01/03/2026 6:30 pm
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Which AI is actually winning right now for photorealistic stuff because my usual workflow is falling apart? Ive been using Midjourney since v3 and I am pretty deep into Stable Diffusion locally with a 3090 but lately I am finding the uncanny valley skin textures are just getting worse or too stylized. Its like no matter what I do with the prompt I get that weird AI glow. I am working on a set of architectural renders with people in them for a client in Chicago who needs them by next Friday so the clock is ticking. My budget is flexible—I dont mind paying for a subscription if it actually delivers—but the skin tones and fabric physics in MJ v6 are looking way too perfected if that makes sense? Like everything has this plastic sheen even with raw mode on. I tried some Flux models recently and the composition is great but I am still struggling with that hyper-realistic grit you get from a real DSLR. Maybe I am just missing a specific LoRA or a setting in ComfyUI? I need something that can handle natural lighting and messy human details without looking like a Pixar movie. What are you guys using for actual high-end photorealism these days or is there a new model on Hugging Face I missed...
6 Answers
12
01/03/2026 6:31 pm
In my experience, that plastic sheen in Midjourney is a total dealbreaker for high-end client work. Ive tried many setups over the years, but I finally killed that AI glow by moving to Black Forest Labs Flux.1 dev lately.
- Use a dedicated realism LoRA to fix skin textures
- Drop your guidance scale to 3.0 or lower It actually handles messy lighting without looking like a render, tho it takes some tweaking... definitely worth it.
10
01/03/2026 7:35 pm
Saw this a day late but honestly I had the same headache with a New York loft project last month. Switching to Leonardo.ai PhotoReal v2 worked wonders because it kills that sheen better than MJ. Still, I lean on Stability AI Stable Diffusion XL 1.0 with Juggernaut XL weights for skin grit. Are you doing mostly exterior shots or interiors with that Chicago light? Leonardo is pricey but the consistency for architecture is solid.
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01/03/2026 6:45 pm
Ran into that plastic look last year. Im satisfied with my current setup after tweaking a few technical things...
- lower denoise
- custom model merges Check community sites for realistic weights tho.
3
01/03/2026 8:05 pm
Commenting to find later
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24/03/2026 5:51 am
Same here!
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02/03/2026 10:32 am
Re: "Commenting to find later" - unfortunately, finding that actual grit is getting harder because everything is tuned to look perfect for social media. I had issues with MJ v6 too, it just feels like the skin is made of wax even in raw mode. Honestly, if you're on a deadline for a Chicago client and need that DSLR look, I'd pivot slightly from the usual suspects.
- Ideogram 2.0
- Try their realistic style. It handles fabric and lighting way better than MJ without that weird glow.
- Adobe Firefly Image 3
- Since it is trained on stock photos, it avoids the weird AI textures. The architectural lighting is usually spot on.
- Krea AI Realtime Enhancer
- Take your existing Flux or SD renders and run them through this to add film grain and skin texture back in. It is kinda disappointing that even with a 3090 we are still fighting the plastic look. Ideogram is probably your best bet for the gritty texture you're after tho.
