever wants to send. (That i had never sent before)
I even called my best friend to speak the words out loud and internalize the situation and get their advice and get some words of consolation for the loss.
I waited a bit delaying the awkward hard conversation
Then it hit me:
Wait… why haven’t I asked AI?
I mean that's my thing!! It won't hurt.
It's like how most other photographers i know would probably call me to ask about this situation and funny because for them i would probably just ask ai to help show them they have an expert like me in their pocket who never sleeps.
So luckily before I messaged the client, I opened up AI.
And I just told it the story. Like i told my friend earlier...
I said what camera I used, what happened... i formatted the cards AND i had already done another photoshoot on that card.
(Tip: use voice-to-text — 30 seconds and done.)
And boom. In minutes I had clarity:
- It explained exactly the difference between a quick format vs full format.
- It told me how to confirm which one my camera used.
- It broke down the recovery software options — for Mac, specifically.
- It told me which one it recommended and which setting to pick so I didn’t screw it up.
I ran it.
There they were. All the photos.
I happily paid for the full version of the software,
recovered every image,
imported them into Lightroom,
and got back to editing like nothing ever happened.
Looking Back
The fix was simple… to the person who already knew the answer.
But most of us just need that tiny spark of curiosity to ask the question.
Maybe there’s no solution — but you’ll never know if you don’t ask.
Moral of the story:
AI didn’t just save my photos.
It reminded me that curiosity and communication are still the best tools we’ve got.