Ai Prompt Camera Settings

In the realm of AI-generated imagery, camera settings are not just technical jargon; they are the secret spices that can dramatically enhance the flavor of your artistic creations. Much like in traditional photography, where the right settings can turn a mundane scene into a masterpiece, in AI imagery, these settings can guide the AI to produce more realistic, striking, or stylistically unique images.

By incorporating elements like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO into your prompts, you unlock a new level of control and creativity in your AI-generated art.

Q: Does putting camera settings in your AI generation prompts make a difference?

A: YES! It totally does. It ads to the realism factor and you have way more control over the final output of your image.

Example:

"hyper-realistic bengal tiger, prowling, dense jungle at twilight, glistening fur, piercing yellow eyes, powerful muscles in motion, lush foliage, ancient trees, captured in sharp detail, Nikon D850, 300mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 800, 1/500s subtle rim lighting the tiger’s form."

Here's the result with and without the camera settings underlined above:

Quite the difference, no? The left image is VASTLY more realistic than the right one.

Let me teach you how to build killer prompts and how to influence them by including camera settings now then. Even if you don't know cameras and find it daunting, I will make it extremely easy for you to make perfect prompts.

The Basics of Camera Settings in Photography

These are the most important factors to include:

• Aperture: This setting controls the lens's diaphragm, determining the amount of light that enters. It's expressed in f-numbers like f/1.8, f/4, f/16. A lower f-number means a wider aperture, resulting in more light and a shallower depth of field. This can create a blurred background, focusing attention on the main subject.
  
  

• Shutter Speed: Measured in seconds or fractions of a second, this setting dictates how long the camera's sensor is exposed to light. Faster speeds (e.g., 1/500) freeze motion, while slower speeds (e.g., 1/2) capture motion blur, useful for conveying movement or changing light conditions.
  
  

• ISO: This refers to the sensor's sensitivity to light. Lower values (like ISO 100) are used in bright conditions to avoid overexposure, while higher values (like ISO 3200) are suitable for low-light environments. However, higher ISO can lead to more grain or noise in the image.
  
  

• Lens Type:The lens type, such as wide-angle, telephoto, or macro, dramatically influences the perspective and composition of the image. Wide-angle lenses capture a broader view, telephoto lenses zoom in on distant subjects, and macro lenses are for extreme close-ups.
  
  

• Lens Length: Measured in millimeters, lens length affects the composition and framing of the image. Shorter lengths provide a wider field of view, ideal for landscapes, while longer lengths offer a narrow field of view, suitable for portraits or close-ups.

Of course, this is for a real camera. Yet, including these values in your prompt can vastly increase the quality of your final image as we've seen.

AI image generators like DALL-E and Midjourney use complex algorithms to create images based on textual prompts. These prompts guide the AI, giving it a blueprint of what to create. However, AI interprets these descriptions literally and algorithmically, making the specificity and clarity of prompts crucial for desired outcomes.

Oh, and don't forget, you can also change the aspect ratio of your image. Adding things like '--AR 16:9' in Midjourney for example will make your aspect ratio like a standard 1920x1080. But you can do any format you want really.

Now, I'll give you some settings and prompts to copy so you can get quick yet perfect results:

Camera Settings to Add to your Prompts in Different Scenario's

Portrait or Still Life:

• Sony Alpha 1

• 50mm f/1.8 lens

• ISO 100

• 1/200

• soft box lighting

Prompt: hyper-realistic brown haired toddler boy with a toy horse, in a photography studio, Sony Alpha 1 50mm f/1.8 lens ISO 100 1/200, soft box lighting

Landscape:

• Nikon D850

• 100mm f/16 lens

• ISO 100

• 1/200 shutter speed

• Time of day

Prompt: hyper-realistic scottish highlands grass field and water, during morning, Nikon D850 100mm f/16 lens ISO 100 1/200 shutter speed

Long Exposure:

• Sony Alpha 1

• 100mm f/16 lens

• ISO 100

• 2 second shutter speed

• Time of day

Prompt: hyper-realistic ferris wheel next to the harbor at dusk, Sony Alpha 1 100mm f/16 lens ISO 100 2 second shutter speed

Wildlife:

• Canon EOS

• 300mm f/2.8 lens

• ISO 800

• 1/500 shutter speed

• Time of day

Prompt: hyper-realistic bengal tiger, prowling, dense jungle at twilight, glistening fur, piercing yellow eyes, powerful muscles in motion, lush foliage, ancient trees, captured in sharp detail, Nikon D850, 300mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 800, 1/500s subtle rim lighting the tiger’s form.

Street Photography:

• Leica M10

• 35mm f/2 lens

• ISO 400

• 1/125 shutter speed

Prompt: hyper-realistic young woman walking in a large overcoat in the rain alone through London, Leica M10 35mm f/2 lens ISO 400 1/125 shutter speed

Sports Photography:

• Nikon D6

• 500mm f/2.8 lens

• ISO 1600

• 1/1000 shutter speed

Prompt: hyper-realistic american football player hurling a football, in a stadium, close up, Nikon D6 500mm f/2.8 lens ISO 1600 1/1000 shutter speed

Astrophotography:

• Canon EOS Ra

• 24mm f/1.4 lens

• ISO 3200

• 30 second shutter speed

Prompt: hyper-realistic photograph of the stars, taken in the Joshua Tree desert, Canon EOS Ra 24mm f/1.4 lens ISO 3200 30 second shutter speed

Macro Photography:

• Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

• 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens

• ISO 200

• 1/60 shutter speed

• Mention it's macro

Prompt: hyper-realistic macro photograph of a brown wool scarf, Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens ISO 200 1/60 shutter speed

Underwater Photography:

• Olympus Tough TG-6

• Built-in lens at 18mm equivalent, f/2.8

• ISO 400

• 1/250 shutter speed

• Mention underwater

Prompt: hyper-realistic underwater photo of a clown fish in a pink coral reef, Olympus Tough TG-6 Built-in lens at 18mm equivalent, f/2.8 ISO 400 1/250 shutter speed

Documentary Photography:

• Fujifilm X-Pro3

• 23mm f/2 lens

• ISO 800

• 1/250 shutter speed

Prompt: hyper-realistic photo of a homeless man with a large white beard, sitting next to a building on cardboard, Fujifilm X-Pro3 23mm f/2 lens ISO 800 1/250 shutter speed

Fashion Photography:

• Hasselblad H6D-100c

• 80mm f/2.8 lens

• ISO 100

• 1/160 shutter speed

Prompt: hyper-realistic photo of a homeless man with a large white beard, sitting next to a building on cardboard, Fujifilm X-Pro3 23mm f/2 lens ISO 800 1/250 shutter speed

Event Photography:

• Sony A7R IV

• 50mm f/1.4 lens

• ISO 800

• 1/250 shutter speed

Prompt: hyper-realistic photo of some colleagues chatting and holding a glass of champagne during a corporate company event, Sony A7R IV 50mm f/1.4 lens ISO 800 1/250 shutter speed

Architectural Photography:

• Canon TS-E

• 17mm f/4L Tilt-Shift lens

• ISO 100

• 1/125 shutter speed

• Potentially wide angle

Prompt: hyper-realistic photo of an Italian palazzo building during daytime wide angle, Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L Tilt-Shift lens ISO 100 1/125 shutter speed

There we go! That's how to create hyper-realistic AI images while yet having control over what you create. By including camera settings you can have this control. Play around and try out different techniques, different cameras and lenses and see what you can find.

Creativity is your only barrier :)