Midjourney Prompts for Realistic Photos

Midjourney Prompts for Realistic Photos – Tutorial

Midjourney is a revolutionary generative AI that can create original images from text prompts. With the right prompts, Midjourney can generate highly realistic photos that look like they were actually captured with a camera. This opens up amazing creative possibilities. In this guide, we’ll look at crafting effective Midjourney prompts to produce realistic photographic images.

Introduction to Midjourney

Midjourney is a new generative AI system developed by Anthropic to generate images from natural language descriptions. It uses a deep learning model trained on millions of photos and artworks to “imagine” images matching text prompts.

While Midjourney can produce stylised and abstract art, it also excels at realistic images. With carefully engineered prompts, Midjourney can output synthetic yet photorealistic images of people, objects, scenes and more.

Crafting Prompts for Realistic Results

The key to photorealism with Midjourney lies in constructing very detailed, descriptive prompts. Here are prompt engineering tips for realistic Midjourney photos:

Specify a Clear Subject

Clearly describe the primary subject or scene you want Midjourney to generate. For example "A majestic lion standing on a rock" or "An aerial view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris". Concrete subjects result in more realistic renders.

Include Adjectives for Details

Use adjectives and descriptive phrases to add visual details. "A majestic lion with golden fur and a flowing black mane standing on a mossy rock" prompts richer detail than just “a lion”.

Set Lighting and Background

Define lighting conditions like “at sunset” or “under a night sky”. Set backgrounds and environments like “in a green meadow” or “in a busy city”. This frames the subject within a realistic scene.

Specify Camera Shot Type

Indicate if you want a close up shot, wide angle, aerial, macro or other camera angle. Terms like “cinematic close up” give Midjourney compositional context.

Add Photographic Styles

Use styles like “wide angle”, “macro”, “cinematic”, “shallow depth of field” or “tilted angle” to suggest desired photographic aesthetics.

Make It Photorealistic

Directly stating “photorealistic”, “extremely detailed”, or “real life photograph” prompts Midjourney to render realistically. This overrides any default stylization.

Top 10 Midjourney Courses:

Udemy Midjourney Course	Rating	Link
Midjourney Mastery by Samson Vowles	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Create Beautiful Art with AI, by Scott Bromander	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Ultimate Guide to ChatGPT Prompt Engineering, Colt Steele	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Midjourney PRO by DFA Course Academy	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
AI Art Passive Income by Diego Davila	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Midjourney Masterclass by Henry Habib	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Learn Midjourney as a Future Career by Cristian Doru	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Create Stunning Images with AI by Paul Nekh	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course

Let’s look at some full prompt examples and the impressive photorealistic results from Midjourney:

Midjourney Prompt Example 1: Portrait Photograph

Prompt: A close up portrait photograph of a beautiful young woman with long blonde wavy hair, bright blue eyes, light makeup, a radiant smile, and a yellow flower crown. Photorealistic and extremely detailed.

Result: A vivid, perfectly convincing portrait that looks like an actual photo studio shot. Midjourney renders the model, expression, hair, crown, and lighting flawlessly.

Midjourney Prompt Example 2: Lion Photography

Prompt: A close up photorealistic photograph of a fierce male lion with golden fur and a black mane roaring directly at the camera against a blurred green jungle background. Extremely detailed.

Result: An incredible photorealistic lion portrait, sharply in focus down to each fur strand. It captures the power and intensity of a real wildlife photograph.

Midjourney Prompt Example 3: Fashion Photography

Prompt: A high resolution photorealistic fashion photograph of a beautiful model wearing a red backless gown standing under spotlights against a black background. Shot from a low angle perspective with a shallow depth of field.

Result: A perfect recreation of a high fashion photograph, with impeccable lighting and model posing. The depth of field effect makes it extra convincing.

Midjourney Prompt Example 4: Landscape Photography

Prompt: A wide angle National Geographic style landscape photography of towering snow-capped mountains reflecting off a perfectly still crystal blue alpine lake at sunrise. Extremely detailed and photorealistic.

Result: This prompt captures the style and splendor of an iconic landscape photography image. The lighting, colors, and details of the mountains, reflections and water look incredibly realistic.

Midjourney Prompt Example 5: Food Photography

Prompt: A photorealistic shallow depth of field close up photography of a pepperoni pizza on a wooden table with melted cheese and fresh basil leaves. Styled like a high-end food magazine advertisement photo.

Result: Mouth-watering doesn’t begin to describe this delicious-looking pizza photo. The melted cheese is so convincing you can practically taste it. Midjourney nails every facet of professional food photography.

Midjourney Prompt Example 6: Action Photography

Prompt: A professional sports photography of a snowboarder wearing blue goggles and a yellow jacket mid-jump against a snowy mountain backdrop. Photorealistic with a frozen action feel.

Result: Midjourney generates a perfect action sports shot, freezing the drama of the snowboarder’s airborne maneuver against the wintry background. It’s full of vibrant athletic energy.

Top 10 Midjourney Courses:

Udemy Midjourney Course	Rating	Link
Midjourney Mastery by Samson Vowles	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Create Beautiful Art with AI, by Scott Bromander	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Ultimate Guide to ChatGPT Prompt Engineering, Colt Steele	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Midjourney PRO by DFA Course Academy	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
AI Art Passive Income by Diego Davila	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Midjourney Masterclass by Henry Habib	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Learn Midjourney as a Future Career by Cristian Doru	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Create Stunning Images with AI by Paul Nekh	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course

Advanced Prompt Elements for Realism

To take your Midjourney photorealism to the next level, try incorporating these advanced prompt elements:

Detailed Camera Specs

Add mock camera details like “Canon 5D Mark IV” or specify a realistic lens like “85mm prime lens at f1.8”. This lends technical authenticity.

Model Info

For portraits, include fictional model details like “Jane Doe, 24 years old, redhead model”. Midjourney can then generate consistent details.

Brand Names

Name specific fashion brands, car makes, gear etc. This hints at their recognizable visual style.

Film Emulation

Try styles like “Kodak Portra 400 film emulation” or classic camera “Fuji Instax look” for analog realism.

Location Details

For cityscapes, name the exact street or GPS coordinates. Or cite real features like “Half Dome mountain visible in background”.

Studio Lighting

Mention “studio lighting” or specific setups like “Rembrandt lighting” or even “cinematic” lighting for realistic portraits.

Photo Composition Rules

Apply guidelines like “rule of thirds” or terms like “leading lines” and “vanishing point” for structured shots.

The more photographic knowledge you work into prompts, the more convincing the results. Midjourney ingests all these details to construct highly authentic fake photos.

Specify dimensions and midjourney version

Towards the end of your prompt you ideally want to specify the dimensions and version of midjourney. For example, for an image roughly the proportions o a 1920×1080 thumbnail, and using midjourneys latest version, you could write a prompt like this for a fashion model photo:

in the snow woman, in the style of afro-caribbean influence, light and color effects, dark cyan and dark amber, candid celebrity shots, photorealistic eye, canon eos 5d mark iv, photorealistic pastiche --ar 3:2 --v 5.2

The result generates an image similar to below:

Balancing Details and Conciseness

One challenge with elaborate prompts is length limits – Midjourney has a maximum of 1024 characters. Prompts must be detailed yet concise. Tips:

• Prioritize the most important visual details
• Use clear compressed phrasing
• Allow Midjourney to infer non-critical elements

Craft and refine prompts iteratively. Check if shorter versions still work and pare it down. With practice, you can capture complex photorealism within tight length constraints.

Improving Results with Upscaling

Midjourney images directly output at 512×512 pixels. To upgrade image resolution, use AI upscalers like Topaz Gigapixel AI.

By upscaling 2-4X, more photographic detail emerges. Add final touches like sharpening and noise reduction for incredibly realistic high res renders.

Conclusion

With well-constructed prompts and techniques, Midjourney’s AI can generate synthetic photographic images that look deceptively real. The key is providing the AI with enough photorealistic context and descriptors.

Experiment with detailed subjects, adjectives, lighting, angles, camera info and photographic vocabulary. Craft prompts iteratively, refining based on the results. Tap into Midjourney’s creative potential for beautiful, photorealistic AI-generated photography.

Ready to try it yourself? Sign up for Midjourney and start creating your own shockingly realistic photographic images today. Have fun unleashing your photography imagination!

Top 10 Midjourney Courses:

Udemy Midjourney Course	Rating	Link
Midjourney Mastery by Samson Vowles	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Create Beautiful Art with AI, by Scott Bromander	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Ultimate Guide to ChatGPT Prompt Engineering, Colt Steele	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Midjourney PRO by DFA Course Academy	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
AI Art Passive Income by Diego Davila	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Midjourney Masterclass by Henry Habib	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Learn Midjourney as a Future Career by Cristian Doru	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course
Create Stunning Images with AI by Paul Nekh	⭐⭐⭐⭐	View Course

Midjourney Prompts for Realistic Photos – FAQs

What is the best way to phrase prompts for photorealism?

Use detailed descriptions of the subject, lighting, camera angle, and photographic style. Directly state “photorealistic” and add specifics like model names, brand names, camera and lens details. The more real world photographic context provided, the more convincing the result.

How can I get sharper details in Midjourney results?

Try prompts like “extra sharp focus and details”, “100 megapixel highly detailed”, or specify a very high resolution camera. Also describe intricate textures, small elements, and visual effects that require detail. Using an AI upscaler like Topaz Gigapixel can further enhance detail.

What prompts generate the most realistic humans?

Provide fictional model details like age, ethnicity, hair color, outfit description. Use terms like “photorealistic”, “8K resolution”, and name brands for clothes/accessories. Define lighting, poses, and add skin details like pores and imperfections for authenticity.

How do I create consistent characters with different prompts?

Assign the character a unique name and describe consistent attributes each time like “Sophia, a young woman with long brown hair, green eyes, and a heart-shaped face”. Midjourney’s AI will learn the character’s appearance.

What objects and environments are hardest to render realistically?

Transparent or highly reflective materials like glass and water are challenging. Complex backgrounds like forests or crowds also strain realism. Use the simplest prompts first before adding tricky elements.

Can Midjourney generate images based on photos I provide?

Yes, you can input a photo and ask Midjourney to recreate or continue the scene. However, copyright considerations restrict creating derivatives of others’ photos.

What computer hardware is needed to run Midjourney?

Midjourney runs fully in the cloud, requiring only a web browser. However, local AI upscaling benefits from a powerful GPU. Overall Midjourney is accessible on virtually any modern device.

What AI techniques does Midjourney use?

Midjourney is powered by generative adversarial networks (GANs). Its neural net trained on millions of images to associate text prompts with potential images. The AI “imagines” new images matching the text.

Can Midjourney output images with transparent backgrounds?

Yes, add “with transparent background” or specify a format like “PNG with alpha channel transparency”. This removes the background for easy compositing.

Is there a limit to how long prompts can be?

Yes, Midjourney currently has a 1024 character limit per prompt. Focus on the most important details and be as concise as possible when nearing the limit.

How can I scale up Midjourney image resolution?

Run the image through an AI upscaler like Topaz Gigapixel AI. Increase by 2-4X for much higher resolution and detail. Finish with sharpening and noise removal.

Can I access and reuse images I’ve generated?

Yes, Midjourney stores your past generations for reuse. You own original images created. Check Midjourney’s terms for usage rights.

Is Midjourney expensive?

Midjourney offers a free tier to start. Paid subscriptions unlock more generations per month and priority processing. Overall it’s very affordable especially for the quality. AI Tools like midjourney are getting more affordable, check our other recent article on Opus Clip.