How to Generate Realistic AI Images (Without the Obvious “AI Look”)

Most people can spot an AI image in about half a second now.

Not because they are “experts”, but because AI has a vibe. That overly smooth skin. The too perfect lighting. The weird fingers. The background that looks like it was painted by a talented alien who has never actually stood in a real room before.

And look, AI image generators are getting better fast. But the “AI look” is still a thing, especially if you are generating images for:

• blog posts
• landing pages
• product pages
• ads
• thumbnails
• social posts that need to feel real enough to stop the scroll

So this guide is basically what I do to get realistic AI images. Not fantasy art. Not stylized “cinematic portraits” (which usually scream AI anyway). Realistic. Believable. Could pass as a photo or at least as a normal stock image.

Let’s get into it.

What causes the obvious AI look (so you can stop triggering it)

If you want realism, it helps to know what realism killers are. Because half the battle is removing the stuff that makes the model show its hand.

Here are the big ones.

1. Over-stylized prompts

Words like “ultra detailed”, “8k”, “hyperreal”, “cinematic”, “epic lighting” can be useful. But they also push the model into a glossy, synthetic aesthetic.

Sometimes you want that. For realistic marketing images, you usually do not.

2. Perfect symmetry and perfect faces

AI loves symmetry. Humans and real cameras are messier. Real photos have minor imperfections, tiny asymmetries, flyaway hair, uneven teeth, pores, under eye texture, and all that.

When you ask for “beautiful” too aggressively, you often get that mannequin look.

3. Floating objects and fake physics

AI still struggles with practical details. Hands holding things. People interacting with laptops. Coffee being poured. Anything where physics matters.

You can still do it. You just need to design around the risk.

4. Plastic lighting

Real photography has constraints. Room light mixes. Shadows are imperfect. Highlights clip sometimes. AI “studio lighting” is too clean unless you tell it otherwise.

5. Too much detail in one shot

Trying to generate an entire busy office scene with 12 people, laptops, coffee cups, posters on the wall, city skyline outside a window.

You might get something “pretty”. It will not look real.

If you want realistic images, keep the scene simpler than you think you need. Then build variety with multiple images, not one overloaded masterpiece.

The realism formula (simple but it works)

If I had to boil it down, realistic AI images come from:

1. Specific camera language (lens, aperture, shutter vibe)
2. Specific environment (real locations, real light sources)
3. Limited composition complexity
4. Controlled imperfections
5. Post steps (small edits that make it feel like a photo)

You can absolutely do this without being a photographer. You just need to borrow a few phrases photographers use.

Start with boring, real-world prompts (seriously)

A lot of people prompt like they are commissioning a movie poster. That is the fastest way to get AI looking AI.

Instead, prompt like you are describing a photo you took.

Here are prompt patterns that usually produce more realism:

Pattern A: “stock photo” style (clean, usable, realistic)

Example prompt:

A candid photo of a small business owner working at a laptop in a quiet coffee shop, natural window light, slightly shallow depth of field, 35mm lens, realistic skin texture, casual clothing, neutral color tones, minor background blur, shot on DSLR

This tends to generate something you can actually use on a blog post.

Pattern B: “phone camera” realism (less perfect, more believable)

Example prompt:

Smartphone photo of a messy desk with a notebook, pen, coffee mug and a laptop, late afternoon ambient light, slight noise, imperfect framing, realistic shadows, everyday objects, no staged look

Phone camera prompts can be magic because they encourage imperfections. Noise. Slight blur. Realistic contrast.

Pattern C: “documentary” realism (best for people scenes)

Example prompt:

Documentary style photo of two coworkers talking in a modern office kitchen, natural overhead lighting, 50mm lens, candid moment, realistic proportions, subtle facial imperfections, muted colors, no glamour lighting

It pushes the model away from “beauty portrait” mode.

Use camera settings to force realism (easy cheat codes)

You do not need to get technical. But these keywords help.

• Lens: 35mm, 50mm, 85mm
  (35mm feels natural and editorial. 50mm feels normal. 85mm feels portrait.)
• Depth of field: “shallow depth of field” or “f/2.8”
  (A little blur looks like a real camera. Too much blur looks fake. Use lightly.)
• Lighting: “natural window light”, “overcast daylight”, “warm indoor tungsten”
• Film / texture: “subtle film grain”, “slight noise”, “ISO 800 look”
• Dynamic range: “slightly blown highlights”, “soft shadows”

Try this mini add-on at the end of prompts:

natural window light, 35mm lens, subtle film grain, realistic colors

It is boring. That is the point.

Control the “AI face” problem (without banning faces)

If you are generating people, here’s what usually helps.

Avoid “model” language

Instead of:

• “beautiful woman”
• “handsome man”
• “perfect face”
• “flawless skin”

Try:

• “ordinary person”
• “natural skin texture”
• “subtle blemishes”
• “candid expression”
• “not posed”

Keep the subject doing something simple

The more complex the action, the more likely you get weird hands and weird props.

Good actions:

• typing on a laptop (hands might still be tricky, but workable)
• holding a coffee cup (simpler shape)
• looking at a phone (often breaks, but sometimes OK)
• talking, laughing, walking

Risky actions:

• shaking hands
• writing with a pen (fingers go wild)
• pouring liquids
• anything involving jewelry, glasses, detailed logos

Use angles that hide hand details

This is a practical hack. If hands keep breaking, stop forcing hands.

Prompt for:

• “hands out of frame”
• “cropped at shoulders”
• “side profile”
• “from behind”
• “wide shot with subject small in frame”

Yes it’s a cheat. It’s also how a real content team would solve it if a photo kept looking weird.

Backgrounds matter more than people (weird but true)

A lot of AI images fail because the background is too smooth and too perfect. Real photos have messy details.

Try adding one or two “mess” details:

• “slightly messy desk”
• “wrinkled shirt”
• “smudged window”
• “scuffed wooden table”
• “cables visible”
• “random sticky notes”
• “books slightly out of alignment”

Not ten details. One or two.

Also, avoid backgrounds with text. AI still struggles with readable text. If you need text, add it later in Canva/Figma/Photoshop.

Negative prompts (if your tool supports them)

Not every generator uses negative prompts, but if yours does (Midjourney style, Stable Diffusion, etc), this is where you remove the AI vibe directly.

Here are negative prompt phrases I use a lot:

• “cgi”
• “3d render”
• “cartoon”
• “anime”
• “plastic skin”
• “airbrushed”
• “overly smooth”
• “uncanny”
• “deformed hands”
• “extra fingers”
• “bad anatomy”
• “text, watermark, logo”
• “oversharpened”
• “hdr”

Again, not all at once every time. But if your images keep looking like glossy AI portraits, “plastic skin” and “airbrushed” alone can help.

Choose the right image type for the job (so you do not fight the model)

If your goal is content marketing images that look real, you do not always need “a person smiling at camera”.

Some of the most believable AI images are:

• objects on a desk (workspace shots)
• abstract but natural textures (paper, concrete, wood)
• city scenes without signage
• nature shots
• close-ups of hands (sometimes) but only if you go simple
• “from behind” lifestyle photos

And honestly, for SEO blog images, desk shots and simple lifestyle images often convert better anyway. They do not distract. They support the article.

The “realism prompt” templates I actually reuse

Steal these and swap the nouns.

Template 1: Blog header workspace photo

Realistic photo of a [scene], natural window light, slight film grain, 35mm lens, candid framing, muted neutral colors, shallow depth of field, minor imperfections, no text, no watermark

Example:

Realistic photo of a laptop on a wooden desk with a notebook and coffee mug, natural window light, slight film grain, 35mm lens, candid framing, muted neutral colors, shallow depth of field, minor imperfections, no text, no watermark

Template 2: SaaS lifestyle image (without cringe)

Candid photo of a [person] using a [device] in a [place], documentary style, realistic skin texture, casual clothing, natural lighting, 50mm lens, subtle noise, not posed, no glamour lighting

Template 3: “stock but believable” team photo

Editorial style photo of a small team in a modern office, candid moment, natural overhead lighting, realistic proportions, slight background clutter, muted colors, shot on DSLR, 35mm lens, subtle grain

Post-processing: the small edits that remove the AI vibe

This is where people skip, and it is why their images still scream AI.

You do not need heavy editing. You need tiny human-like flaws.

Quick checklist:

1. Add a touch of grain
   Even 3 to 8 percent grain can make it feel photographed.
2. Lower clarity / sharpness slightly
   AI tends to oversharpen edges. Real photos are softer.
3. Adjust color temperature
   Make it a bit warmer or cooler like a real room.
4. Bring down highlights
   AI highlights can look metallic. Tame them.
5. Crop like a human
   Do not center everything perfectly. Crop slightly off.
6. Optional: add a mild vignette
   Very mild. If it’s obvious, it becomes an AI look again.

If you are generating images for blog posts at scale, you probably do not want to manually edit every single one. Fair. But even a light preset applied consistently can help.

A practical workflow for SEO content teams (fast, consistent, not fussy)

Here is a workflow that works especially well if you are publishing frequently.

1. Decide on 3 to 5 "image styles" for your brand
   Example styles: natural desk photos, simple lifestyle office shots (no direct eye contact), product mockups on neutral backgrounds, and abstract textures for section breaks.
2. Create prompt templates for each style
   Save them. Reuse them. Consistency makes images feel more real across a site.
3. Generate 8 to 12 images in one batch
   Pick the best 2. Discard the rest. This is normal. AI generation is cheap, your time is not.
4. Apply the same light edit preset
   Grain + slight soften + consistent warmth.

If you are doing SEO content, this is the part where it gets interesting because content production and image production are tied together.

By incorporating an AI workflow for SEO social feed, you can streamline both image generation and content publication. If you're already using a platform like SEO software (the AI powered SEO automation platform at https://seo.software), you can pair realistic image generation with the actual publishing workflow. The content calendar, bulk generation, and publishing part matters because the biggest "AI tell" is not just the image. It's inconsistency. One post has glossy AI art, the next has a weird plastic face, the next has no images at all. That pattern makes the whole site feel lower trust.

Where AI images fit in an SEO workflow (and where they should not)

AI images are great for:

• blog headers
• section dividers
• generic concept visuals (workflow, planning, strategy)
• simple lifestyle support shots

AI images are risky for:

• medical, legal, finance topics where trust is fragile
• images that imply a real person endorsing something
• “before and after” claims
• anything that could be interpreted as a real event

For those, use real photos, licensed stock, or custom illustrations.

Common mistakes I still see (and how to fix them fast)

Mistake: Asking for “photorealistic cinematic portrait”

Fix: replace with “candid photo” + natural light + specific lens.

Mistake: Too many style keywords

Fix: remove 70 percent of adjectives. Keep 2 or 3.

Mistake: Trying to generate hands doing complex tasks

Fix: change the crop or the pose. Or remove hands.

Mistake: Using AI images with perfect skin everywhere

Fix: add “realistic skin texture” and “subtle imperfections” and “not posed”.

Mistake: Background looks like a showroom

Fix: add one messy detail and a real lighting source.

If you publish a lot of content, you want the image workflow to be boring

This is one of those weird things. The better your system gets, the less exciting it becomes.

You stop chasing the “best possible” AI image and you start chasing:

• consistent
• believable
• on brand
• fast to produce
• safe to publish

If you are building an organic growth machine, that matters more than a perfect hero image.

And speaking of that, if you want a more automated content workflow overall, two pages on SEO software are worth a look:

• Their AI SEO Editor (useful for tightening up drafts and keeping articles clean and structured): AI SEO Editor
• Their overview of different tools in this space, if you are comparing setups and trying to build your stack: AI writing tools

I’m mentioning these because the image problem and the content problem tend to show up together. If you solve one but not the other, the site still feels off.

Quick prompt examples you can copy paste right now

A few copy ready ones.

1. Realistic desk shot

Smartphone photo of a laptop on a slightly messy wooden desk, notebook and pen nearby, coffee mug, late afternoon natural window light, subtle noise, imperfect framing, realistic shadows, no text, no watermark

2. Founder working shot

Candid photo of an ordinary small business owner working on a laptop in a home office, natural window light, realistic skin texture, casual clothing, 35mm lens, slight film grain, muted colors, not posed, no glamour lighting

3. Team collaboration

Documentary style photo of two coworkers discussing something on a laptop in a modern office, natural overhead lighting, 50mm lens, realistic proportions, slight background clutter, subtle grain, no text, no watermark

4. Minimal abstract background

Realistic photo of a textured off white paper background with soft natural shadows, subtle film grain, neutral tones, shot on DSLR, no text

Wrap up (the real secret is restraint)

If you want realistic AI images, the trick is not some magic model. It’s restraint.

Less cinematic. Less perfect. More ordinary details. Real light. Real camera language. A little grain. A little mess.

Do that, and suddenly your images stop yelling “AI” and start doing the job they were supposed to do in the first place. Support the content, build trust, and just quietly look like they belong on a real website.