Realistic AI Image Generator

Make images that pass for photographs: light from a real source, a real lens, skin and surfaces with texture. Pick the model that fits the subject.

A woman in her thirties with short dark hair and a rust wool coat at a Lisbon tram stop, low sun on one side of her face, looking past the camera, a yellow tram soft behind her
A narrow lane of ochre and pink plaster houses with green shutters and laundry overhead, a pale-blue 1960s car parked against the wall and a woman in a white shirt walking away
A steel field watch with a cream dial, black baton markers and a red seconds hand on an olive canvas strap, lying on blue painted wood, hard sun casting one long shadow

What is a realistic AI image generator?

It makes images that read as photographs. You describe the scene the way a photographer would: the subject, where the light comes from, the lens and the framing. On Nano Banana 2.1 an image costs 10 credits, and 6 on Flux 3 Image, which made the portrait here. You can start for free.

What makes the look

Light, lens, surface and framing

Realism has no fixed palette. It comes from light, optics, surface and framing, and you name them for every subject.

  1. Light

    One source with a direction: low sun from the left, a window on the right, dusk. Shadows fall where that source puts them.

  2. Lens

    A focal length and a depth of field. A long lens flattens the scene and softens the background; a wide one takes in the whole room.

  1. Surface

    The texture real things have: freckles and lines on skin, canvas on a strap, plaster on a wall, glossy sauce.

  2. Framing

    A camera position a person could stand in: at table height, at eye level in a doorway, on a tripod by a lake.

Category
Photography
Best subjects
Portraits, products, food, interiors, streets, landscapes
Pairs with
Product shots skill
Credits
10 per image on Nano Banana 2.1
Models to try
Nano Banana 2.1, Flux 3 Image, Seedream 5 Pro

Your photo, in studio light

Attach a photo of yourself and ask for studio light.

A phone selfie of a young man with black hair and round wire glasses in an olive hoodie, in a room lit by a warm lamp
A studio portrait photo of a young man in round glasses and an olive hoodie, soft side light on a warm grey backdrop

Realistic examples

Each card shows the prompt, the model and what the image costs. The portrait was made on Flux 3 Image, the rest on Nano Banana 2.1. Every prompt names a lens, a light source, a time and a place.

A woman in her thirties with short dark hair and a rust wool coat at a Lisbon tram stop, low sun on one side of her face, looking past the camera, a yellow tram soft behind her

A head-and-shoulders portrait of a woman in her thirties with short dark hair in a rust-colored wool coat, standing at a tram stop on a Lisbon street in late afternoon. Low sun from the left lights one side of her face; the other side falls into soft shade. She looks just past the camera, relaxed, mouth closed. A yellow tram is out of focus far behind her. Shot on 35mm film with an 85mm lens at f/2.8, fine grain, natural skin with pores and a few freckles, true-to-life color.

Flux 3 Image6 credits
A steel field watch with a cream dial, black baton markers and a red seconds hand on an olive canvas strap, lying on blue painted wood, hard sun casting one long shadow

A product photograph of a field watch with a plain cream dial marked only by twelve thin black baton indices, no numerals, no logo and no words, two slim black hands and a thin red seconds hand, on an olive canvas strap, lying on a flat cobalt-blue painted surface. The 12 o'clock index points along the strap toward the buckle, and the crown sits at 3 o'clock. Hard late-afternoon sun from the upper left casts one long, crisp shadow of the watch across the blue. Shot from above at a slight angle with a 100mm macro lens at f/8, everything sharp. Brushed steel case, a faint reflection of the sky in the crystal. No other objects.

Nano Banana 2.110 credits
A narrow lane of ochre and pink plaster houses with green shutters and laundry overhead, a pale-blue 1960s car parked against the wall and a woman in a white shirt walking away

A street photograph of a narrow lane in a southern Italian town at golden hour: warm ochre and pink plaster walls, green wooden shutters, laundry on a line overhead, and a small pale-blue 1960s two-door car parked against the wall. Low sun lights the tops of the walls; the lane below is in warm shade. A woman in a white shirt walks away from the camera in the distance. Shot with a 35mm lens at f/5.6, dry paving stones, the look of color negative film with soft grain.

Nano Banana 2.110 credits
A nest of spaghetti in tomato sauce with basil and parmesan on a white enamel plate with a blue rim, on a marble table in low window sun, a glass of red wine at the top edge

A plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce, twirled into a neat nest, a few torn basil leaves and a dusting of parmesan, on a white enamel plate with a thin blue rim, on a clean white marble table by a window in a small trattoria. Late-afternoon sun from the right, warm and low, the sauce glossy and the plate casting a soft long shadow. A glass of red wine at the top edge of the frame. Shot at a 45-degree angle with a 50mm lens at f/4. The table is clean: no crumbs, no napkins, no other dishes.

Nano Banana 2.110 credits
A 1960s living room with walnut-paneled walls, a long burnt-orange sofa and a wool rug, late sun falling across the floor through a glass wall onto pine trees

An interior photograph of a living room in a 1960s house in the hills: walnut-paneled walls, a low burnt-orange sofa, a wool rug, and a floor-to-ceiling window looking out onto pine trees. Late-afternoon sun comes through the window and lays a warm stripe across the floor and the sofa. Nobody in the room. Shot with a 24mm tilt-shift lens at eye level, vertical lines straight, natural light only, no lamps on.

Nano Banana 2.110 credits
A small red wooden cabin with one lit window on the shore of a still lake at dusk, pine forest behind, pink light on a snowy peak, the cabin reflected in the water

A landscape photograph of a small red wooden cabin on the shore of a still lake in Norway at dusk, one window lit warm yellow, a dark pine forest and a mountain behind, the last pink light on the mountain's snowy top, the cabin and its light reflected in the glassy water. Shot on a tripod with a 50mm lens at f/8, a long exposure, a deep blue evening sky, no people.

Nano Banana 2.110 credits

Make a realistic image

Describe the subject, then the light, the lens and the framing. Start on Nano Banana 2.1 for products, food, rooms and places, and try Flux 3 Image for people.

One run on Nano Banana 2.1: 2 images at 4:3, 20 credits.
Start creating

Free to start

One portrait prompt on four models

Same prompt, same settings. Compare the skin, the light in her hair and what each model added that the prompt never asked for.

One prompt, four models

A portrait photograph of a woman in her sixties with short silver hair in a mustard linen shirt, standing in an apple orchard in late-afternoon sun. Low warm light from behind her right shoulder rims her hair; her face is lit by soft light bounced off the grass. Three-quarter view, looking at the camera with a calm, slight smile. 85mm lens at f/2.8, natural skin with lines and texture, the trees softly out of focus behind her.

  • Flux 3 Image: a woman in her sixties with short silver hair and a mustard linen shirt facing the camera between rows of apple trees, sun rimming her hair
    Flux 3 Image

    6 credits

  • Nano Banana 2.1: the woman in a three-quarter turn with a slight smile, soft light on her face, gnarled apple trees behind
    Nano Banana 2.1

    10 credits

  • Seedream 5 Pro: the woman with strong rim light in her hair, high contrast, the orchard rows falling into shade behind her
    Seedream 5 Pro

    11 credits

  • Krea 2: the woman with a longer silver bob, low sun through the leaves behind her and red apples on the branches in front
    Krea 2

    14 credits

Each result shown was picked from three images of one run, nothing retouched. Krea 2 added things in all three: frost on the grass and a stone necklace in one, a bead necklace in another, and a chin-length bob in the one shown, where the prompt asked for short hair. Nano Banana 2.1 blurred the orchard into bright circles in one of its three. Credits are each model's base price per image.

How to make a realistic image

  1. Pick the model for the subject

    Nano Banana 2.1 for products, food, rooms and places. Flux 3 Image for people, and with Web search on for a real landmark you name. Seedream 5 Pro as a second take on the same prompt.

  2. Describe what a camera would record

    Give the subject, the light and its direction, the lens and the framing. Say what is not in the frame too: a clean table, no lamps on, no other objects.

  3. Bring in your own product

    Attach a photo of your product or place as a reference and say what to keep from it. Then compare two models on the same prompt and keep the better one.

Questions about realistic images