Steal My 25 Advanced Midjourney Photography Prompts

Chomoi Picho-Owiny
Creative 1%
Published in
5 min readMay 10, 2024

Take your Midjourney photography to another level entirely with these simple but powerful techniques + 25 free, carefully crafted, original Midjourney prompts

Prompt 01: Black and white photo of a woman dancing, wearing an adidas sports top with stripes on the back, in a dynamic pose, against a dark background, with high contrast, in a grainy film noir style, minimalist, close up, shot from behind, monochrome — ar 16:9

Most people just play with Midjourney.

I’ve spent the last 14 months pushing the boundaries of this thing.

Here are the techniques I use every day to make my images stand out.

If you’re anything like me you have watched the rise of generative AI, had a play, and got frustrated with the results. At first.

A lot of Midjourney photography just looks the same.

Really lifeless, computer generated fluff filling your feed.

I pushed that frustration into learning and figured out how to create any image I like.

You can too.

And if you want to get your Midjourney photography to really sing, follow these simple techniques.

I’m not going to give you all the same old advice you see everywhere.

These are secrets gleaned from hours of seat time with MJ.

You won’t find this list anywhere else.

Go from great to jaw dropping with just a few prompt tips.

1. Longer Prompts Put You in Control

If you write a short prompt, you put Midjourney in full control. If you write longer descriptive prompts, you are in control.

Here’s a bad, short example:

Prompt: Young man outside — v 6.0 — style raw

Here’s a much better long prompt:

Prompt 02: Young man with shaved head, wearing black Adidas tracksuit and white t-shirt, standing in front of the camera in the style of Tim Walker, Fashion editorial photography outside, plain background, Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400 — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9

Basically, if you can’t be bothered to read the rest of this deep dive, just use the techniques in this prompt for great editorial portrait photography.

2. Name Dropping

This is the easiest cheat code for Midjourney.

With recent versions of Midjourney name dropping works. You may have ethical concerns about doing this, if so, skip this section. But if you feel happy that the courts are going to decide the whole question about whether these companies used training data without consent, read on.

With everything from photographer or director to design movements and fashion designers, name dropping works really well in Midjourney. So well. It has been my go-to technique for the whole of 2023.

Prompt 03: Retro futuristic stubby aluminium sports car designed by William Towns, Giorgetto Giugiaro and Marcello Gandini for Braun, Casio parked on a London street minimal in front of plain wall realistic robotic expressionism surreal iconic album cover photographed by a cross between Doug Aitken, Jennifer Rubell and Michael Shainblum, uhd — v 6 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 04: Customised, Japanese, retro-futuristic, boxy, 90s vibe, shopping trolley, Tom Sachs, robots and spaceships, modified body, clean, minimal technical innovation, pipes, simplicity of form, element of wit and surprise, unconventional, photographed on very plain light white background in studio, high design aesthetic — style raw — v 6.0 — ar 16:9
Prompt 05: A black and white studio portrait of the full body of an Asian man in his thirties, dressed in the style of Yohji Yamamoto’s minimalist style with wide-legged trousers and shirt, performing break dancing moves. He is wearing shoes from The North Face brand and holds up one leg to balance on his tiptoes. His hair is loose and his face shows confidence and joy. The background color should be a simple gray. It is a high resolution photography, taken using a Canon EOS R6 Mark II Mirrorless camera with natural light — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 06: A photo of an Asian male model wearing chains and silver rings, with long sleeves on his body. He is also dressed in fashionable in the style of Jil Sander. The has patterns that resemble jewelry or masks made from chainmail and metal mesh elements. In the style of Japanese anime-inspired fashion design — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 07: Closeup of the back view of a white-skinned boy with blonde hair wearing a black baseball cap, his hair covering one eye and casting a shadow on his face in soft light, in the style of Martin Parr and Martha Cooper, documentary photography — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 08: Young men playing basketball Brooklyn, snapshot aesthetic, sherry akrami, robert irwin, lo-fi aesthetics, post-minimalist, capturing moments, contemplative minimalism, narrative photography, mid-century serene themes Kodak Portra 160 — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 09: Side view of a customised, Japanese, retro-futuristic, boxy, 90s vibe, white restomod in the style of robots and spaceships, pipes on the outside, rivets, seams, plating, modified body, clean, minimal technical innovation, simplicity of form, element of wit and surprise, unconventional, designed by Jasper Conran and Dieter Rams for Nissan, Braun, Casio and Sharp, photographed on very plain light white background in studio, high design aesthetic, could be submitted to the Design Museum London, ceiling light — style raw — v 6.0 — ar 16:9
Prompt 10: Production still from a SciFi film of a woman wearing a robotic mask and flight suit, in the style of dark orange, vray, shiny/glossy, space age, Pierre Cardin Fritz Lang red, monochromatic color schemes stands in a brightly lit room full body shot clean minimal — v 6 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 11: A black woman with short hair in white bodysuit, crawling on the floor head down pose. minimalist fashion editorial for vogue magazine by James Bidgood . Shot on film , muted colors, moody aesthetic, monochromatic color palette, soft lighting, cinematic, photorealistic, hyperrealism, depth of field, shot from below, medium wide angle plain beige background — v 6 — style raw — ar 16:9

3. If You Don’t Like Name Dropping

Describe the person. So in this prompt, it’s “British fashion editorial photographer”.

Prompt 12: Original Aesop’s fable the Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs shot by an award-winning British fashion editorial photographer, moody, early morning light, with a Canon DSLR, prime lens — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9

Or describe what you want in detail, including production details:

Prompt 13: A model wearing an inflatable down jacket in the shape of a bear’s head, with fur and metal elements on it, adorned in the style of a Chinese dragon headdress, full body shot, clean background, and fashion magazine style photography — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9

4. Describe the Style of Photography

Another simple technique that “locks” in the art direction. All you do is describe a specific style of photography. My favourite here is “Editorial photography”. It changes the look completely.

Prompt 14: Photography of an African woman wearing a long orange pleated skirt, standing in a white room with light from a window on the right side of her face, full body shot, fashion photography, hyper realistic, soft shadows, no contrast, clean sharp focus, cinematic lighting, shot in the style of Hasselblad camera, editorial photography — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 15: a flamingo in the bathtub, bathroom, tile walls, muted tones, 35mm photography, by David LaChapelle and Petra Collins Fujichrome Provia 100F — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 16: Production still from a SciFi film a man in a flight suit standing in an underground structure, artistic reportage, lyon school, outdoor scenes, environmental portraiture, layered street scenes, washed-out minimal photographed by a cross between Arthur Elgort in colour and Annie Leibovitz Use cinematic techniques and shot on a 25mm lens, achieve a depth of field with tilt blur, experimental cinematography — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9

5. Weather, Lighting, Location, Effects

Just like being on a shoot, weather, lighting, location and effects can greatly affect your image.

Prompt 17: Horses gallop waves lapping the sand misty early morning pink sun in the style of paul fusco, pastel punk, light red and beige, todd hido, janet delaney, cyberpunk 2077 candid moments, summer in East London hasselblad h6d-400c — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 18: Empty 1960 Italian indoor swimming pool snapshot aesthetic, sherry akrami, robert irwin, lo-fi aesthetics, post-minimalist, capturing moments, contemplative minimalism, narrative photography, mid-century serene themes Kodak Gold 200 — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 19: Volvo estate car in an empty parking lot, in the style of brutalism, nigel van wieck, contax tix, giorgione, shwedoff, chiaroscuro portraitures, romanesque, minimal, Hackney Wick, 4am in the night — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 20: Daft Punk Wez Anderson a young man and woman sit on a chair facing away from us looking at the smokey sky in the street, in the style of paul fusco, pastel punk, light red and beige, todd hido, janet delaney, cyberpunk 2077 candid moments, summer in East London hasselblad h6d-400c v 6 style raw — ar 16:9

6. Lens and Film Choice

You’ll see a lot of references to camera film in these prompts. It’s a quick way to get a certain look.

Also lenses work nicely.

Prompt 21: Album cover shows a high angle shot looking down on a natural looking man looking to camera crouching with chunky sneakers in the foreground, wears 1990s fashion, in front of a sleek black classic sedan with chrome details industrial backdrop, corrugated metal wall and concrete, minimal composition, sharp lines of vintage luxury, metropolitan nostalgia, realistic immediacy of documentary style, every day photo using iphone fish eye lens — v 6.0 — style raw
Prompt 22: Fine dining food beautifully presented on a stoneware plate, wine glass, on English architect designed farmhouse kitchen table minimal photographed by a cross between Chema Madoz and Ellen von Unwerth sun shining through, Editorial photography Kodak UltraMax 400 — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 3:2

7. Add a bit of Surrealism

Take everything up a level by combining colours, textures and materials that you can’t easily do in real life.

Prompt 23: Woman in her 50s with arctic camo skin in futuristic paint makeup in the style of hyper-realistic matte plastic sculptures imaginative creatures Mori Kei dotted exagerated organically inspired alien body art clothed 1980s Japanese design French fashion unusual pose realistic meticulous detail 8k 16k light plain background — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 24: Male part-human part-alien 1980s bright colours, silver foam skin, eyes set wide apart, mid-body shot, 80s rich pastel vibrant colours, sharp light, bright, epic, glossy, textured detail, unreal engine, high end finish, mechanized detail, fashion photography, plain white background, depth of field — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9
Prompt 25: Side view shot of a chrome skeleton wearing a black, knit SnapBack, and black hoodie, on a plain grey background, Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400 — v 6.0 — style raw — ar 16:9

Using these different techniques separately or combining them will bring about a strong art direction to your work. Try it and see.

If you want more Midjourney tips, follow me on Instagram:
@chomoi

I post daily.

Look out for more prompt drops like these.

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Creative 1%
Creative 1%

Published in Creative 1%

Level up your creative game: Advertising, creativity & generative AI

Chomoi Picho-Owiny
Chomoi Picho-Owiny

Written by Chomoi Picho-Owiny

Ex-New York Times. D&AD New Blood Jury President. Join a growing list of creatives levelling up their game → https://go.chomoi.co.uk/adhackers

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