Non-cliché Midjourney Prompts for Realistic Photos - with AI Art Keywords

With the introduction of Midjourney v6.0, AI enthusiasts can create the most realistic photos comparing when doing that in v5.2 and previous models.

Midjourney now can deal with more complex scenes with multiple characters, and generate realistic details. The close up portrait of a person featuring freckles, pores, wrinkles, and sweety skin looks as stunning as studio photography.

How to achieve super realistic renders in Midjourney? Besides setting the models to v6.0 by default, you can specify the parameters and utilize some keywords in the prompts.

Quick Tips:

• Set the style parameter to --style raw because it has minimal automatic beautification, which can lead to a more precise match when asking for certain styles.

• Add camera type, lens, and quality keywords such as ultra realistic, 8K, 4K, intricate details, octane render, uhd, corona render, rtx ray tracing, hyper-real CGI, prorender, etc. Though the default style in v5 and later models is mostly photographic, you can still add those keywords when refining the prompts to compare the difference.

• If you are referencing real photos, you can tweak the image weight parameter and its value. You can add --iw 3 at the end of the prompts. The image weight for version 6 ranges from 0 to 3, with 1 being the default. A higher value signifies the importance of the image as compared to the text prompt.

• Use the --crf parameter to keep character consistency, and adjust its weight with --cw (0-100, where 0 focus on face only, and 100 can also capture cloth and hair).

• By photorealistic, if you also mean to recreate a specific aesthetic, you can pick a style, type, genre, or category in photography and specify them in your Midjourney prompts.

💡 Midjourney image looks blurry? Prefer a larger resolution (4K/8K)?

Jump to the quick solution in Part 4: using the best AI Image Upscaler to enhance AI images, with details and textures!

1. Play with Lens Effects for Realistic MidJourney Images

Photography is the art of controlling light and shadows. What if we apply lighting tricks in Midjourney to create realistic photos? Besides adding keywords that control lighting and shadows, you can also experiment with lens effects such as motion blur, zoom blur, speed blur, lens flare, refractions, and more.

1.1 Prompts for Lightning and Shadows

Some handy prompt patterns you can use are:

• Prefix, subject, details, environment, <lightning> setup

• Prefix, subject in <lightning>, environment, film types

💬 Prompt: portrait of a girl posing into the light, in the style of the snapshot aesthetic, photo-realistic --ar 9:16

💬 Prompt: a girl in front of a yellow wall with glitter and gold shining through, in the style of detailed atmospheric portraits, y2k aesthetic, nature-inspired imagery, macro photography, realistic depiction of light, sun-soaked colours, serene faces --ar 65:34 --style raw --v 6.0

Sun-soaked colour, glitter, and gold shining is definitely my favorite recipe in the prompts. As someone with a nostalgic and vintage-loving spirit, it's impossible not to be drawn to the vibrant yellows and oranges that epitomize the iconic 1970s aesthetic.

💬 Prompt: a young woman outdoors hiding from the sun, in the style of glimmering light effects, nature-inspired pieces, emotive faces, hyper-realistic water, dark green and light amber, delicate portraits, minolta riva mini --ar 9:16

💬 Prompt: female photographer beautiful light portrait, in the style of nature-inspired pieces, vray tracing, leica m10, dappled, light art --ar 9:16

💬 Prompt: angelic sun screenshot, in the style of contemporary portrait photography, lens flares, wavy resin sheets, vivid portraiture, leica m10, colorful portraiture, minimal retouching --ar 9:16

💬 Prompt: best live photo with beautiful sunlight, in the style of psychedelic portraits, contemporary portrait photography, translucent water, golden light, kodak ektar 100, caravaggesque, lens flares --ar 9:16

Here is a list of my favorite lightning, showdows and reflection keywords for Midjourney. You can place them amid the prompts. If the lightning is not taking effects, adjust its place in the prompts to the front.

Shadow Effects in Midjourney Prompts

• High-contrast portrait highlighting facial features in dramatic shadows.
• Backlit silhouette of a lone figure against a city skyline.
• Cinematic split portrait with one side in shadow and the other illuminated.
• Soft shadows casting gentle contours on a model's features.
• Vibrant and colorful shadows adding dynamism to the scene.
• Subtle gradient shadows creating a smooth transition from light to dark.
• High-key shadows creating a soft and dreamlike atmosphere.
• Double exposure combining shadows with other elements for a surreal effect.
• Intriguing shot of shadows dancing on a wall in the afternoon sun.

Reflections in Midjourney Prompts

• Reflection of a city skyline in calm waters at dusk.
• Mirror perspective capturing a <subject>'s reflection in a vintage mirror.
• Abstract reflection distortions in a shattered glass surface.
• Reflective raindrops creating a surreal atmosphere in an urban scene.
• Metallic surfaces reflecting the harsh light of a desert sun.
• Handheld mirror reflecting the distorted image of a character's face.
• Artistic portrayal of a <subject> reflected in a glass table.
• Vivid refraction effect distorting the view of a bustling cityscape.
• Reflective art installation casting intriguing patterns on surrounding surfaces.
• Creative use of a prism to refract light and add a rainbow effect to the scene.

1.2 Prompts for Motion/Zoom/Blur and Broken Lens Effects

💬 Prompt: a gorgeous woman posing, dynamic focal zoom. Detailed atmospheric portraits, Shot on expired film --ar 65:34 --style raw

💬 Prompt: Candid portrait of a musician playing guitar, using a damaged lens on a film camera, ethereal vibe.

As we can see from above, Midjourney is still struggling with intricate hand gestures. The girl's finger is shown at a 90 degree angle – perfect for the F major chord – Ok, I am kidding. Midjourney even failed to discriminate between bass and guitar. There is only four string on the image. So I refined my prompt and tried again. The seed isn't working somehow.

💬 Prompt: 80's vhs analog camera effect, candid portrait of a musician play guitar, shot with cracked lens. --seed 3139015867 --ar 29:16 --style raw --v 6.0

Below are some of my favorite lens effects with prompt patterns.

Motion Blur: 35mm film of a bustling city street, motion blur effect.

Zoom Blur: 35mm film of a car racing around a track, zoom blur effect.

Lens Flare: 35mm film of a person walking towards the camera, lens flare effect.

Lens Distortion: 35mm film of a girl's face with exaggerated features, lens distortion effect.

Long Exposure Trails: 25.35mm film of a carnival ride in motion, long exposure trails effect.

Kaleidoscope: candid shot of a cityscape with a kaleidoscope filter, kaleidoscope effect.

2. Master Film Aesthetics for MidJourney Photorealistic Prompts

By emulating the characteristics of traditional analog film in Midjourney, you can evoke a strong sense of nostalgia. The resulting images can be incredibly lifelike, giving the impression that they were taken in a bygone era.

The Midjourney prompt patterns for the analog film are:

• 35mm candid shot of <prompt subject>, suffix, parameters.
• 35mm photography of <prompt subject>, suffix, parameters.
• <retro keywords> portrait of <subject>, <analog film type>.
• <analog film type> portrait of <subject>.

💬 Prompt: 35mm photography of a young artist, dressed in bohemian attire and holding paintbrushes, shot on Kodak Portra 400 for warm tones.

💬 Prompt: Lomo Redscale film featuring the close up of children hanging laundry on the line, other children holding ice cream, an ice cream truck is in the background with kids eating ice cream, a busy street scene, in the style of vintage photography by Martin Parr and Max Miechowski, red white and blue , a 90's vibe, pastel colours. --ar 16:9 --style raw --v 6.0

💬 Prompt: Kodak Aerochrome portrait of a French woman with short black hair and headscarf covering her face. She is wearing a white vest, a golden coin necklace, the background has checked orange stripes and dots and pale pastel peach colors, in the style of Rineke Dijkstra. --ar 16:9 --style raw --v 6.0

💬 Prompt: Fujifilm Velvia 35mm photo of a morocco street shows an old woman with crutches standing next to her house and looking at the viewer with a sad face. In front of her is a young man wearing a blown shirt and purple pants holding his hands on his hips as he watches a little girl playing near him. She has black hair, brown eyes and embroidered cloth and is walking around with purple shoes on her feet. There is a large basket with lemons in a glass jar, and dimly lit folkstyle tiles on the wall. The atmosphere looks like it is from the early 1980s, in the style of Kodak film photography. --ar 16:9

The enchantment of street photography lies in its ability to capture the raw, unfiltered beauty and emotion of everyday life in a single, fleeting moment. Do you think Midjourney succeeded in this one?

💬 Prompt: 35mm candid shot of a model in a flower field, shot on Lomography Purple XR. --ar 16:9 --style raw --v 6.0

💬 Prompt: A woman in Swinging Sixties attire, dancing joyfully at a boho party. Shot with dynamic angles and vibrant colors to capture the energy of the era. --ar 2:3 --style raw --stylize 250 --v 6.0

As you can see, without the token such as analog camera effects and vhs film, the image above looks more like a modern party theming with boho, instead of captured in the 90s and 80s. So we can revise the prompt and see if it works.

💬 Refined prompt: A woman in Swinging Sixties attire, dancing joyfully at a boho party. Analog camera effects, vhs film still. --ar 2:3 --style raw --stylize 250

💬 Prompt: person in a hazmat suit in a field of flowers, in the style of aesthetic, calming and introspective aesthetic, album covers --ar 65:34 --style raw --v 6.0

💬 Prompt: A wooden wall with a window and a curtain in the foreground, a clock on it. The view outside is of an alpine valley. The sun shines through the window onto the red floral curtains. A cinematic light falls across the room from left to right. Analog film still grab from a retro movie. --ar 65:34 --style raw

💬 Prompt: A screenshot from an interview with a short red haired woman in her mid-30s, wearing a black turtleneck and colorful pants, talking about the Danish midcentury modern and Art Deco design style in her home. She sits on a yellow armchair in front of a camera, surrounded by bookshelves, plants, midcentury herbarium wall frame, louis poulsen ph5 pendant light, furniture in the style of Art Deco, and decor in the style of midcentury modern. The screenshot is a still frame with some video grain.

Below are some of the popular 35mm film that you can use in the prompt. Besides 35mm photography, you can also try out medium format photography and large format photography. Abelart on Medium has a good write up on simulating analog photography in Midjourney.

Kodak Tri-X 400: An iconic high-speed black and white film known for its distinctive grain structure, high contrast, and excellent push processing capabilities, favored by photojournalists and street photographers.

Fujifilm Superia X-TRA 400: A high-speed color negative film that offers vivid colors, smooth grain, and good low-light performance, suitable for a wide range of shooting conditions.

Kodak Portra 400: A versatile color negative film known for its fine grain, natural skin tones, and excellent exposure latitude, making it a favorite among portrait and wedding photographers.

Fujifilm Velvia 50: A high-saturation color reversal film (slide film) that produces stunningly vivid colors, making it a top choice for landscape and nature photography.

Cinestill 800T: A motion picture film stock adapted for still photography use, featuring a unique halation effect and a cinematic look with high sensitivity for low-light shooting.

3. MidJourney Prompts for Realistic Photos in Various Scenarios

Exploring the capabilities of Midjourney's photo-realistic prompts is an enjoyable experience, whether you're working on street photography, wildlife, pet portraits, human portraits, interior design, or any other subject matter.

Besides being specific and detailed about the subject in the prompts, you can also add the lens effects, control the shadows and lightning, or experiment with some analog film effects introduced above.

3.1 Realistic Prompts for Street Photography

💬 Prompt: girl in red floweral dress running with other children in background, lower shot, in the style of urban imagery, italian landscapes, fujifilm velvia, realist detail, street style, monumental ensembles --ar 29:16 --style raw --v 6.0

I am so in love with this composition and the overall kidcore vibe, here are two more.

💬 Prompt: street photography of a man in blue jacket with a small rabbit sitting on him shoulder, walking in old town in Warsaw, in the style of martin parr, tami bone, street pop, chris cunningham, symbolic use of animals, petcore, asymmetric balance --ar 29:16 --style raw --v 6.0

Do you prefer it when the bunny remains tucked away in its hood, or would you rather see the little squad turned towards the camera, grinning happily?

💬 Prompt: a gray pigeon is walking in front of people, only capturing lower part of pigeon and peole's leg, in the style of contemporary modernist-type photography, breakdance photography, minolta riva mini, flickr, mottled, creative commons attribution, site-specific artworks --ar 29:16 --no head --v 6.0

💬 Prompt: 35mm street photography, close up of a woman with blonde hair, sunlight beaming on her face. She is wearing an emerald linen cloth, and there is a vintage emerald car in the background on a busy street, zoom blur the background. In the style of tabloid photography, red and emerald, vibrant street scenes, added film grain texture, hasselblad 500c/m, school of london --ar 29:16 --v 6.0 --style raw

💬 Prompt: black and white street photography of a dog sitting on a vintage convertible car, and there is a large double decker bus in the background, shot on leica m6, associated press photo --ar 29:16 --style raw --v 6.0

Tips: It seems that Midjourney ignores that a convertible car should be roofless. The trick is, we can change the verb sitting on into sitting in.

Street photography of a dog sitting in a vintage convertible car, and there is a large double decker bus in the background, shot on leica m6, associated press photo --ar 29:16 --style raw --v 6.0 –sref

3.2 Midjourney Prompts for Wildlife and Pets

💬 Prompt: a cute cat wearing crochet pendent jump up to catch a cup, the cup is pouring milk out in slow motion, in midcentury modern living roow, boho decoration, octane render --ar 65:34 --style raw --v 6.0

💬 Prompt: realistic photography of Border Collie Running towards the door, snow outside the house, long shot, 8k, best quality, super detailed --ar 65:34 --style raw --v 6.0

💬 Prompt: realistic photo of a pair of polar bears, close up, navigating across the icy landscape of the Arctic tundra, with the vast expanse of snow and ice stretching out to the horizon behind them, showcasing the harsh beauty of their remote habitat. --ar 65:34 --v 6.0 --style raw

💬 Prompt: a tiger with a butterfly flying over its nose, in the style of narrative-driven visual storytelling, tilt-shift lenses, realistic color schemes, timeless artistry, vignetting, joyful and optimistic --ar 64:41

💬 Prompt: a close up photo of a barred owl with yellow eyes, in the style of nikon d850, 32k uhd, light sky-blue and gold, sony fe 85mm f/1.4 gm, naturalistic proportions --ar 65:34 --style raw --v 6.0

💬 Prompt: a raccoon looking out of a tree, in the style of candid photojournalism, hatching, robert munsch --ar 65:34 --style raw --v 6.0

💬 Prompt: two white arctic foxes tuck themselves inside a wooden hut, in the style of stark and unfiltered, soothing color palettes, photobash, white and crimson, rtx, petcore, distinctive noses --ar 65:34 --style raw --v 6.0

Below are some more prompts for wildlife photography that you can play with in Midjourney. The prompts contain mainly the subject, their habitant, and actions. You can freely add suffix and prefix, such as film aesthetics, lens effects, and quality related tokens.

• A majestic lion, resting under the shade of an acacia tree on the African savanna. Capture the golden light of the sunset illuminating the vast grasslands behind, emphasizing the lion's role as the apex predator of the Serengeti.
• A solitary cheetah, perched on a termite mound, scanning the horizon for potential prey with keen eyes and twitching ears. Capture the intensity in its eyes as it prepares for a lightning-fast sprint in pursuit of its next meal.
• A pair of polar bears, navigating across the icy landscape of the Arctic tundra, with the vast expanse of snow and ice stretching out to the horizon behind them, showcasing the harsh beauty of their remote habitat.
• A swarm of colorful butterflies, fluttering around a patch of wildflowers in a lush meadow, their delicate wings catching the sunlight as they pollinate the vibrant blooms.
• A family of meerkats, standing alert on their hind legs, keeping watch over their burrow in the sandy desert of the Kalahari, with the sprawling dunes and sparse vegetation providing a stark yet beautiful backdrop.

3.3 Midjourney Prompts for Realistic Portraits

💬 Promp: Headshot of a pale and pretty young woman sitting on a chair, with long red hair, wearing medieval peasant , with cinematic lighting, soft focus, professional photography, and a shallow depth of field, in the style of medieval peasant. --v 6.0 --ar 16:9

💬 Prompt: Close-up portrait of a young woman, her face illuminated by soft morning light filtering through the curtains, capturing a serene expression. Shot with a low-angle perspective to emphasize her confidence and strength.

💬 Prompt: Dramatic portrait of a musician against a gritty urban backdrop, their intense gaze piercing through the frame. Incorporate a Dutch angle to convey the raw energy of their performance.

💬 Prompt: 35mm photo Portrait of a newborn cradled in their parents' arms, bathed in soft window light. Capture the tender moment with a shallow depth of field to emphasize the bond between parent and child.

3.4 Midjourney Photo Prompts for Interior Design

💬 Prompt: a living room filled with furniture and lots of large windows, snow mountain outside window, glass spheres, green tones, living room with split levels, beautiful aesthetic --style raw --v 6.0 --ar 8:5

💬 Prompt: a living room filled with furniture and lots of large windows, giant budda outside window, glass spheres, brown tones, living room with split levels, beautiful aesthetic, moon rocks, plants, space craft on kilim carpet --style raw --v 6.0 --ar 8:5

💬 Prompt: an interesting interior of an art building, in the style of art museum with a colorful mural, 1970–present, cluj school, giorgio barbarelli da castelfranco --ar 65:34 --style raw

💬 Prompt: santorine home croatos, greece room stock videos e royaltyfree footage, in the style of kitsch aesthetic, 1970–present, wim wenders, light indigo and white, naturalistic rendering, ceramic, dreamy atmospheres --ar 65:34 --style raw --iw 2 --v 6.0

💬 Prompt: a living room that has a tv with plants beside it, in the style of dieselpunk, shang dynasty, 35mm film, enigmatic tropics, arts & crafts, functional aesthetics, golden age aesthetics --ar 65:34 --style raw --iw 2 --v 6.0

💬 Prompt: a large hall with a staircase and a painting, in the style of modular constructivism, colourful, 1970–present, cluj school, cinestill 50d, terracotta, lively colors --ar 65:34 --style raw

4. AI Upscale and Enhancer Midjourney Images

💡 Midjourney AI images looks blurry?

Midjourney has trouble in generating clear images that features large and complex scenes. For the large hall image above, even if I upscaled it within Midjourney, it only delivers me an upscaled-but-still-blurry image. The solution is to use a dedicated AI image upscaler, such as the Super Resolution tool in VideoProc Converter AI.

The latest version of VideoProc Converter AI has "Gen Detail v2" model built-in for the Super Resolution feature. It can upscale images to huge resolution while generating natural details, making the image high-quality at retina-grade clarity.

You can check the detailed tutorial to upscale Midjourney images in VideoProc Converter AI.

After using the Super Resolution tool from VideoProc to process that interior image, it looks much better. The large mural art looks sharp and vivid, and the silver ball has details in its reflection. Down below, the window panes has clear edges, and the wooden textures are more detailed.

Download VideoProc Converter AI to use the Super Resolution tool now:

Besides being an AI-powered video and image enhancer, VideoProc Converter AI also has toolkit to edit, convert, download, resize, and record videos to enhance the media processing workflow.