The power of lenses & filters in a prompt

I’ve always been curious about how AI-generated images could mimic real-world photography (especially as an architectural photographer!). So, I decided to conduct an experiment to see if lenses and filters—two essentials in photography—could influence an AI’s output. And as always, Midjourney was my go-to tool.

The thing with Midjourney (and probably most of the AI image generation tools) is that with each generation, it creates by default a new random image based on the text prompt. The reason is that it randomizes the “seed”, which is a unique code for every generation (I’m simplifying). The issue with this is that it’s very difficult to compare results, since each new one is different.

But for this experiment, I wanted control. And instead of just using a reference image (which could help steer the AI for more comparative results), I standardized everything—same prompts, same seed—so I could clearly see how different lenses and filters would affect the results.

After collecting a long list of different photographic lenses / filters and generating 250 images, here are my top 4 results:

1️⃣ Kolari Vision IR Filter
2️⃣ Lensbaby Double Glass II Optic
3️⃣ Kowa Prominar 8.5mm f/2.8 MFT Lens
4️⃣ Tilt-Shift (Miniature Effect)

These stood out with unique effects and strong photographic character. It showed me that, with the right tweaks, AI can be directed to recreate the subtleties we cherish in real-world photography. Of course, you’re free to try these out yourself and let me know how your images turned out!