Midjourney portrait prompt — the lens + realism tricks that actually matter

A portrait recipe built on what actually drives realism — fill the brackets:

'[editorial | fashion | fantasy | environmental | black-and-white film] portrait of [person: age, features, expression], [wardrobe], [setting/background], [lighting, e.g. soft window / golden-hour backlight / studio softbox], shot on [camera] with an [85mm f/1.4 | 135mm f/2] lens, shallow depth of field, [color grade or film stock], natural skin texture, pores visible, sharp focus on the eyes --ar 4:5 --style raw --stylize [150-250]'

Example: 'Environmental portrait of a ceramic artist in her 40s, calm expression, clay-dusted linen apron, in a sunlit pottery workshop, soft diffused window light with a subtle hair light, shot on Fujifilm X-T5 with an 85mm f/1.4 lens, shallow depth of field, muted earthy color grade, natural skin texture, pores visible, sharp focus on the eyes --ar 4:5 --style raw --stylize 200 --no teeth'

Why these choices matter:
• LENS: 85mm compresses facial features in a flattering way — noses look proportional, ears recede naturally. A 50mm or wider distorts subtly (bigger nose, narrower jaw) which screams 'AI trying too hard.' 135mm is even more compressed — use it for beauty/fashion.
• 'SHARP FOCUS ON THE EYES': This is the single most important realism trigger. Real portrait photographers nail eye focus above all else. Without it, Midjourney soft-focuses everything equally, which looks synthetic.
• --STYLIZE RANGE FOR PORTRAITS: 100-150 = clean, corporate, LinkedIn-ready. 200-300 = editorial drama with richer light and mood. 400+ = artistic/painterly — the face starts to stylize. Match the number to the use case.
• 'NATURAL SKIN TEXTURE, PORES VISIBLE': Forces the model past its default skin-smoothing. Without it, you get the waxy AI skin that kills believability.
• --NO TEETH: The single best trick for avoiding the uncanny AI smile. AI-generated teeth are the most common tell — slightly wrong spacing, too uniform, or too many. Use '--no teeth' and let the expression be a closed-mouth smile or serious look.

Tips: --style raw keeps skin photographic instead of over-smoothed; add 'catchlight in the eyes' for that alive, studio-lit look; for B&W, add 'Kodak Tri-X 400 grain' for authentic film texture.