Midjourney Mastery — From Basic Prompts to Photorealistic Images

Midjourney Mastery

Midjourney has redefined what is possible with AI image generation. Whether you are a designer looking to accelerate your workflow or a complete beginner who has never touched a design tool, Midjourney empowers you to create stunning, photorealistic imagery from nothing more than a text description. In this lesson, you will go from writing your very first prompt to producing images that rival professional photography and illustration.

Getting Started: Discord Setup and Interface Navigation

Midjourney operates entirely within Discord, which can feel unusual at first but becomes second nature quickly. Here is how to get up and running:

• Create a Discord account at discord.com if you do not already have one
• Visit midjourney.com and click "Join the Beta" to connect your Discord account
• Choose a subscription tier based on your needs:
  • Basic Plan ($10/month): ~200 image generations per month, ideal for casual exploration
  • Standard Plan ($30/month): 15 hours of fast generation, unlimited relaxed mode, best for regular creators
  • Pro Plan ($60/month): 30 hours of fast generation, stealth mode for private images, suited for professionals
  • Mega Plan ($120/month): 60 hours of fast generation, maximum speed and privacy for studios and agencies

Once subscribed, you generate images by typing /imagine followed by your prompt in any Midjourney bot channel or in a direct message with the bot. The bot returns a grid of four image variations within seconds.

Anatomy of a Midjourney Prompt

Every great Midjourney image starts with a well-structured prompt. Think of your prompt as a blueprint with distinct layers:

• Subject: What is in the image (a woman, a mountain, a cyberpunk city)
• Style: The visual treatment (photorealistic, oil painting, anime, watercolor)
• Environment: The setting and context (at sunset, in a forest, on a spaceship)
• Lighting: How the scene is lit (golden hour, dramatic rim lighting, soft studio light)
• Composition: Camera angle and framing (close-up portrait, wide aerial view, low angle)
• Parameters: Technical modifiers that control generation behavior

Essential Midjourney Parameters

10 Prompt Formulas for Different Styles

Use these templates by replacing the bracketed placeholders with your specific subject:

# 1. Photorealistic Portrait
A photorealistic portrait of [subject], shot on Canon EOS R5, 85mm f/1.4 lens,
natural window light, shallow depth of field, skin texture visible, editorial
photography --ar 3:4 --v 6.1 --stylize 200

# 2. Cinematic Scene
A cinematic still from [scene description], anamorphic lens, film grain,
teal and orange color grading, dramatic volumetric lighting, 35mm film
--ar 21:9 --v 6.1 --stylize 400

# 3. Watercolor Illustration
A delicate watercolor painting of [subject], soft washes of color bleeding
into white paper, loose brushstrokes, botanical illustration style,
vintage naturalist aesthetic --ar 4:5 --v 6.1 --stylize 600

# 4. 3D Rendered Object
A 3D render of [object], studio lighting, soft shadows on white cyclorama,
octane render, product photography, clean minimal composition, hyperrealistic
materials --ar 1:1 --v 6.1 --stylize 300

# 5. Flat Design Illustration
A flat design illustration of [subject], geometric shapes, limited color
palette of 4 colors, vector art style, clean lines, modern minimalist,
no gradients --ar 16:9 --v 6.1 --style raw

# 6. Oil Painting
An oil painting of [subject] in the style of classical realism, visible
brushstrokes, rich warm palette, chiaroscuro lighting, museum quality,
gilt frame --ar 4:5 --v 6.1 --stylize 750

# 7. Anime / Manga Style
[Subject] in modern anime style, detailed cel shading, vibrant colors,
dynamic pose, clean linework, studio Ghibli inspired background, high
quality anime key visual --ar 3:4 --v 6.1 --stylize 400

# 8. Isometric Design
An isometric view of [scene/building], pixel-perfect edges, soft pastel
colors, miniature diorama feel, cute stylized details, game art style
--ar 1:1 --v 6.1 --stylize 500

# 9. Vintage Photograph
A vintage photograph of [subject], faded Kodachrome film, slight grain,
1970s color palette, light leak on right edge, nostalgic and warm,
analog photography --ar 4:3 --v 6.1 --stylize 300

# 10. Sci-Fi Concept Art
[Subject] in a futuristic sci-fi environment, concept art, matte painting,
dramatic scale, bioluminescent accents, volumetric fog, cinematic composition,
trending on ArtStation --ar 16:9 --v 6.1 --stylize 500

Advanced Techniques

Image Prompts and Blending: You can feed Midjourney existing images as reference by pasting an image URL before your text prompt. This lets you blend styles, transfer aesthetics, or maintain a subject across multiple generations. Use --iw 0.5 to --iw 2 to control how strongly the image reference influences the output.

Remixing: Enable remix mode with /settings and toggle Remix. When you click a variation button, you can modify the prompt while keeping the composition. This is invaluable for iterating on a concept without starting from scratch.

Upscaling: After selecting your favorite image from the grid, use the U buttons to upscale. Midjourney v6+ produces high-resolution outputs by default, but you can further enhance with external upscalers like Topaz Gigapixel for print-quality results.

Multi-Prompts: Use :: to weight different parts of your prompt separately. For example, cyberpunk city::2 neon rain::1 dark atmosphere::0.5 gives the city concept twice the weight of the rain. This gives you fine-grained control over what the AI emphasizes.

Building a Consistent Visual Style for Your Brand

One of the biggest challenges with AI imagery is maintaining consistency. Here is a practical approach:

• Create a style reference document with 5-10 images that represent your brand aesthetic
• Build a "base prompt" template that includes your recurring style elements (lighting, color palette, composition rules)
• Use seed values to maintain similar compositions across a series
• Save your best prompts in a spreadsheet with the resulting images for future reference
• Create a parameter preset that you append to every prompt (e.g., --ar 16:9 --v 6.1 --stylize 350 --no text watermark)

Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Overly vague prompts produce generic results. Instead of "a beautiful landscape," write "a misty fjord in Norway at dawn, calm reflective water, snow-capped mountains, soft pink light, aerial drone photograph."

Too many competing concepts confuse the model. If you ask for "a cyberpunk samurai astronaut riding a dragon in a watercolor style with neon lights," Midjourney struggles to prioritize. Keep your prompts focused on one central concept with supporting details.

Ignoring aspect ratio means your images will not fit their intended use. Always set --ar to match where the image will appear: 1:1 for Instagram posts, 16:9 for YouTube thumbnails, 9:16 for Stories and Reels.

Forgetting negative prompts leads to unwanted elements. Use --no to exclude common problems like watermarks, text, blurry backgrounds, or extra fingers.

Never iterating means settling for the first result. Professional Midjourney users generate dozens of variations, remix the best ones, and combine elements from multiple generations to arrive at the perfect image.

Key Takeaways

• Midjourney runs inside Discord and offers four subscription tiers from $10 to $120 per month depending on your generation volume
• Every effective prompt contains a subject, style, environment, lighting, and composition layer plus technical parameters
• The ten prompt formulas provided cover the most common visual styles and can be customized by swapping in your specific subject
• Advanced techniques like image prompts, remixing, multi-prompts, and seed values give you precise creative control
• Building brand consistency requires a style reference document, base prompt templates, and systematic prompt logging
• Always set the correct aspect ratio, use negative prompts to exclude unwanted elements, and iterate through multiple variations
• Midjourney is a creative tool, not a replacement for creative thinking — your prompt craftsmanship determines the quality of output