Okay, so I wanted to see if I could get Midjourney to spit out a picture of a dog, but like, a really real-looking dog. Not that cartoon-y stuff. I’m talkin’ fur you could practically feel. Here’s how it went down:
First Try – Too Basic
I started simple. I just typed in:
/imagine a hyper-realistic dog
The results? Meh. They were dogs, alright. And they looked pretty real, but not hyper real. More like a good photo from a decent camera. Not bad, but not what I was going for.
Getting Specific – Breed and Lighting
Time to add some details. I figured picking a breed and describing the lighting might help. So I tried:
/imagine a hyper-realistic Golden Retriever, sunlight, outdoors
This was better! The sunlight made a big difference. The fur looked more detailed, and the overall image had a warmer, more realistic vibe. Still, I thought we could push it further.
Adding Camera Details – The Game Changer
I remembered reading somewhere that you can specify camera settings in Midjourney. This seemed like the key. So, I got all fancy and typed this in:
/imagine a hyper-realistic Golden Retriever, sunlight, outdoors, shot on a Canon EOS R5, 85mm f/1.2 lens
BOOM! That was it! The images that came back were insane. The detail in the fur, the depth of field, the way the light caught the dog’s eyes…it looked like a professional pet portrait. The Canon and lens details really seemed to make Midjourney understand I wanted photographic realism.
Tweaking and Refining
I played around with the prompt some more, changing the breed, the lighting, even the camera settings. I tried:
/imagine close up of a hyper-realistic Siberian Husky, snowy background, overcast light, shot on a Nikon D850, 70-200mm f/2.8 lens
Every time, specifying the camera and lens seemed to be the magic ingredient. It took a few tries, upscaling a couple, and making some variant, but it got me the hyper-realistic dog pictures, exactly what I was going after.
So, that’s my Midjourney dog adventure. The big takeaway? Get specific! Don’t just ask for “realistic” – tell it how to be realistic by throwing in those camera details. That’s the good trick!