Taking AI Image Generation to the Next Level or Surviving AI

AI is here to stay, and we will survive. Fear not. GPTs are your Mentor, tutor, and companion to many, myself included. Could you please stop using it like Google on steroids?

When the Just Over Broke (JOB) allows, I am learning. Growing up, it would have meant keeping my nose in the books. As an avid reader of everything from Mark Twain to George Orwell to Napoleon Hill and Zig Ziglar, reading meant learning something new. If you are not learning something new every day, are you really living?

Fast forward to 2025, my books (lesson plans) are developed by Lexi and not a broken education system. We can save that discussion for another time. In light of AI, the education system will need to adapt or risk becoming obsolete.

Everyone within this great platform has a distinct advantage over everyone who is not.

Wealthy Affiliate Emphasizes the Responsible Use of AI

Community members encourage you to make the best use of these tools. They are ingrained in our lesson plans. We disdain AI comments, abhor AI cut-and-paste posts. AI has gotten very good at some things, and yet, we all know when something was thrown against the wall for clicks.

Blog posting was one of the first things to feel the wrath of AI. Google has not recovered. In fact, they have surrendered trying to weed the blogging garden of AI regeneration. They have turned a blind eye to indexing a lot of posts. If you can't beat them, join them. It was to this end that I embarked on transforming my blog posts into (cover your ears, this is blasphemy) videos, shorts, reels, and pins.

Rod Stewart is playing and laughing at the New World Order. Every Picture Tells a Story. He was way ahead of his time all those years ago.

Social Media

Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest are all visual forms of blogging. I have taken many of my posts and have reformatted them into Reels, Shorts, and Pins. While my consistency has not been where it needs to be, I have continued to hone my craft at image generation. Below you will find A Red Haired Siren, A Budding AI Influencer, and A Mythical Creature, Skogsrå, who protects and guards the forests. She is beautiful, yet hollow inside.

(Side note: Kyle, will we ever get columns in our posts? I would have preferred to set these images side-by-side.)

If AI is writing your blog posts, Skogsrå (alt+0229, if you were wondering) should be your patron saint.

There are many tools out there to create your images. My list is up to 25. But here is something that has not been incorporated into my lists.

If you want to improve the quality of your images, here is a tip that I use. It is called "Tokens".

Tokens are incredibly useful because they act like a structured guide for the AI Image generators. The image generators were trained on huge datasets, millions of images. The data included with the images were the camera, aperture, lens, shutter speed, etc. These settings were combined into "tokens" when they were fed to the GPTs.

After a while, AI learned that the best images, the clearest ones, were from very specific cameras and settings.

For example, when you start your image prompt with IMG_4321.CR2, this tricks the AI into treating a prompt like a real camera file, boosting authenticity, while [RAW photo of [subject/scene]] pinpoints what I want, like Skogsrå in a forest. Adding f/1.4, 85mm lens, control focus and depth, giving me that dreamy allure, and [Film Stock] (e.g., Kodak Portra 400) adds rich colors and textures I’d never have thought of. [Lighting] sets the mood—golden hour for Fall vibes—and [Resolution cue] (e.g., 8k) ensures crisp details. Together, they save me from guesswork, refine my prompts, and elevate my images from amateur to eye-catching.

🔑 Core Formula

[FILENAME TOKEN], RAW photo of [subject/scene], [EXIF settings], [Film Stock], [Lighting], [Resolution cue]

I am going to save you from trying to remember this format with a quick cheat sheet. You want to create a fashion magazine cover shoot, start your prompt with #1 and fill in the subject. Do not skimp on details just because you are using one of these prompts. Do you want to put your product in the best lighting? Start with prompt #4.

1. Portrait / Fashion

IMG_4321.CR2, RAW photo of [subject], f/1.4, 85mm lens, ISO 100, Kodak Portra 400, soft studio lighting, 8k

2. Nature / Landscapes

DSC_2456.NEF, wide-angle RAW photo of [scene], 16mm lens, f/8, ISO 100, Fujifilm Velvia 50, golden hour lighting, large format scan

3. Cinematic / Storytelling

IMG_7654.ARW, RAW cinematic frame of [subject/action], 35mm lens, f/2.8, ISO 800, CineStill 800T, shot on 70mm, anamorphic lens, blue hour

4. Product / Commercial

Phase One IQ4 150MP RAW capture of [product], f/8, 50mm prime, uncompressed TIFF, studio strobe lighting, 16k

5. Street / Documentary

LEICA_M10_0245.DNG, RAW handheld street photo of [subject], 35mm lens, f/2, ISO 1600, Ilford HP5, natural daylight, film still aesthetic

6. Black & White / Vintage

IMG_9087.CR2, RAW black & white portrait of [subject], 50mm lens, f/2, ISO 400, Kodak Tri-X 400, high contrast, grainy film scan

7. Wildlife / Action

DSC_8765.NEF, RAW telephoto capture of [animal/action], 200mm lens, f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO 800, Nikon D5 output, 8k detail

This is a detailed prompt of Skogsrå drinking a Coke on a park bench.

"A mystical forest woman, Skogsrå, fused with nature, her skin adorned with glowing green moss and twisting vines, sits gracefully on a weathered park bench in a bustling urban park. She holds a sleek Coca-Cola can, sipping it with a coy, seductive smile that hints at her pheromone-charged allure, her amber-glowing eyes locking onto the viewer. Her hollowed back, subtly veiled by a flowing moss-draped gown, pulses with faint, enchanting light, blending mystery with modernity. Strands of her hair and moss sway gently in a breeze, while the bench’s wood and her rooted form remain still, grounded by micro-physics. Ethereal mist drifts around her, with glowing motes of light floating in the background, contrasting the park’s autumnal leaves. Camera: a slow, steady push-in toward her face, framed as if shot on an ARRI Alexa Mini LF with a 50mm lens, capturing cinematic depth and softness. Incorporate realistic details—soft hair movement, mist dispersion, and believable shadows—while ensuring smooth, hypnotic motion that enhances her captivating presence, merging nature’s seduction with a playful consumer twist."

This level of detail is needed to create a great image. This one is not bad.

Next, I surrounded the prompt with Phase One IQ4 150MP RAW capture of [product], f/8, 50mm prime, uncompressed TIFF, studio strobe lighting, 16k. Notice a difference in detail?

The Video Introduction: Surviving AI was used with a couple of standard tools, CapCut and Eleven Labs.

I keep promising to put a list of AI Video generators together. My toolset changes with each new release.

The most current tool set can be found in this video.

Show Me Your ID

Let me know if you have any questions.

DID YOU KNOW - Even the best at creating AI videos and images are only two years ahead of you. It is not too late to learn new tricks.