5 Best Midjourney Prompts: March 2023 (Photography Edition)

I'm back with yet another dose of Midjourney prompts. In this one, I focus on photography and more realistic images with V5. Have fun testing them out!

Guess what’s back? Back again.

MJ prompts. Tell a friend.

That’s right. It’s time for our recurring monthly segment where I share beginner-friendly-yet-impactful Midjourney prompts.

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Speaking of perfect timing: I was already drafting this photography edition when Midjourney V5 dropped, with a special focus on photographic output.

Coincidence?!

Well, yes. It totally was. But I’ll take it!

So without further ado, let’s look at 5 examples of photography prompts, with sample images generated by the “raw” alpha version 5 of Midjourney.

Prompt #1: Take a trip to the past

Ah, the good old days, when men were men, ducks were ducks, and people had to wait excruciatingly long for a single photograph to be made. Now, thanks to the wonders of modern AI, you can recreate the look of techniques that predate you by more than a century in the comfort of your own screen.

Midjourney prompt: [subject], vintage photo

What it does: It makes your subject look like a vintage photo. Case closed. Except not quite. Since “vintage” is an incredibly broad term, the results you get will depend on the subject and the setting (see sample images).

Personally, I find this to be the fun part. But if you want to be much more intentional with your photography prompts and select specific film types, camera brands, angles, etc., this detailed guide might help.

Sample images:

Batman | Amazon rainforest | Smartphone

I love how in the last image the prompt also affects the subject itself by imagining how a vintage smartphone could look.

Prompt #2: Turn objects into miniatures

Don’t you ever get the urge to shrink other people into tiny figurines, so you can pretend you’re inside a real-world game of The Sims? No? Just me? Anyways, it’s possible!

Midjourney prompt: [subject], tilt-shift

What it does: The tilt-shift lens lets you change its position relative to the camera’s image sensor by—get this—tilting or shifting it. This allows for several cool effects (explained here). One of these is making the world appear like a miniature model of itself. And that’s exactly what Midjourney does!

Sample images:

Times Square | Beach hut | Concert

Prompt #3: Get up close and personal…

It’s so much fun to shove a camera lens right into someone’s face until it makes direct contact with their nose. Unfortunately, “there are laws against that, Daniel.” Whatever. Midjourney lets you zoom in on any subject you want.

Midjourney prompt: [subject], (super) macro

What it does: This should be familiar to most of you. A macro lens lets you take detailed close-up shots of things. Super macro takes this a step further and brings you even closer to the subject.

Sample images:

Bee (macro) | Coin (macro) | Leaf (super macro)

Prompt #4: …or get as far away as you can

Sometimes, you just want to get away from it all. Why not try space?

Midjourney prompt: [subject], satellite photo

What it does: As you’d guess, this places the camera onto an imaginary satellite looking down on the scene or subject below. Works especially great for large landmarks.

Sample images:

Sahara | Post-apocalyptic city | Outdoor music festival

Prompt #5: Enjoy a bit of wacky distortion

Undistorted world is so predictable and boring. Why not sprinkle in some shenanigans by distorting your field of view?

Midjourney prompt: [subject], fisheye lens

What it does: If you’ve ever used a peephole, you already know the answer. Fisheye lenses have an extremely wide field of view, squeezing lots of stuff into a tiny circle. This necessarily creates distortion, with a neat effect.

Sample images:

Fish | Norwegian fjords | Clown (you're welcome)

Over to you…

There you have it, lovely people. Enjoy testing out the new prompts!

And as always, if you have your own prompts or creations to share, drop me an email or leave a comment below.

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The full list of previous prompts now lives in this ever-expanding guide:

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