Hi all,New to Firefly and running food-photography tests for a menu project. I’m comparing outcomes vs. Midjourney and want to stick with an Adobe-first workflow if I can get consistency.What’s working:Backlit beverages and ice claritySoft daylight look with shallow DOFWhat’s not:Cheese pulls look rubberyLeafy greens skew too saturatedHot spots on glazed saucesPrompts/settings I’ve tried:“Editorial food photograph, 85mm lens, f/2.0, natural window light, matte ceramic plate, subtle steam”Negative: “plastic, toy, over-saturated, extra utensils, duplicated hands”Upscale + minor sharpening in Photoshop (Camera Raw > Texture/Clarity, HSL to tame greens)Would love advice on:Model/style choices for realistic texturesPrompt phrasing that improves steam and meltColor-management tricks to keep greens believableFor reference, here’s the project context: USA Cookout restaurant photography. Any critique or workflow tips appreciated!—Steve

Participant

Question

Dialing in Firefly for realistic food shots—workflow feedback welcome

Forum|Forum|5 months ago
October 6, 2025
4 replies
134 views

Hi all,

New to Firefly and running food-photography tests for a menu project. I’m comparing outcomes vs. Midjourney and want to stick with an Adobe-first workflow if I can get consistency.

What’s working:

Backlit beverages and ice clarity
Soft daylight look with shallow DOF

What’s not:

Cheese pulls look rubbery
Leafy greens skew too saturated
Hot spots on glazed sauces

Prompts/settings I’ve tried:

“Editorial food photograph, 85mm lens, f/2.0, natural window light, matte ceramic plate, subtle steam”
Negative: “plastic, toy, over-saturated, extra utensils, duplicated hands”
Upscale + minor sharpening in Photoshop (Camera Raw > Texture/Clarity, HSL to tame greens)

Would love advice on:

Model/style choices for realistic textures
Prompt phrasing that improves steam and melt
Color-management tricks to keep greens believable

For reference, here’s the project context: USA Cookout restaurant photography. Any critique or workflow tips appreciated!

—Steve

Design

Hena654

Participating Frequently

Hey Steve, great breakdown! I’ve been testing Adobe Firefly for a menu-style project myself, specifically for the 7 Brew Secret Menu, a collection of hidden, creative drinks with vibrant layers and fun flavors. I’ve found prompts like “condensation on glass, realistic liquid refraction, soft studio backlight” really help beverages look natural, and being specific about textures like “creamy melted cheese stretch” or “smooth whipped topping” improves realism for toppings and sauces.

I’ve been sharing some of these experiments on my site, 7brewsecretdrinks.com

, if you want to see examples. Curious how others handle oversaturated greens or glazed sauces in Firefly!

Hena654

Participating Frequently

Hey Steve, great breakdown! I’ve been testing Adobe Firefly for a menu-style project myself, specifically for the 7 Brew Secret Menu, a collection of hidden, creative drinks with vibrant layers and fun flavors. I’ve found prompts like “condensation on glass, realistic liquid refraction, soft studio backlight” really help beverages look natural, and being specific about textures like “creamy melted cheese stretch” or “smooth whipped topping” improves realism for toppings and sauces.

I’ve been sharing some of these experiments on my site, 7brewsecretdrinks.com

, if you want to see examples. Curious how others handle oversaturated greens or glazed sauces in Firefly!

Anyone can explore the experiment and give his feedback.

O

Oh.N8

Hey @Flamboyant_master8563
Firefly is a great start. To getting ideas and mock ups.
Once you have an image(s) you like Photoshop or Lightroom is going to be your best friend to really make your images pop and look more realistic.

Cheers

Nate

Hena654

Participating Frequently

Interesting tests. I’ve been experimenting with Adobe Firefly for drink visuals for a menu-style project too, and I noticed similar issues with textures and highlights. For beverages, adding wording like “condensation on glass, realistic liquid refraction, soft studio backlight” sometimes helps the ice and drink layers look more natural.

For food textures like cheese or sauces, I’ve had slightly better results when describing the texture more specifically (for example “natural melted cheese stretch, creamy texture, realistic food photography”).

I’m also testing this workflow for a drink menu concept similar to a 7 Brew menu style, where bright colors and layered drinks need to look realistic but still vibrant. Curious to see what other prompt tweaks people recommend for keeping greens and sauces from looking artificial.

Monika Gause

Community Expert

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