Create an authentic 1980s colour photograph that has physically aged for forty years: a real print kept in a family album, now creased, scratched and colour-faded. The finished image must look like a damaged old print that has been scanned, not like a clean digital photograph.
Use the uploaded [reference image] as the subjects' exact faces, likeness and skin tone.
Subjects: a couple standing close together on a grassy hillside, posed for a holiday photograph. He stands slightly behind and to her left with one hand in his jeans pocket, chin raised, looking coolly toward the camera. She stands in front of his shoulder with her hands loosely clasped in front of her, head tilted, smiling gently at the lens.
Hair: his is dark, thick and worn high with strong volume swept up and back off the forehead in a full period blow-dry. Hers is a big voluminous mane of long chestnut curls with heavy body, falling well past the shoulders and lifting away from the face.
Wardrobe: both wear matching oversized nylon shell jackets in bold colour-block panels of teal, magenta and cream, worn open. He has a plain white t-shirt beneath, acid-wash high-waisted jeans and a black digital wristwatch, with dark aviator sunglasses. She has a hot pink top, a wide black leather belt with a large buckle, acid-wash jeans and oversized cream and black hoop earrings.
Setting: an open grassy meadow on a hill station, with hazy blue-green mountain ridges receding into soft atmosphere behind them and a pale washed-out sky.
Lighting: flat bright overcast daylight, slightly hazy, no hard shadows.
Camera: three-quarter body shot at chest height, 50mm lens, subjects sharp with the hills falling into gentle haze.
Colour: teal, magenta and cream jackets reading strong against muted olive grass and hazy blue-green ridges, warm skin tones.
Colour grade: authentic aged 1980s C-41 print stock. The cyan dye layer has faded faster than magenta and yellow, leaving a strong warm amber-pink cast that is heaviest toward the edges and corners. Blacks are lifted and milky rather than true black, with shadows sitting warm grey-brown and carrying a magenta tint. Contrast is noticeably low and flat, highlights roll off softly instead of clipping, and light sources bloom with a warm halation glow. Clear colour crossover between cooler shadows and warmer highlights. Overall desaturation in which warm tones survive best while blues and greens read muted and yellowed.
Print damage: the photograph sits on aged photo paper with a narrow cream-white border whose edges are worn, softly frayed and darkened. Across the image itself there are pale hairline crease lines, fine white surface scratches, small handling marks and one slightly bent corner, with uneven fading and light staining toward the borders. These flaws must be clearly visible, not subtle.
Mood: warm, posed, a holiday snapshot from a family album.
Rendering: period photographic rendering, not modern digital. Soft focus falloff typical of an inexpensive 1980s consumer lens, low micro-contrast, and heavy visible film grain across the entire frame including the face. Edges are slightly soft everywhere. Skin reads naturally textured but without clinical pore-level detail. Correct anatomy, no extra fingers. Add a small, subtle, semi-transparent "promptybox.com" watermark in the bottom-right corner. Optimised for Gemini and ChatGPT / DALL·E (also works in Midjourney).
Parameters: --ar 4:5 --style raw --v 6 --stylize 350 --quality 2 --seed [insert seed] --iw [insert image weight 1-3 for the reference faces] --no distortion, extra limbs, warped hands, text artifacts, gibberish lettering, modern clothing, visible logos or brand names, sharp modern photo, crisp digital rendering, high micro-contrast, clean undamaged print, no border, HDR look, true black shadows, oversharpened detail, clinical skin detail
ChatGPT
