AI Photo Prompts
A photo prompt is a photographer's brief: who or what, where, what light, which lens, what mood. Each block below is written that way, so the model has nothing to guess, and works in Gemini, ChatGPT image generation and Midjourney with the aspect ratio changed as noted.
Backlit Rim Light Portrait
A dramatic rim lit portrait in a dark [setting, for example an empty warehouse], 85mm lens at f/1.8. Two narrow strip lights stand behind the subject at either…
Blue Hour Coastal Landscape
A coastal landscape at blue hour in [place], twenty minutes after sunset. Wide 24mm lens at f/11, thirty second exposure on a tripod so the sea turns to mist…
Bright Interior Listing Photo
A real estate interior photograph of a [room type] in a [style, for example mid century] home. Wide 16mm lens, camera at chest height, verticals perfectly…
Butterfly Lit Beauty Portrait
A beauty portrait lit with butterfly lighting: one large source directly above and in front of the face, a reflector held just below the chin, casting a small…
Cinestill Night City Frame
A night photograph in the look of Cinestill 800T tungsten film: a quiet [city] side street at two in the morning, 35mm lens at f/1.4, handheld. Neon and street…
Editorial Magazine Portrait
A full colour editorial magazine portrait of a [age range] [profession], shot on an 85mm lens at f/1.8 from chest height. Neutral seamless backdrop in…
Macro Dewdrop Close Up
An extreme macro photograph of dew on a [plant or flower] at first light, life size magnification on a 100mm macro lens at f/5.6. A single drop in perfect…
Morning Market Documentary
A documentary photograph taken inside a busy morning market in [city], 28mm lens at f/4, shot at arm's length from within the crowd. A vendor caught mid…
Overhead Food Flatlay
An overhead food photograph of [dish] on a [plate colour] plate, camera directly above, 50mm lens at f/4. Rough linen cloth underneath, a scatter of the raw…
Portra 400 Summer Frame
A summer afternoon photograph in the look of Portra 400 film, 50mm lens at f/2.8: two friends sitting on the tailgate of an old estate car at the edge of a…
Rainy Street Candid
Candid street photography in [city] just after rain, shot at night on a 35mm lens at f/2. A lone pedestrian under a glowing shop sign, reflections spread…
Rembrandt Light Studio Portrait
A classic Rembrandt lit studio portrait of a [age range] person with [hair description], 85mm lens at f/2. One large softbox high and forty five degrees to…
Seamless Studio Product Shot
A studio product photograph of a [product, for example a matte ceramic mug] on a seamless [backdrop colour] sweep. Three quarter angle, 100mm macro lens at f/8…
Sprint Finish Action Shot
A sports action photograph of a [sport, for example a track sprinter] at the decisive moment, frozen at one two thousandth of a second on a 300mm lens at…
Studio Dog Portrait
A studio portrait of a [breed] dog against a [backdrop colour] painted canvas backdrop, 85mm lens at f/2.8, camera lowered to the dog's eye level. Large…
Workshop Environmental Portrait
An environmental portrait of a [craft, for example a ceramicist] standing in their own workshop in [city]. Wide 35mm lens, camera slightly below eye level so…
AI Photo Prompts: questions people ask
Why do these prompts name a lens and an aperture when no camera is involved?
The model has read millions of captioned photographs, so words like 85mm at f/1.8 or a 24mm wide view pull it towards pictures that were actually shot that way. The focal length decides how compressed the background looks, and the aperture decides how much of it falls out of focus. Leave both out and you get an average of everything, which usually reads as a stock image.
What do Portra 400 and Cinestill 800T change in the result?
They are film stocks, and each carries a look the model can imitate. Portra 400 Summer Frame asks for low contrast, creamy highlights, pastel skin tones and fine grain. Cinestill Night City Frame asks for the red glow around bright lights that stock is known for, plus deep teal shadows. Name one when you want a particular era or mood rather than clean digital colour.
Faces come out waxy and too symmetrical. What fixes that?
Ask for skin texture to be retained, as the portrait blocks here do, and add pores, stray hairs and a little asymmetry. Flat even light hides texture, so pick a setup with direction: Rembrandt Light Studio Portrait and Backlit Rim Light Portrait both throw real shadow. Drop words such as perfect, flawless and beautiful, which push the model towards the plastic average you are trying to escape.
Which aspect ratio should I keep and which should I change?
Each block ends with the one that suits the picture: 3:2 for the film frames, 2:1 for the wide night street, 1:1 for the product on seamless, 4:5 for portraits meant to be seen on a phone. Change it when the destination demands something else, such as 16:9 for a slide or a banner, and expect the framing to move too, so re-read the composition line.
More prompt collections
Halloween Photo Prompts Christmas Photo Prompts Couple Photo Prompts Headshot Prompts AI Image Prompts Nano Banana Prompts Sora Prompts AI Video Prompts Midjourney Prompts
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