How to
Transform Your Photos into Stunning Studio-Style AI Portraits with ChatGPT in 3 Simple Steps
A viral Instagram reel by digital creator @ruiz.acosta has recently gone viral, showcasing a hyper-realistic, black-and-white AI-generated portrait. The results look like they came straight from a professional photography studio.
Over the past few months, ChatGPT’s image generation capabilities have evolved significantly—not just in terms of clarity and detail but also in creative expression. Whether you’re aiming for a cinematic photo-realistic style or artistic fantasy-inspired portraits, the possibilities are now broader than ever.
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AI Portraits Are Trending
Previously, social media buzzed with the “Ghibli-fication” trend, where users generated portraits styled after Studio Ghibli’s hand-drawn animations. From magical forests to anime-style characters, users flooded Instagram and Reddit with their creations.
What’s improved now is ChatGPT’s ability to understand and execute complex image prompts with precision—capturing things like lens perspective, lighting effects, mood, and depth of field.
This means you can now simulate everything from a DSLR-style wide-angle shot to cinematic lighting and even emotional expressions—just by describing them in your prompt.
Why This Works So Well
The effectiveness of the AI portraits lies in how specific the prompts are. Consider this powerful prompt used by @ruiz.acosta:
“Please generate a top-angle and close-up black and white portrait of my face, focused on the head facing forward. Use a 35mm lens look, 10.7K 4HD quality. Proud expression, water droplets on my face. Deep black shadow background – only the face is visible and appears ultra-sharp. 4:3 ratio, with a 1/5 processing depth effect.”
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This prompt works brilliantly because it specifies:
- Camera setup (e.g., top angle, 35mm lens)
- Lighting and background (e.g., black shadows, isolated face)
- Textures and emotion (e.g., water droplets, proud expression)
- Resolution and aspect ratio (e.g., 10.7K, 4:3)
These elements mimic what a professional photographer would manually set up—now replicated through AI in seconds.
Sample Prompts to Get You Started
To help you create your own stunning portraits, here are some ChatGPT-approved sample prompts:
Prompt 1
“Create a dramatic low-angle black and white portrait of my face with a confident expression. Use a cinematic 50mm lens effect, ultra-high-definition (10K), soft mist around the shoulders, and strong contrast lighting. The background should be completely black, and only the face should be in sharp focus. 4:3 ratio.”
Prompt 2
“Generate a moody black and white side-profile portrait with a sharp focus on facial texture. Simulate a 24mm lens look, 4K resolution. Light rain on skin, subtle glistening effect, and soft shadows cast on a deep matte black background. Expression: calm and introspective. Use a 3:2 aspect ratio.”
Prompt 3
“Render a high-contrast, close-up monochrome portrait using a virtual 85mm lens effect in 8K. Face should be directly lit with soft tones on the forehead and cheeks. Add light smoke in the background fading into black. Emphasize fine facial details with crisp clarity. 1:1 aspect ratio.”
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Final Thoughts
The key to generating striking, studio-quality portraits with ChatGPT lies in crafting detailed, photo-realistic prompts. You can adjust angles, lens types, background styles, lighting intensity, and even facial expressions to match the aesthetic you want.
Whether you’re looking to impress your followers, update your profile picture, or just experiment with AI creativity—ChatGPT can now be your virtual photo studio.