Extensive list of keywords / prompt modifiers to generate creative photographs
Seeing how "cinestill" and "kodachrome" keywords produce distinct styles of photography, with "35mm" being very popular in prompts, I've decided to explore other important photography techniques and effects, to make a list of keywords inspiring more creative photography related prompts.
TL:DR - add bold text keywords from this post into your prompts to get distinct styles of generated photos, comment on this post with your favorite photograph prompt modifier keywords. I've noticed people began prompting more specific camera settings like ISO, focal length, exposure time - share your amazing discoveries with us!
DISCLAIMER: Results may vary significantly depending on a subject of a photograph. If you get the opposite of what is described, please comment with the link to generated result with the subject of your choice - I'll happily expand the description with your findings.
Photographic films:
FYI: adding word "sample" after the brand of film, filters out branded cameras, packaging and rolls of film, from being used during image generation. Prompt modifier examples: "as fujicolor sample", "as rollei sample"
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_photographic_films
Listed below in alphabetical order, are widespread photographic films that work well when prompted, with brief descriptions so you know what to expect from these.
Cinestill - Color photos with fine/low grain and higher than average resolution. Depending on photography subject, colors are slightly oversaturated or slightly desaturated. Origin: USA. Prompt modifier: "cinestill", "as cinestill", "as cinestill sample"
Ektachrome - Color photos with fine/low to moderate grain. Depending on photography subject, colors will be on either colder part of spectrum or regular, with normal or slightly higher saturation. Overall very similar to Kodachrome. Manufactured by Kodak. Origin: USA. Prompt modifier: "as ektachrome sample"
Ektar - Modern brand of Kodak film. Color photos with little to no grain. Results generally look like regular modern photography with artistic angles. Origin: USA. Prompt modifier: "as ektar sample"
Film Washi - This brand has lower chance to work as expected when prompted, it seems to prefer landscapes, cities and buildings. Results are great when it works though. Mostly black and white photos with fine/low to moderate grain. Occasionally gives colored photos with low saturation. Distinct style with high black contrast and soft camera lens effect. Origin: France / Russia. Prompt modifier: "as film washi sample"
Fomapan - Black and white photos based on film by legendary Foma Bohemia aka Fotochema. Features fine/low to moderate grain, highly artistic exposure and angles. Depending on photography subject adds very soft lens effect without distortion, dark photo vignette. Origin: Czech Republic. Prompt modifier: "as fomapan sample"
Fujicolor - Color photos with fine/low to moderate grain. Image resolution varies depending on photography subject, colors are slightly or notably desaturated, with entire color hue shifted in a very distinct manner. Manufactured by Fujifilm. Origin: Japan. Prompt modifier: "fujicolor", "as fujicolor", "as fujicolor sample"
Fujifilm - As this is a general manufacturer name, results vary greatly depending on the photo subject, with data set including all related and even unrelated varieties of film. Photos can be either colored or black and white. Amount of grain, color saturation, contrast, color or lack of it is seemingly random. Prefers lower color saturation and brightness with landscapes. Origin: Japan. Prompt modifier: "as fujifilm sample"
Holga - Color photos with moderate to fine/low grain. Similar to Lomography in style, but with a lot less grain. Good chance to get black and white photography depending on subject. Color saturation varies greatly, from regular saturation, to slight oversaturation or close to black and white desaturation. Origin: Czech Republic. Prompt modifier: "as holga film", "as holga film sample"
ilford - Black and white photos with fine/low to moderate grain. Depending on photography subject adds lens effect, sometimes without distortion, dark photo vignette. Unlike Fomapan, appears to have shorter exposure and lower contrast. Origin: United Kingdom. Prompt modifier: "as ilford sample"
instax - Instant color photos identical to Polaroid but clearer image most of time. Generated results seem to produce much higher quality photos compared to Polaroid - depending on the subject it has near perfect colors, regular saturation, fine/low to medium grain. Manufactured by Fujifilm. Origin: Japan. Prompt modifier: "as instax", "as instax sample", "as instax film sample"
Lomography - Color photos with high grain. Low chance of black and white photography, unless specifically prompted. Colors are either very oversaturated or slightly desaturated. Distinct contrast of black. Photographic vignette is often applied, creating visual effect of camera lens. Origin: USA / Germany / Czech Republic. Prompt modifier: "lomography", "as lomography", "as expired lomography", "as lomography sample"
Kodachrome - Color photos with moderate grain. Depending on photography subject, colors will be on either colder part of spectrum or regular, with normal or slightly higher saturation. Manufactured by Kodak. Origin: USA. Prompt modifier: "kodachrome", "as kodachrome", "as kodachrome sample"
Kodak - As this is a general manufacturer name, results vary greatly depending on the photo subject, with data set including all related and even unrelated varieties of film. Photos can be either colored or black and white. Amount of grain, color saturation, contrast, color or lack of it is seemingly random. Prefers lower color saturation and brightness with landscapes. Origin: USA. Prompt modifier: "as kodak sample", "as kodak film sample"
Polaroid - Classic instant color photos. As data set contains old photos from 1970's, resulting images are often blurry, with high amount of grain and desaturated colors - the style is rather distinct. Blur can be intensified by applying "blurry" modifier keyword. Depending on the subject, gives regular image quality instant photos. Try instax if you wish to get clearer image. Origin: USA. Prompt modifier: "polaroid", "as polaroid", "as polaroid photo", "as polaroid sample", "as polaroid film sample"
Rollei - Mostly black and white photos and depending on subject - color photos with fine/low grain. Amount of grain, color saturation, contrast, color or lack of it is seemingly random, as this film is manufactured in different countries and has many varieties. Photos can be sepia colored, or have very unusual hues and desaturation. The brand is over 100 years old, so this variety does magic to landscapes. Origin: Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom, Czech Republic. Prompt modifier: "as rollei sample"
Early photography techniques:
Daguerreotype - The first ever publicly available photographic process of 1840's with image developed on silver coated metal plates. When prompted, will most likely produce a black and white photograph in fancy vintage frame to protect the photo as historically it was very fragile and easy to smudge the image with a touch. Another feature is possible lack of clouds unless specifically prompted. Prompt modifier: "daguerreotype", "as daguerreotype", "as daguerreotype photo"
Calotype - The rival of Daguerreotype process, with image being developed on silver coated paper. If prompted, will most likely produce sepia photographs with very soft shadows. Gets fun when used with anachronisms. Prompt modifier: "calotype", "as calotype", "as calotype photo"
Ambrotype - The successor of Daguerreotype process, where silver coated metal sheet got replaced with a silver coated piece of glass. Still very fragile historically, so when prompted you'll get vintage frames by default most of time, but not always. Prompt modifier: "ambrotype", "as ambrotype", "as ambrotype photo"
Albumen print - The successor to all earlier processes, with images being developed on paper with help of silver, rotten eggs, salt and bunch of other chemicals in 1850's up until 1910's.* When prompted, you'll get classic look sepia photography, typical for steampunk. Prompt modifier: "albumen print", "as albumen print"
Pinhole photo - A photo taken without lens, through camera obscura phenomenon, with as little as a matchbox with a hole in the side that can be used as a camera. Method used since 1850's up to this day, with peak popularity around 1930s. Will give image a unique, foggy, low detail, historic photograph look. Prompt modifier: "as pinhole photo", "pinhole photography", "camera obscura image"
Color types and effects:
Anaglyph - Originally, a historical technique for producing stereoscopic 3D images from 1850's and to modern day, with image outlined or generally consisting of two chromatically opposite colors. Dall-E 2 doesn't produce perfect anaglyph images (yet) but the 3D effect is there nonetheless if you have the color glasses. The coloring of generated images is interesting on its own. Prompt modifier: "anaglyph", "anaglyph photo"
Autochrome - Early color photography process introduced by legendary Lumière brothers in early 1900s, with dyed grains of potato starch used as color filters. Pink, red and various shades of green will dominate over the rest of colors when prompted, orange and blue tones will be faded or nonexistent. Results are fantastic when used on any object, and interesting when combined with earlier photography (e.g. "autochrome photo of 1860s farmer"). Prompt modifier: "autochrome", "autochrome photo", "as autochrome photo"
Black and white - As simple as that, with entire image consisting of black, white and various shades of gray. Can be used in combination with colored film, or daily objects for professional artistic photography feel. Prompt modifier: "black and white photo", "as black and white photo"
Color photo - While majority of photos have color by default, this modifier allows to combine effects of black and white film with color, or produce unique color combinations when used on something that is supposed to be colorless, such as subjects of 19th century photography. Prompt modifier: "color photo", "colored photo", "as colored photo"
Holography - A complex process of creating autostereoscopic 3D images, usually used as protection measure on banknotes and official documents. The images look like shifting rainbow of colors as the image consists of many layers (I don't think I can give a brief description of wavefront and light interference), thus when used in a prompt, a resulting image will have the most unexpected colors, as hard to describe psychedelic digital glitch glowing something. Prompt modifier: "holography of", "as holography"
Infrared - Light with longer wavelength than visible light (humans can't see it, though some living organisms can). There are special camera sensors that are sensitive to infrared light, and infrared cut-off filters to specifically block visible light close to infrared wavelengths. When used in prompt, will either give you unusual otherworldly colors (usually shades of red, pink, beige, and negative colors) caused by entire range of infrared associated phenomena, or unusual black and white images. Infrared is also related to night vision and thermal imaging, but chance of thermal image effect is low unless specifically prompted as described below. Prompt modifier: "infrared photo of", "as infrared photo"
Kirlian - Named after Semyon Kirlian who discovered the effect, the process entails placing sheet photographic film on top of a metal discharge plate. The object to be photographed is then placed directly on top of the film. High voltage current is momentarily applied to the object, thus creating an exposure. The corona discharge between the object and the plate due to high-voltage is captured by the film. The developed film results in a Kirlian photograph of the object, with distinct ultraviolet, purple, or white glow all around and inside the object. A really unusual effect to play with. Prompt modifier: "kirlian photo of", "as kirlian photo"
Negative - Image with reversed colors in which the lightest areas of the photographed subject appear darkest and the darkest areas appear lightest. A historical foundation of photographic processes. When used in prompt, depending on the subject and the prompt modifier details, resulting images will have negative colors, possibly inverted black and white, or color negatives of various tones, sometimes with ominous look and blue glow. The image may also come out as mostly normal with some negative colors in its elements. Prompt modifier: "negative colors", "negative color", "negative color image", "negative color image of", "as negative color image", "negative photo", "negative photo of", "as negative photo"
Night vision - An ability to see in the dark (actually low light) conditions by using invisible parts of light spectrum. While surroundings appear dark to humans, some living organisms, usually predator animals are able to see clearly in infrared or ultraviolet light wavelengths. Usually associated with green glow of night-vision devices or black and white look of infrared trail cameras and video surveillance / cctv footage. Prompt modifier: "night vision", "night-vision", "night vision photo", "night vision photo of", "as night vision photo", "night vision image", "night vision image of", "as night vision image"
Thermography - Thermal imaging is created by capturing infrared radiation emitted by warm objects. Commonly used by military, police, hunters, construction workers and as natural mechanism of some animals to detect heat sources. When prompted, the resulting image will have radically unnatural, crazy colors that might look very stylish depending on the subject. Prompt modifier: "thermography", "thermography of", "as thermography", "thermal image", "thermal image of", "as thermal image" "thermal photo of", "as thermal photo"
Ultraviolet - An opposite to infrared, light with shorter wavelength than visible light (humans can't see it, though some living organisms can). It's effects are associated with fluorescent paints and "what sun really does to your skin". When prompted will create images with strong deep violet glow, or acidic fluorescent colors glowing under UV lamps. Will rarely generate black and white image with unusual contrast depending on the subject. Prompt modifier: "ultraviolet photo of", "as ultraviolet photo"
Lighting types and effects:
Back light - The light source is located behind the subject. Depending on the subject and additional conditions, it can be a natural light from the sun, or artificial from street or studio lights. Prompt modifier: "back light", "back lit photo"
Broad light - The light source is located at an angle to the subject, producing well lit photographs with soft to moderate shadows. Depending on the subject, As it's associated with broad daylight, good chunk of generated photos will be naturally lit.
Dim light - As the name implies, the light source is weak or placed at a distance, creating photographs with lower than average brightness. A good keyword for generating dramatic images. Prompt modifier: "dim light", "dim lit photo"
Flash - Usually built into camera or a separate device to produce a brief flash of light. From burning flash powder, glass bulbs with exploding magnesium and up to LED flashes of this day, when used in prompts it has strong effect on appearance of photos. Fill flash will evenly light up the subject, harsh flash will produce harsh light on the subject, and no-flash will ensure there is no flash (most of time at least) where you would normally expect it, such as in the night conditions. Prompt modifier: "fill flash photo", "harsh flash", "harsh flash photo", "no-flash photo"
Split light - This is what most people imagine while thinking of portrait photography, with strong light source placed at 90 degree angle, one half of subject well lit and another half being dark with harsh shadows. Prompt modifier: "split light photo", "split lighting"
Studio light - Artificial lighting for indoor photography, usually with complex setup of reflectors and softboxes. Results will vary depending on the subject, light and shadow intensity can be different with larger chance to see reflections of white softboxes on specular surfaces. Prompt modifier: "studio light photo", "studio lighting photo", "studio photo"
Sun and moon - The natural light sources we know since birth, that also can produce specific effects when used as input for prompts. Distinct sun rays will appear occasionally, depending on prompt elements. Asking for moonlight in a generated image will also cause moon to appear in the sky or as a background most of time. Prompt modifier: "sun light", "in sun light", "sun rays", "moonlight", "in moonlight", "moon light"
Sunlight / Spotlight - A very strong light source,
similar to studio light but more appropriate for outdoor use - it can
compliment natural lighting or light up the scene at night. Depending on
the subject and other conditions it can get easily confused with "sun
light", so it works better if night or indoor conditions are implied.
Prompt modifier: "sunlight photo", "spotlight photo", "in the spotlight"
Note: There are many more lighting techniques, such as flat light, butterfly light, loop light and rim light, yet only those that drastically affect the generated image got full descriptions. The list may expand in the future
Camera lens types and effects:
GoPro - This range of small, light and robust cameras has wide-angle lens, but it's quite different from regular "wide-angle lens" keyword when prompted, as it excludes photos made on photographic film and majority of filter effects from being used during generation: results won't have film grain, colors will be natural with regular saturation, overall very clean digital photography look. Prompt modifier: "GoPro", "GoPro photo", "as GoPro photo"
Fish-eye lens - A lens used to take panoramic photos without turning camera around. When used in prompt, generates ultra-wide-angle photography with entire image warping into a bubble with the strongest lens effect. Prompt modifier: "fisheye lens photo", "as fisheye lens photo", "fish-eye lens photo", "as fish-eye lens photo"
Tilt-shift lens - A lens that allows to mechanically adjust image perspective through tilt (rotation of lens parallel) and shift (movement of lens parallel) relative to a camera sensor. Initially used for selective focus and perspective building in architecture and landscaping, nowadays the effect is better known as "diorama miniature look". Prompt modifier: "tilt shift", "tilt-shift", "tilt-shift photo", "tilt-shift lens photo", "tilt shift photo"
Lens flare - A lighting effect produced by a lens, with light scattering in shape of colorful circles. When used in a prompt, works as expected, adding a unique detail and creating mood depending on a subject. Mostly adds happy sunny feel to images. Prompt modifier: "as photo with lens flare", "with lens flare"
Telephoto lens - A type of lens used to take photos from large distance, commonly used by sports and nature photographers or paparazzis. Gives most images "award winning", "national geographic" look without specifying details, and creates various interesting effects when prompted. Prompt modifier: "telephoto lens photo"
Wide-angle lens - a lens with lower than average focal length used to capture more surroundings around the subject. When used in prompt, applies moderate to strong lens effect with an image warp. A staple of artistic photography. Prompt modifier: "wide-angle lens", "wide-angle lens photo", "as wide-angle lens photo"
Zoom lens - Typically a camera lens with variable focal length. When used in prompts, will often zoom in on the subject, which is perfect to create base for inpainting. Has very interesting effect on landscapes, with motion blur caused by continuous zoom. Prompt modifier: "zoom lens", "zoom lens photo", "as zoom lens photo"
Exposure types and effects:
Double exposure - Superimposition of two exposures to create a single image, or simply merging two images together via transparency. Usually it means you'll either get two similar objects in the frame or a complex merging effect. Prompt modifier: "double exposure photo", "double exposure of", "as double exposure photo"
Long-exposure - Also known as time-exposure or slow-shutter photography, when exposure of camera sensor or a specialized film to light is fairly long, so that stationary objects are seen clearly while any moving objects turn into a blurry colorful trails across the image. Most commonly used as technique for light painting and night photography in general due to beautiful effects of glowing objects. Prompt modifier: "long exposure photo", "long-exposure photo", "long exposure photo of", "as long exposure photo"
Multiple exposure - Superimposition of multiple exposures (usually more than two) to create a single image. What this does when used in a prompt - it will multiply the subject or its key elements, and spread them around the image. Prompt modifier: "multiple exposure photo", "multiple exposure of", "as multiple exposure photo"
Photography genres and environments:
Aerial photography - Taking pictures of a ground below, from the average height of bird flight and above. Historically such pictures were taken from hot air balloons or kites, later planes, helicopters, and drones nowadays. Neural network model is sensitive to specifying decades of aerial photography, for instance if you include in the prompt "as 1940s aerial photo" it will have a distinct black and white style of photos taken from spy planes, while prompting "as 1980s aerial photo" will mostly generate a look of a photo taken from helicopter. There are many possible styles you can specify. Prompt modifier: "aerial photo", "as aerial photo", "aerial photo of", "as helicopter photo", "as drone photo"
Astrophotography - If you think regular photography equipment is expensive, let me introduce you to lenses, filters, telescopes and guide system electronics necessary for quality imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or even basic areas of the night sky. When used in prompt it will add stunning starry sky / shiny space backgrounds. "Space photo" works similarly, although it's more common for "astrophotography" to be taken at the ground, while "space photography" is taken in space. Prompt modifier: "astrophotography", "as astrophotography", "astrophotography of", "space photo", "space photo of", "as space photo", "space photography"
Electron microscope - Photography of tiniest of tiny objects that can only be seen in detail through a very powerful microscope. Images are black and white, often with extreme levels of detail on object surfaces due to the nature of electrons that illuminate objects in focus of electron beam. Prompt modifier: "electron microscope", "electron microscope photo", "electron microscope photo of", "as electron microscope photo", "electron microscope image"
Underwater photography - Taking pictures with camera submerged under water, just like album cover of "Nevermind" by Nirvana. Body of water will vary depending on photography subject - mostly pools, bottom of a sea and aquariums. "Underwater" tag also nicely combines with "digital art". *Prompt modifier: "underwater", "underwater photo", "underwater photo of", "as underwater photo", "underwater photography"
That's all for today folks, have fun!
Oh! Nice, honestly I didn't know this page was a thing.
It's very good that you shared it here too, such things need to be pinned for everyone to see, so some of those listed options can be combined to get absolutely spectacular, near impossible stuff.
UPDATE: It's been a week since original post, I kept updating it as I explored various prompts. I will try to update this post once in a while, as there are still some techniques that have not been covered yet.
Please comment if you have tried some other effects, so we can expand this list together.
Thank you!
Thank you! Saving this
Welcome to r/dalle2! Here's a quick reminder of the rules: Image posts, composites and external edits should have DALL·E watermark // DALL·E 2 discussion only // You must add a source link unless you have “dalle2 user” flair (how to verify for user flair) // Use the prompt in the image title whenever possible // Select correct post flair // Review OpenAI content policy // No politics // No attacks // No celebrity images // No public figure images // No commercial usage of DALL·E in any kind // No buying or selling images or access // No scams // No trolling // Prompt requests should only go in the pinned thread // Be careful with links to external sites // Don't share your credentials, and have fun!
(v2.0)
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Thanks
Here is a webpage about DALL-E 2 photography styles.