Okay, so today I’m gonna walk you through my little experiment with trying to generate a photo of Phil Mickelson. Yeah, the golfer. Sounded like a fun challenge, right?
First off, I started by gathering some reference images. Tons of ’em! I mean, you gotta feed the beast, right? I scrolled through Google Images, snagged shots of his face from different angles, different lighting, you name it. Made sure to get some of him swinging, smiling, looking intense – the whole shebang.
Next, I hopped into my AI image generator. I usually use [Hypothetical AI Tool Name], it’s pretty user-friendly. Then I started messing with the prompts. This is where things got… interesting.
My first few attempts were, uh, less than stellar. I tried simple stuff like “photo phil mickelson golf,” but it just spat out some generic golfer dude. Didn’t even remotely resemble Phil! Fail.
So, I started adding details. “Photo of Phil Mickelson, professional golfer, wearing a golf hat, smiling on a green golf course.” Better, but still… off. The teeth were weird, the eyes were kinda creepy, and the background looked like a melted painting. Strike two.
Then I remembered something I read about using specific camera settings in your prompts. So I tried something like: “Photo of Phil Mickelson, professional golfer, wearing a Callaway hat, smiling on a green golf course, shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, 50mm lens, f/2.8, natural lighting.” That helped a bit with the realism of the image, the quality became much better.
I kept iterating, adding even more details. I started describing his facial features – ” Photo of Phil Mickelson, professional golfer, wearing a Callaway hat, smiling on a green golf course, shot with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, 50mm lens, f/2.8, natural lighting, slightly receding hairline, dimples.” This started to get pretty close.
One thing I noticed was that the AI really struggled with hands. They always came out looking like alien claws. So, I started specifying “realistic hands holding a golf club” in my prompts. That helped a surprising amount.
After what felt like a million tries, I finally got something that I was happy with. It wasn’t perfect, mind you. Still had that slightly uncanny valley feel to it, but definitely recognizable as Phil Mickelson. The lighting was good, the expression was believable, and the hands… well, they at least looked human!
Here are a few of the prompts that worked best for me:
- “Photo of Phil Mickelson swinging a golf club, professional golfer, sunny day, green golf course, Callaway hat, realistic hands, action shot”
- “Close-up portrait of Phil Mickelson, smiling, professional golfer, slightly receding hairline, dimples, natural lighting, Canon EOS 5D Mark IV”
- “Phil Mickelson celebrating a golf shot, fist pump, excited expression, green golf course, professional golfer, realistic details”
Key takeaways from this whole thing:
- Reference images are crucial. Garbage in, garbage out, ya know?
- Be specific with your prompts. The more detail, the better.
- Don’t be afraid to experiment. Try different angles, lighting, and camera settings.
- Patience is key! You’re gonna get a lot of duds before you get a gem.
All in all, it was a pretty fun project. I’m still learning the ropes with AI image generation, but I’m definitely seeing some progress. Next up, maybe I’ll try Tiger Woods… or maybe a whole golf tournament!