Shoutout to the guy who told me my AI landscapes all had the same lighting. I didn't see it until he said it.

I was posting these fantasy forest scenes and getting decent feedback, but one guy kept saying they all felt "flat" and "samey." I brushed it off at first. Then I looked back at my last 20 posts and sure enough every single one had that soft golden hour glow from the upper left. I had been using the same prompt structure without realizing it. Now I mix up light sources and use midday, overcast, and even night prompts. The variety is way better. Anyone else get a piece of criticism that actually improved your work?

2 comments

2 Comments

loganhart14d ago

That golden hour default is a killer, isn't it? Did changing one specific prompt keyword fix it, or did you have to completely rewrite your base template?

the_james14d ago

So a buddy of mine, @loganhart, actually ran into the same thing last month. He kept getting that sunset orange glow no matter what he tried, and he almost nuked his whole template out of frustration. Turned out it was just the word "cinematic" causing it because the model tied it to warm lighting cues. He swapped it for "sharp daylight" and the golden hour thing vanished overnight.