Aerial Perspectives Faces AI Image Challenge Over Whitehaven Storm

By James Calloway

OpenAI’s Verify website detected the SynthID watermark in virtually every Aerial Perspectives portfolio image, according to Dave Wilson, a Whitehaven photographer. He challenged a photograph of Whitehaven lighthouse during a storm that damaged property, toppled trees and blew roofs off. Metadata testing then widened the dispute beyond one implausible flight.

What made the storm flight implausible?

Whitehaven sits on England’s Cumbrian coast, close to the Lake District National Park. The harbour can be traced to 1517, and John Paul Jones raided it during the American Revolutionary War, helping explain its long pull on photographers.

Wilson is an experienced photographer and certified commercial drone pilot. When reported gusts reached 77 miles per hour during the storm, he judged the flight impossible rather than merely difficult.

Wilson told PetaPixel: “There were reported gusts of 77 miles per hour. To fly something in those conditions is reckless, and also it just wouldn’t happen because if it’s over the top speed of the drone you’re not going to get it back.” That conclusion came from commercial-pilot experience, not only an aesthetic objection.

Wilson immediately called foul and commented that he believed the image was AI-generated. Aerial Perspectives replied that the photographs were genuine and had been captured on a DJI Air 3S in treacherous conditions.

Wilson later discussed the dispute in a YouTube video with hundreds of thousands of views. He called the claim a simple misrepresentation, framing the issue as authorship rather than aesthetic preference.

The myWhitehaven Facebook page administrators then deleted Wilson’s comments, removing the public exchange but not his concern. That prompted him to move from visual suspicion to an external verification tool.

What did the watermark tests establish?

Wilson submitted the disputed photographs to OpenAI’s Verify website. The service checks for C2PA metadata or a SynthID watermark, the two leading protocols cited for identifying AI images.

According to Wilson, the results confirmed AI had been used in the disputed images. He then ran several images from Aerial Perspectives’ website and found the invisible SynthID mark in virtually all of the portfolio.

The watermark signals that generative AI was used on an image. That finding widened the dispute from one impossible-looking flight to the provenance of a working portfolio.

Wilson said he did not believe there was malicious intent behind the images. His objection was that whoever ran the account considered it acceptable to use AI to get the best from pictures, even though that process changes them completely.

How did Aerial Perspectives answer?

Initially, Aerial Perspectives insisted that the stormy harbour images were genuine and cited a five-person team: three drone pilots, with two others handling administration when needed.

In a lengthy statement to PetaPixel, Jake, who identifies himself only as Jake, blamed a former team member for the AI-generated harbour image. He said: “We acknowledge that the image should not have been presented as genuine photography, and I understand why this has caused concern and damaged people’s confidence.”

Jake also said he took responsibility for the effect on the business, although he was not the individual who created the image. Yet he denied that the entire Aerial Perspectives portfolio was AI-generated.

Does that settle the wider portfolio?

Aerial Perspectives’ defence rests on several claims:

• The team spent considerable time and effort carrying out genuine photography across Cumbria.
• Its work includes landscapes, local landmarks, businesses, harbours and other locations.
• The photographs were taken with the company’s own equipment.
• Original files and supporting metadata are available to demonstrate their authenticity.

To explain the SynthID flags, Jake says he adds the company’s watermark to photographs using ChatGPT. His explanation addresses why the marker appears, but it does not resolve whether the disputed harbour scene itself was generated.

Even so, the company said it had spent considerable time and effort carrying out genuine photography across Cumbria. Its work includes landscapes, local landmarks, businesses, harbours and other locations.

What would settle the competing claims?

PetaPixel has requested the RAW files from Aerial Perspectives. Until they arrive, Wilson’s portfolio-wide SynthID finding stands alongside the company’s denial that its portfolio is wholly AI-generated.

The RAW files PetaPixel has requested are the decisive next step, and the publication says it will update the article if and when it receives them.