Midjourney can produce work indistinguishable from a professional photoshoot — if you prompt like a photographer, not a search engine.
The 5-part formula
- Subject — who or what
- Action / mood — what is happening
- Setting — where, time of day, weather
- Camera — lens (35mm, 85mm), aperture (f/1.4), film stock (Kodak Portra 400)
- Lighting — golden hour, softbox, rim light, chiaroscuro
Example
A weathered fisherman mending nets at dawn, fog rolling off the harbor, shot on Leica M6, 50mm f/2, Kodak Portra 400, soft window light, shallow depth of field --ar 3:2 --style raw
What to avoid
- Vague adjectives ("beautiful", "amazing")
- Stacking 20+ tokens — keep it under 12
- Using --stylize above 500 for realism
Looking for ready-to-use Midjourney prompt packs? See our curated collection.