Guest Blog: Stop Wasting Hours Writing Captions – Here’s How AI Can Save Your Sanity (Without sounding like a soulless corporate robot, promise 💅)

March 28, 2025

As photographers, we’ve all felt the pressure of the AI hype train barrelling towards us, making us wonder if it’s going to take over our jobs. Trust me, I get it. But here’s the thing: AI isn’t here to replace us—it’s here to help us work smarter. In this guest blog, Lila Marvel, a photographer and creative, dives into how AI can actually be a game-changer for your content creation, without stealing your creative spark. From writing captions to repurposing content, Lila shares her tips for using AI as a smart, sassy sidekick to save you time and energy. So let’s dive in and see how you can make AI work for you!

Look, I get it. As a photographer myself, the AI hype train can feel like it’s coming for our jobs. The panic is real. But also… have you seen some of those AI-generated photos? All those haunted hands and cursed fingers? 💀 I’m still recovering from that one maternity shoot where the AI added a third leg. Nope.

And don’t even get me started on the murky ethics of AI photo editing. When does it stop being your image and start becoming some Frankenstein collage of another photographer’s work? It’s a grey area for sure.

But lucky for us – we’re not talking about that today. We’re talking about writing. Because if there’s one part of the content-creation process that sucks the soul right out of creatives… it’s writing captions, emails, ads, and all the other sh*t we “should” be doing to market ourselves.

You’ve probably dabbled in AI and thought: meh. Too generic. Too robotic. Too much effort.

Let’s flip that. Let’s make AI your smart, sassy sidekick instead of your awkward intern.

Start with captions. ChatGPT doesn’t suck – but just like Google, if you ask it the wrong question, you’ll get absolute 💩 back. If you type in “write a caption for a photo of a pregnant woman”… you’ll get a caption with all the emotional depth of a tax receipt.

Instead, give it context. Give it the why. Try something like:

“I have a photo of a pregnant woman and I want to talk about how maternity shoots help you capture a once-in-a-lifetime moment – a visual time capsule of motherhood.”

Game. Changer. ChatGPT can finesse the grammar and polish the spelling – but the idea? That still comes from you.

Stuck on what to even talk about?

Welcome to the club. Blank page syndrome is real, and it’s annoying as hell. Try asking AI for ideas first:

  • “Give me 10 caption ideas to promote my family photography sessions”
  • “What are some ways to show the value of maternity shoots?”
  • “How can I promote my skills without sounding salesy?”
  • “What questions do people usually ask before booking a newborn session?”

Let the AI brainstorm for you. Then either write the posts yourself or have it flesh out the ones that hit home. You’re still the creative director – you’re just not stuck doing every single draft from scratch.

Stretch that content like it’s lycra

One of my favourite ways to use AI? Repurposing. I’ll get it to write me a caption, then boom – in the same chat, I’ll ask for:

  • A matching email
  • A shortened headline
  • A Reel script
  • Carousel copy
  • A Meta ad
  • A LinkedIn post (if I’m feeling brave)

One idea, seven formats. Massive time saver.

And don’t stress about repeating yourself. Only about 10% of your audience sees each post, so it’s totally fair game to repackage the same message across different platforms. The person watching your Reel probably isn’t the one reading your emails anyway. (And even if they are – we all forget stuff. Reminders are a gift.)

Still can’t get AI to sound like you?

That’s literally what I built i-Lila for. My custom ChatGPT plug-in is made specifically for your business – it knows your tone, your offers, your voice, and your vibe. You give it the idea, it gives you back a caption that sounds like you wrote it on a good coffee day. No editing required.

Check it out here: https://www.lilamarvell.com.au/ilila

Bottom line? AI isn’t here to steal your job – it’s here to give you your time back. Use it, own it, and get back to the part you actually love: being creative.