How To Generate Photorealistic Images with DALL-E

April 24, 2023

Tory Barber

Scifi woman standing in a city at night

Your Complete Guide to Generating Realistic Images in Dall-e

Like all other graphic designers, my mind RACED through the possibilities when I first heard of AI image generators like Dall-e.

Would I finally be free of the constraints of the images available on Stock Photography sites? Could I finally make that cat astronaut site I’ve always dreamed of?

Like many other designers, I quickly found out: while it is possible to create realistic images, it can be a lot harder to create exactly what I want.

The AI often got confused, the images came out looking more like realistic paintings than photographs, or the generated image just didn’t have a high enough resolution.

Sound familiar?

This prompted me to deep dive into the worlds of prompt engineering and photography so that I could find out everything I need to know to make my imagination a reality.

Now I’ve put all those hours of research and personal trial and error together in this guide to share with you! Enjoy!

Do NOT Use “Photo Realistic” as a  Keyword

I wanted to start with this tip because it’s an easy to miss mistake nearly everyone makes when they get started.

Using the keyword “Photo Realistic” (or anything like it) will actually guarantee you won’t get the result you are looking.

Imma say that again so you can hear me in the back:

Using Keywords like “Photo Realistic” will gaurentee Dall-e won’t generate a realistic image.

It feels counterintuitive; how could the keyword “Photo Realistic” make your Dall-e image look less like a realistic photograph?

This happens because “Photorealism”, “Photo Realistic”, or similar key words are interpreted as a style of art in Dall-e, not as a descriptor of a photograph.

To Dall-e, Photorealism is a type of art where artists attempt to imitate life, but a photograph shows an actual moment in reality.

Look at these two examples. The first cat looks more like a painting than a photo, while the second one looks just like a real cat. The only difference between the two prompts used was one said “Photorealistic cat” and the other said “Photo of a cat”.

Prompt: Photo realistic cat on a white background

Photo realistic cat illustration

Prompt: Photo of a cat on a white background

photo of a cat

If you think through how Dall-e is trained, it makes sense that this is happening. You’d never describe a photograph as photo-realistic, it’s a photo! You’d either add “photo of…” or you’d describe what’s in the photo. However, if something looked realistic, but it is clear it wasn’t a photo you’d feel the need to capture that in the description.

Huge shout out to Reddit user u/ShalomFuture who pointing this out.

‘Realistic’ and ‘Photorealistic’ keywords give inferior results
by u/ShalomFuture in dalle2

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Consider How DALL-E Is Trained

It may seem silly, but taking a moment to consider how Dall-e was built, and more importantly, how the AI see’s the world, has made the largest improvement in my own promting so far. It would be my biggest piece of advice to people who are just getting started.

If you recognize what Dall-e knows and how it understands data, you will be able to better communicate what you want Dall-e to create, in its own language.

It is widely discussed that Dall-e was trained on the Alt text of website images. However, what is not as discussed–and is frankly more helpful to your prompting–is that the AI was trained on ALL the image’s metadata as well. This is helpful for generating realistic photos with Dall-e because this would include data generated by cameras. Think about information like:

  • The lens used to take the photo
  • Saturation levels
  • The type of camera used
  • Whether or not the flash was used
  • Exposure
  • ISO
  • Shutter speed
  • Aperture
  • Focal Length

You can use different combinations of this data in your prompt to help Dall-e generate better photos for you.

Where Do You Find Metadata Examples?

Ok but we’re Graphic designers, not photographers. Where would I even find that information?

How do I figure out what settings to use for my prompt?

Don’t worry, I got you!

I’ve listed my favorite keywords for photographers, lenses, styles, and lighting below, however, there are many more resources online that can help inspire you.

Here are a couple of my favorite resources built by others in the Dall-e community!

Generated Screenshot

Generated

An awesome collection of 7,000+ images and the prompts used to create them, organized by style. Created by Davey Barker (@dvyio on Twitter), this is the resource every Dall-e user’s been looking for!

Dall-e Prompt Book Cover

Dall-e Prompt Book

An 82 page book outlining prompting keywords and best practices created by Dallery Gallery’s own Guy Parsons (@guyP on Twitter). This book is calk-full of great information for any leve of user.

If you’re looking for more specific metadata examples, then look no further than Flicker.

The popular stock photography site list the metadata for each of their photos.

Simply find a photo similar to what you want to create, click into the image,  and use its metadata in your prompt.

See how this is done in the example below:

Flicker Metadata (with Labels)

Flicker metadata screenshot with labels

Photo Generated in Dall-e

cyberpunk neon city

Dall-e Prompt with Flicker Metadata

A photo of a city street at night, by steve mccurry, neon lights, 2.0 mm, LG-H872, ISO 250, Aperture ƒ/.24, Exposure Time 1/24 Sec

Photographer Prompting Keywords

Adding a photographer to your prompt is simultaneously the best thing you can do and the most controversial thing you can do.

Photographer keywords give the AI a lot of important information on the type of photo you are looking to create in a small number of words. This is important when you are limited to 400 character prompts and the AI is easily confused.

Lee Jefferies, for example, tells Dall-e you’d like a high-contrast image, black and white, and likely a close-up shot of a face. Dall-e also knows the equipment usually used by specific photographer so it will take that into account without you needing to add the metadata yourself. All that is conveyed to the AI with the simple phrase “by Lee Jefferies”.

However, using artists in your prompts is one of the most controversial parts of AI art, so be cautious. Most of these photographers never consented to Dall-e being trained on their work. It can be argued that by using their name in your prompt, you’d be appropriating their work without their permission.

My advice would be to Steal Like an Artist. Meaning it is okay to take inspiration from others, but that inspiration should be combined with multiple other influences so that the result is different than the original inspiration. Or at the very least, credit the artist you are influenced by.

Original Photo by the Artist

prompt: a portrait of a little girl

prompt; photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky

Photo of an old man with a beard

Original Photo by Lee Jefferies

photo of a little girl

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, by Lee Jefferies

black and white photo of a wolf

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, By Lee Jefferies

steve mccurry's famous image of a little girl

Original Photo by Steve McCurry

photo of a little girl

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, by Steve McCurry

photo of a wold howling at the stars

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky,, by Lee Jefferies

David LaChampelle image of head

Original Photo by David LaChapelle

photo of little girl with piggy tails

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, by David LaChapelle

Wolf howling at brightly coloured night sky

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky,, by Lee Jefferies

Annie Leibovitz

Annie Lebinawitz little girl photo

Original Photo by Annie Leibovitz

little girl with bright blond hair

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, by Annie Leibovitz

photo of wolf howling at the night

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky,, by Lee Jefferies

David Bailey

David Bailey Photographer's photo

Original Photo by David Bailey

Old looking photo of a board looking young girl

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, by David Bailey

Wolf howling at starry sky

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky,, by David Bailey

Midjourney & Firefly Tested Keywords

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Style Prompting Keywords

Qualities

prompt: a portrait of a little girl

prompt; photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky

Tilt Shift

Tilt shift adds a blur to the top and bottom of a photo but focusses at the middle to make the photo look like it has movement.

portrait of a Little girl

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, 15mm wide-angle

Blurry photo of a wolf

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, 15mm lens

Autochrome

Autochrome is a photo coloring method used between the 1900s-1930s. Photo generated with this keyword tends to use elements from that period and appear weathered.

old fashioned photo of a young girl

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, Macro

old fashioned photo of a wolf

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, macro

Double Exposure

Layers two photos on top of each other, adding some transparency so the two photos blend together.

Girl's head double exposed on trees

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, 15mm wide-angle

wolf double exposed on mountains

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, 15mm lens

Polaroid

90s style file with a white boarder.

polaroid image of a little girl

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, Macro

polaroid of a wolf

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, macro

Lense Prompting Keywords

Lens Qualities

prompt: a portrait of a little girl

prompt; photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky

85mm

An 85mm lens is especially good at portraits because it hyper-focuses on the subject and blurs out the background.

Little girl looking into the camera

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, 85mm lens

Wolf howling at the moon

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, 85mm lens

Macro

Macro creates images that are really zoomed in. It’s great when you want to capture small objects.

close up photo of a little girl's face

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, Macro

close up of a wolf howling at the moon

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, macro

15mm Wid-Angle

15mm lenses tend to take images at more extreme angles than a classic portrait. This way you get an alternative view of your subject.

Young girl looking up at the camera

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, 15mm wide-angle

shadow of wolf against the sky

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, 15mm lens

Exposure and Shutter Speed

Qualities

prompt: a portrait of a little girl

prompt; photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky

Fast Shutter Speed

Fast Shutter Speed can capture fast movement so that the subject is still quite crisp. It is great for athletic movements.

little girl running

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, 85mm lens

Wolf running at night

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, 85mm lens

Slow Shutter Speed

Slow Shutter Speed does the opposite from fast. It blurs out the moving object.

little girl running

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, Macro

Wolf running at night

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, macro

Long Exposure, Short Shutter Speed

Cool timelapse that blurs anything that moves. It has a really cool effect on moving lights.

Car lights timelaps

prompt: a photo of car lights in a big city, long exposure, slow shutter speed

firework timelaps

prompt: a photo of fireworks, long exposure, slow shutter speed

Lighting

Qualities

prompt: a portrait of a little girl

prompt; photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky

Golden Hour Lighting

This keyword replicates the beautiful golden lighting of a sunset.

golden hour photo of girl

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, 85mm lens

wolf howling at sunset

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, 85mm lens

Cinematic Lighting

Replicates the dramatic and professional level of lighting of the movies. 

professional photo of a little girl

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, Macro

wolf howling at the night

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, macro

High-Key Lighting

A lighting style that results in a brightly lit frame with soft lighting, minimal shadows, and low contrast.

photo of girl

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, 85mm lens

fantasy image of wolf

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, 85mm lens

Lens Flare

The light imperfection cause by sunlight getting reflected in the camera lens.

photo of girl

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, Macro

backlight wolf

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, macro

Studio Lighting

This is a great keyword because it implies more than a proffessionally lit photo. It assurme a preofessional is behind the lense and they are using high quality equipment.

photo of girl

prompt: a portrait of a little girl, 85mm lens

wolf howling at sunset

prompt: photo of a wolf howling at a starry sky, 85mm lens

General Key Words

  • Bokeh: blurs the background while maintaining focus on the subject.
  • Uneven skin tone: An extremely helpful keyword for creating realistic faces. The AI often makes human skin a little too perfect and this keyword helps add more dimension.
  • Award-Winning: Increases the chances of getting a professional-looking photo.
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About Me

Hi I’m Tory!I’m a Graphic Designer, Web Developer, and AI OBSESSED artist from good ol’ Canada, eh!I record all the things I learn as I dive deeper into the Generative AI rabbit hole so I can teach people like you!

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