Phase 6: Image, Video & Voice Prompting · 35 min · Midjourney, DALL-E 3, or Stable Diffusion

Image Prompt Anatomy

Vague adjectives produce vague images. Concrete visual vocabulary produces exactly what you see in your head.

Hiring signal: What changes when you use this: you can write image prompts that produce what you actually want — not something 'close' — using concrete visual vocabulary instead of vague adjectives.

What you will learn

Write image prompts using concrete visual vocabulary (composition, lighting, lens, art style)
Use the five-part image prompt anatomy: subject, composition, lighting, style, mood
Avoid vague adjectives that produce generic images
Iterate on image prompts to get closer to the desired result

The Problem

Most people write image prompts like this: "a beautiful sunset over the ocean with a boat." The AI generates something — it's a sunset, there's an ocean, there's a boat. But it's not what you pictured. The colors are wrong, the composition is off, the style is generic.

The problem is that "beautiful" means nothing to an image AI. It needs concrete visual vocabulary — specific words for composition, lighting, lens, style, and mood. When you learn this vocabulary, your image prompts go from "something close" to "exactly what I want."

The Five-Part Image Prompt Anatomy

1. Subject

What's in the image? Be specific about who, what, and how many.

Vague: "a woman in a coffee shop" Specific: "a woman in her 30s with short dark hair, wearing a cream sweater, sitting at a wooden table by the window, holding a ceramic mug, laptop open in front of her"

2. Composition

How is the image arranged? Where is the camera?

Vague: "looking at her" Specific: "medium shot, slightly above eye level, shallow depth of field, subject positioned left third of frame (rule of thirds), window light streaming from the right, blurred background of the coffee shop interior"

3. Lighting

What's the light like? This is one of the most powerful and underused elements.

Vague: "nice lighting" Specific: "golden hour light coming through the window, soft and warm, creating gentle shadows on the left side of her face, rim light on her hair"

Lighting vocabulary to learn:

Golden hour, blue hour, overcast, harsh midday
Soft box, rim light, backlight, silhouette
Low-key (dark, moody), high-key (bright, airy)
Natural, artificial, mixed

4. Style

What art style or medium? This transforms the entire look.

Vague: "nice style" Specific: "cinematic photography, shot on 35mm film, Kodak Portra 400, slight grain, warm color grade"

Style vocabulary to learn:

Photography: cinematic, documentary, editorial, portrait, street, macro
Film stocks: Kodak Portra (warm), Fuji Velvia (vibrant), Ilford (black and white)
Art styles: oil painting, watercolor, charcoal, digital art, concept art
Specific artists: "in the style of [artist name]" (use sparingly — it can be hit or miss)
Aesthetic movements: art deco, minimalism, surrealism, cyberpunk

5. Mood

What feeling should the image evoke?

Vague: "cozy" Specific: "warm, intimate, contemplative — a quiet morning moment, peaceful and unhurried"

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