3.3Photorealism
The essentials in 30 seconds
- Paradox: add flaws: grain, textures, directional shadows, non-smooth skin — “ultra realistic 8K” instead pushes toward a smooth advertising look.
- Four ingredients: photo anchoring (medium, film, lens), directional light, explicit textures, low --stylize to curb beautification.
- Hands, text… and ethics: frame to avoid visible weaknesses, and remember: the more realistic, the more it can deceive — traceability mandatory.
Running mini-case — Sonia makes a craftswoman portrait credible
Sonia, freelance graphic designer in Algiers, generates a craftswoman portrait for a campaign: first result smooth as plastic, perfect skin, uniform light — nobody believes it. She applies the recipe: “documentary photograph, 35mm film, film grain, 85mm f/1.8, soft light from the window, skin texture, pores, natural imperfections” and lowers --stylize. The second portrait has grain, pores, shadows: it passes for a real photo. But before delivering, Sonia checks the hands, flags the image as AI-generated to the client and notes traceability — because a credible image is also an image that commits.
This same case returns in the lesson, the diagram, the script and the 48h challenge.
1. The perfection paradox
The photorealism problem is not a lack of quality but an excess of perfection: models generate very clean images, while a real photo carries imperfections the eye expects — directional light with real shadows, depth of field (not everything sharp), grain, slight optical flaws, irregular textures, non-smooth skin. Sonia saw it on her portrait: perfection is what betrayed the AI.
The paradox: photorealism is achieved by adding imperfections, not by asking for “ultra realistic, 8K, high quality” — keywords inherited from early model generations, today often useless or even counterproductive, because they push toward a smooth, over-saturated advertising look.
2. The four-ingredient recipe — and two cautions
1) Photographic anchoring: medium and technique (photograph, documentary photography, film photography, 35mm film, Kodak Portra), lens + aperture (3.2), grain (film grain). 2) Realistic light (3.1): directional, bold shadows, color cast, possibly imperfect. 3) Textures: skin texture, pores, fabric texture, weathered, imperfections — what breaks the plastic effect, especially on faces. 4) Style moderation: lower --stylize (2.2) to curb automatic beautification.
Two cautions. First technical: hands and texts remain the most visible weaknesses — frame to avoid them (close-up, hands out of frame), rerun, or retouch (4.1, 4.4); systematically check hands, teeth, ears, glasses before publishing. Then ethics: the more realistic an image, the more it can deceive — hence flagging and traceability (5.5), and never a real face without consent.
The sixth finger
Photorealism stops at the sixth finger.
🔎 Concrete example — Breaking the plastic effect of a portrait
Sonia retakes her over-smooth portrait and applies the full recipe.
“documentary photograph, 35mm film, film grain, 85mm f/1.8, soft light from the window, skin texture, pores, natural imperfections --stylize 50”
→ remove “8K, ultra realistic, masterpiece”.
→ check hands, teeth, ears before publishing.Reading: grain, pores and shadows replace the artificial smoothness.
Lesson: every word of the prompt describes something concrete — no vague superlative.
Section vocabulary
- Photorealism
- Rendering indistinguishable from a photograph; achieved by adding realistic imperfections, not by asking for “ultra realistic”.
Simple example: The craftswoman portrait passing for a real photo.
What it is not: a smooth, over-saturated rendering betraying AI.
Reflex: look for the credible flaw, not the superlative.
- Photographic anchoring
- Medium and technique terms (photograph, 35mm film, film grain, film stock brand) steering toward a photo look.
Simple example: Sonia's “35mm film, Kodak Portra”.
What it is not: “masterpiece, 8K” with no technical reference.
Reflex: always anchor medium + film + lens.
- Skin texture
- Explicit request for pores and irregularities; breaks the “plastic” effect of generated faces.
Simple example: The visible pores of the portrait delivered to the client.
What it is not: perfectly smooth, unreal skin.
Reflex: require it on every photorealistic portrait.
- Depth of field
- Limited sharpness zone (shallow depth of field); strong marker of photographic realism.
Simple example: The blurry background behind the craftswoman.
What it is not: total, unrealistic sharpness across the whole image.
Reflex: never leave everything sharp.
- Obsolete keywords
- Terms like “8K, ultra realistic, high quality” inherited from old models, often useless or even harmful today.
Simple example: Sonia's cleaned prompt, with no incantations.
What it is not: three superlative words consuming the prompt's attention.
Reflex: replace them with testable concrete.
In practice — Getting a photorealistic rendering
- Start from a portrait or scene and anchor the medium: “photograph, 35mm film, film grain” + a lens (85mm, f/1.8).
- Impose realistic directional light (soft light from a window, or backlit golden hour).
- Add textures: “skin texture, pores, natural imperfections” for a face; “weathered, fabric texture” for objects.
- Lower --stylize and remove keywords like “8K, ultra realistic”; compare with your initial version.
Ready-to-say script — delivering a photorealistic visual by the rules (30 s)
“Here is the final portrait: grain, textures and directional light for a credible rendering — and I flag that it is AI-generated, with traceability attached. I checked the hands and details. For any documentary photo of your teams or products, I recommend a real photo shoot.”
To say on delivery; attach the AI notice in writing.
Copy-paste template — photorealistic prompts
documentary photograph, artisan woman portrait, 35mm film, film grain, 85mm f/1.8, soft light from the window, skin texture, pores, natural imperfections --stylize 50 --ar 4:5
street scene at golden hour, backlight, long shadows, 35mm, shallow depth of field, subtle grain, weathered textures --ar 3:2
ceramic cups on market stall, overcast soft light, fabric texture, worn wood, natural colors, no retouch look --ar 1:1Freelancer
The four-ingredient recipe is enough to charge for credible visuals with no photo studio.
SME in Algiers
Sonia delivers the craftswoman portrait: grain, pores, shadows — and systematic AI notice.
Project team
Impose the hands/text checklist + AI notice before any realistic image publication.
Beginner
This week: one portrait with then without “8K”, with a fixed seed — and compare.
✓ Best practices
- Anchor the medium (film, lens, grain) instead of stacking superlatives.
- Add explicit textures: skin, fabric, worn materials.
- Lower --stylize, drop “8K, ultra realistic” and check hands and details before publishing.
✗ Common pitfalls
- Asking for “ultra realistic 8K”: smooth, flashy rendering, counterproductive.
- Leaving visible, botched hands or text — one detail discrediting everything.
- Forgetting that a realistic image can deceive: no flagging, no traceability, no consent.
Key takeaways
- Photorealism is achieved by ADDING imperfections (grain, textures, shadows), not by asking for “ultra realistic 8K”.
- Four ingredients: photographic anchoring (medium/lens/film), directional light, explicit textures, low --stylize.
- Hands and text remain the most visible weaknesses: frame to avoid them, or retouch (sections 4.1 and 4.4).
- The more realistic an image, the more it can deceive: flagging and traceability become essential (section 5.5).
48h challenge — apply tomorrow
Produce 1 credible portrait (full recipe, low --stylize, no “8K”), check hands + details and add the AI notice.
- My recipe holds in 4 ingredients, with no superlative.
- I check hands, teeth and details before publishing.
- Each realistic image ships with AI notice + traceability.
Frequently asked questions
How do I fix deformed hands, the great AI classic?
Four strategies. (1) AVOID by framing: close-up, hands out of frame, in pockets, or holding a simple object — what pros do. (2) RERUN: out of four proposals, one is often correct. (3) Targeted RETOUCH by inpainting (4.1): regenerate the hand area without touching the rest. (4) Manual RETOUCH (Photoshop, Firefly — 4.4) or ControlNet with Stable Diffusion (4.3) for a precise pose. Reflex: systematically check hands, fingers, teeth, ears, glasses and jewelry before publishing.
Should I still write “8K, ultra realistic, masterpiece” in prompts?
No: useless, even harmful. On early models, they steered toward polished images; recent models produce quality BY DEFAULT and understand natural language. Worse, they steer toward a smooth advertising look (the “too perfect” aesthetic betraying AI) and CONSUME the prompt's attention. Instead: medium, lens, light, textures, film. Test with then without, with a fixed seed — general principle: test recipes instead of applying them by habit.
How do you achieve photorealism?