Fog Makes Depth
How to use fog to show how far away things are. Four stills, four prompts, Midjourney.
The prompts
Copy them, run them, change whatever you want. No signup.
cinematic film still, a high overhead drone shot looking straight down on a vast interlocking shield wall of thousands of armored infantry holding formation on churned black mud, spears bristling in perfect rows filling the entire frame, a single mounted commander breaking the pattern, warm torchlight glinting off wet iron against the cold blue-grey of dawn mud and mist, overwhelming graphic repetition, immense scale, photorealistic, shot on 70mm, film grain, cinematography in the style of Barry Ackroyd --ar 9:16 --style raw --stylize 250 --v 8.2 --relax --no painting, illustration
cinematic film still, a small ancient monastery clinging to the summit of an impossibly narrow rock spire rising out of a sea of cloud, a single thread of rope bridge disappearing into the mist, warm butter-lamp light in its windows against the cool blue-white of the cloud sea and the dawn, immense scale and remoteness, photorealistic, shot on 70mm, film grain, cinematography in the style of Bradford Young --ar 9:16 --style raw --stylize 250 --v 8.2 --relax --no painting, illustration
cinematic film still, the interior of a vast cylindrical generation ship, an entire curved landscape of fields and small towns wrapping up and over the top of the frame, a single figure standing tiny on a ridge in the foreground looking up at the land above them, warm artificial sunlight from the central axis light against the cool blue haze of the far curve, impossible immense scale, photorealistic, shot on 70mm, film grain, cinematography in the style of Greig Fraser --ar 9:16 --style raw --stylize 250 --v 8.2 --relax --no painting, illustration, star wars
cinematic film still, two distant figures facing each other down a wide empty frontier main street as a wall of dust rolls in behind them, shutters banging and a loose horse bolting, warm low sun raking down the street against the cool blue-grey of the incoming dust, immense tension and space, telephoto compression, photorealistic, shot on 35mm, film grain, cinematography in the style of Roger Deakins --ar 9:16 --style raw --stylize 250 --v 8.2 --relax --no painting, illustration, recognizable actor
Why it works
Air between you and something far away makes it look paler and less sharp. The more air there is, and the more fog, mist or dust is in it, the more the far things fade. That fading is how your eye tells near from far. Each of these four prompts asks for it.
Put mist behind your subject. In the shield wall, dawn mud and mist fills the back of the frame. The rows near the camera are dark and sharp, and the rows in the back fade into gray, so they look far away.
Let far things fade into the mist. In the monastery shot, the rope bridge is disappearing into the mist. The near rock is dark and sharp. The far rock behind it is pale and soft.
Make faraway land pale and blue. the cool blue haze of the far curve turns the far fields light blue. The near fields stay green, so the far ones look far away.
Use dust when there is no fog. In the main street shot, a wall of dust rolls in behind them. The buildings at the far end of the street fade into the dust the same way they would in fog.
Before you run it
Name the fog and say where it goes. “Mist behind him” or “haze on the far hills” works better than just “foggy,” because it tells the model to keep the front of the frame clear.
Use the same settings. All four were made with --style raw --stylize 250 --v 8.2.
To make it yours, keep the fog line and change the rest. Swap the subject and the place. Fog, mist, haze, dust and smoke all work.