From eye-catching website headers to social media posts that stop the endless scroll, images can make or break a content strategy. When in need of impactful high-quality images, professionals often turn to stock photography libraries. But let’s be honest—stock photography has its issues. Photos are often generic, expensive, and rarely exactly what you envision. The costs add up, and finding the perfect shot can be a tedious experience.
What if I told you there’s a better way? A way to never have to buy another stock photo again. I’m talking about generative AI, and Midjourney in particular—a game-changer in AI visual content creation.
At the core of this magic lies the art of prompt crafting. Creating AI-generated photography isn’t just about typing a few words—it’s about guiding the AI to produce exactly what you have in mind. Rich, detailed prompts unlock endless creative possibilities, allowing you to generate visuals that look like they came straight from a professional studio.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to use Midjourney to create stunning, customized stock photography that will enhance your content, all while keeping costs down and creativity up.
Understanding the Basics
To get started with Midjourney AI, it’s important to understand the basics of prompt engineering. Midjourney works by taking a written prompt and generating an image based on the details you provide. Essentially, you’re using descriptive language to guide the AI in crafting the image you need. The richer and more vivid that language, the closer the generated images will match what you have in mind.
Imagine you need a simple, cozy home office image. You could start with a prompt like, “home office with natural light.” While this prompt will yield results, you could enhance it for even greater quality and specificity. By adding more detail, such as, “a modern home office with natural light, a wooden desk, a potted plant, and a laptop on the desk,” you guide the AI to generate a more complete scene.
Key Tips for Writing Effective Prompts
- Be Specific: Include as many relevant details as possible. Think about colors, lighting, mood, subject matter, textures, and even the setting.
Basic Prompt:
A colorful sunset over the ocean with gentle waves.
Rich Prompt:
A dramatic sunset over a calm ocean, with vibrant pink and orange hues reflecting on the water, a silhouette of a sailboat in the distance, and gentle waves in the foreground.
- Use Adjectives to Guide Aesthetics: Use adjectives to specify the style or mood you want.
A vintage-style portrait of a beautiful young woman smiling, with soft lighting and a sepia tone.
- Incorporate Context: Providing context helps Midjourney understand your creative goals.
An office space designed for a freelance graphic designer, with a cluttered desk, a drawing tablet, colorful inspiration boards on the wall, and bright morning sunlight.
- Iterate and Refine: Start with a basic prompt and refine it in steps. Each time you run a prompt, notice what worked and what didn’t, and make adjustments. The iterative process can significantly enhance the quality of your results.
Let’s start with a simple prompt and gradually improve it:
Initial Prompt:
A steaming coffee cup on a wooden table.
First Iteration:
A vintage ceramic coffee cup filled with steaming coffee on a wooden table, in a cozy kitchen setting.
Final Version:
A purple textured vintage ceramic coffee cup with steaming dark roast coffee, resting on a rustic oak wooden table, with soft morning sunlight filtering through a nearby window, in a cozy kitchen setting
With each iteration, the scene becomes more vivid, specific, and ultimately closer to the vision you have in mind. This practice will help you achieve more customized and visually stunning results.
Creating Stock Photography
Now that you know the basics, let’s explore how to use Midjourney AI to create some of the most commonly used types of stock photography.
Home Environment Photography
Home environment images are widely used in blogs, lifestyle articles, and product promotions. To create professional-looking home environment photography, focus on capturing a particular mood or style. Whether it’s a cozy reading nook or a modern minimalist kitchen, the key lies in detailed and descriptive prompts.
A modern living room with a light grey sofa, a fluffy white rug, a wooden coffee table with a vase of fresh tulips, large windows letting in bright natural light, and minimal Scandinavian decor.
By incorporating specific colors, materials, and decor styles, you can guide the AI to create the exact kind of ambiance you need.
A cozy reading nook by a bay window, soft afternoon sunlight filtering through sheer curtains, plush velvet armchair with floral patterns, a stack of old, leather-bound books, knitted blanket, and a steaming cup of chamomile tea on a rustic wooden side table.
Food Photography
Food photography is a staple of marketing content, blogs, and recipe sites. Capturing the essence of a dish requires vivid prompts that convey taste, texture, and context.
A close-up of a plate of creamy Alfredo pasta, topped with grated Parmesan, fresh parsley, and a sprinkle of black pepper, with a rustic wooden table in the background and soft afternoon lighting.
Notice how adding details like ingredients, setting, and lighting gives a rich and appealing image.
A vibrant summer salad in a white ceramic bowl, colorful mix of fresh greens, juicy cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced cucumbers, red onion rings, crumbled feta cheese, and a drizzle of thick balsamic dressing, placed on a rustic wooden table with a soft linen napkin.
Nature and Travel Photography
Nature and travel photos are perfect for conveying emotion, freedom, and the beauty of the world. These are often used in blog posts, advertisements, and social media.
A majestic mountain landscape during sunrise, with snow-capped peaks, a serene lake reflecting the colors of the sky, and wildflowers blooming in the foreground.
Using descriptive language that paints a scene helps Midjourney produce a captivating and inviting image that sparks wanderlust.
Business and Corporate Imagery
Business and corporate stock photos can be notoriously bland, but with Midjourney, you can create professional yet unique imagery that avoids clichés.
A business professional in a modern, minimalist office, sitting at a sleek desk with a laptop open, soft morning light coming through large floor-to-ceiling windows, focused yet relaxed expression, dressed in a navy blue blazer, a cup of coffee beside the laptop, and abstract art on the wall in the background.
Here, diversity, setting, and action provide context, helping to create a dynamic and engaging business scene.
A diverse group of five people in a modern office, gathered around a glass table, discussing a project with large papers and post-its spread accross the table, in a bright room with a cityscape view through the large windows.
Lifestyle and People Photography
Lifestyle and people photography can be some of the most challenging stock photos to source, especially when aiming for authenticity and diversity. Midjourney allows you to overcome these challenges by specifying the details you need.
A middle-aged woman with curly hair sitting at a wooden desk using a laptop, natural morning light coming through a window, bookshelves in the background, and a cup of coffee next to her.
Adding details such as the setting, time of day, and even the subject’s attire creates a much more vibrant and relatable image.
A young woman jogging on a riverside path at dawn, wearing blue athletic gear, with earbuds in her ears, and the city skyline softly illuminated in the background.
Final Touches
Now that your images are generated, we can still enhance their quality to make them ready for professional use.
- Use an external AI upscalling tool
- Refine the image in Photoshop
- Export in PNG for lossless quality or JPEG for web use
These optimization steps will help ensure your AI-generated images are ready for any purpose—whether it’s high-resolution prints, digital marketing campaigns, or social media posts. By carefully upscaling, refining, and saving your images, you can achieve a level of professionalism that rivals traditional photography.
The key takeaway here is that Midjourney allows you to truly customize your visuals by mastering prompt crafting. This level of creative control, paired with the post-generation optimization tools, ensures that your imagery stands out, perfectly suits your brand, and resonates with your audience.
High-quality visuals are no longer out of reach or limited to expensive photoshoots—now, they’re at your fingertips with AI technology, helping you unlock new levels of creativity and efficiency.
