Midjourney Version 5: The Latest in Text-to-AI Art and Photography
Discover how to unlock stunning and original imagery using AI tools like Midjourney and ChatGPT. Explore the power of keywords and experimentation for creative content creation.
There are so many variables to consider when using Artificial Intelligence tools and platforms, such as Midjourney and ChatGPT, that it can be hard to get started. Harder still to land on one process or way.
In this series, I have listed a variety of basic and advanced prompts to help you. Each time I do, I learn something new myself, plus I find some resources or guides that sort of up-end my work.
Only a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a slew of technical terms and methods to get the most out of these tools, from Midjourney to Stable Diffusion to DALL-E. You can read it here: Feel Like Midjourney AI Is Daunting? Here Are Some More Prompt Tips. I referenced things like “aspect ratio” and “stylize” or even referencing a specific version of the service. Then I thought I cracked the code by using OpenAI’s ChatGPT service to help you (and me) get to these details more easily.
All of these tips and methods and hacks are valuable. They can certainly help you get the result you want. AI is moving so fast that you need all the tools in your toolbox that you can carry.
Then along comes Rob Lennon “AI-Whisperer” again who I have mentioned in a couple of other posts for his expertise in advanced ChatGPT prompts. Here is Rob with another amazing Twitter thread about using specific keywords, with Midjourney, everyday sorts of terms, nothing too technical like aspect ratio or art styles or software version codes, to come up with that stunning image you see above. He shares 16 new keywords (well, 14 in addition to the two I am sharing below, and in the caption above) he tested his ideas and tested them again.
Bioluminescence… And whatever word or creation you want to have that look. Like this (in Midjourney when you type /imagine [enter]).
/imagine [prompt] Storm Trooper Bioluminescence
This is the thing with AI tools right now - it takes a ton of time and a willingness to keep experimenting. Sure, some people are getting it right in short order, but most of us have to keep building as we might with a set of Lego bricks without an instruction manual. Try, take it apart, and try again. It is a fun activity if you do not mind such tasks.
I am building, testing, exploring, and sharing it with you because I am trying to find ways to get more done. For me, getting more done means better outlines, better writing, new ways of looking at something and getting feedback on-the-fly, and being able to truly create something artistic for the first time in my life. To use words to draw. That is profound and exciting.
Back to Rob. He starts testing without using the technical parameters and the results are mind-bending. He says in the thread that those parameters set up expectations on the part of the AI; My words, not his. With four different subjects or ideas, he then sets about using those terms in the image prompt, followed by 61 different tags or what I called keywords or terms to see what Midjourney could do.
Now to be fair to my above comments about technical terms, he thinks some of those things will need testing and could be useful. He does indeed use some technical terms and parameters, but I tested some of his terms with basic concepts and got results in the right direction. You do not have to throw away the technical aspects if it is working for you. That’s a relief, right?
244 tests using 61 tags and 4 image concepts:
- Floral vector art
- A jungle landscape
- A stormtrooper
- An elven queen
Here is a sample of the floral vector art with the tag “Spherical Aberration.”
I can tell you from my less rigorous efforts that running all those tests would take a long time. It took him eight hours. It would have taken me 24 hours, most likely. But if you read his Twitter thread, you will find the 16 tags, and running them through Midjourney (and likely the others) will produce some beautiful and original imagery. For many of us, instead of hunting for the perfect image, we can write it down in an AI image generation tool and get to something creative that helps illustrate your article or web post or presentation.
Let me know on social channels what you are trying and testing with AI tools. Tag me on Twitter for any cool imagery you create. Please share the prompt that got you there, too.
