Golden Hour Café Portrait

Create an ultra-realistic SAME-TO-SAME recreation of the uploaded reference photograph, using [MY FACE] only for the subject’s facial identity if an identity reference is provided; otherwise preserve the original subject exactly as seen. Prioritize photographic accuracy over creativity.

FORMAT & COMPOSITION:
Vertical 3:4 portrait composition, medium-full body framing from approximately mid-thigh/waist to slightly above the head, subject positioned near the center with a subtle left-of-center placement. Camera at approximately eye/chest level, natural perspective, slightly compressed portrait look, approximately 50–55mm full-frame equivalent lens. Preserve the exact framing, crop, camera distance, perspective, subject scale, background geometry, and visual balance of the reference.

SUBJECT & IDENTITY:
Young male subject with the exact facial identity and natural anatomy of [MY FACE] if supplied. Preserve face shape, forehead, hairline, temples, eyebrows, eyes, eye spacing, eyelids, nose bridge and tip, cheek structure, lips, chin, jawline, ears, natural asymmetry, skin tone, pores, fine facial texture, tiny imperfections, facial hair characteristics, and authentic age appearance. Absolutely no beautification, face reshaping, symmetry correction, skin smoothing, age modification, attractiveness enhancement, ethnicity modification, or AI-generated replacement face.

POSE & EXPRESSION:
Subject standing casually outside a café, torso mostly facing the camera while the head is naturally turned toward the right side of the frame in a three-quarter/profile orientation. Eyes looking toward the right, neutral calm expression, relaxed lips, no smile. Shoulders relaxed. Both arms folded naturally across the lower torso: one forearm crossing horizontally while the opposite hand rests around the upper arm/biceps area. Preserve the exact hand placement, finger anatomy, wrist angles, elbow positions, arm proportions, and natural body posture.

HAIR:
Dense naturally tousled dark black-brown hair with medium volume, slightly wavy texture, loose irregular strands, naturally messy fringe falling toward the forehead and partially overlapping the eyebrow region. Preserve the exact hairstyle direction, hairline, density, strand texture, flyaways, volume, and silhouette. No salon-perfect styling.

CLOTHING:
Loose/lightly relaxed-fit button-up shirt made from natural cotton or linen-like fabric, featuring narrow vertical alternating pale blue and white stripes. Collar naturally open and slightly relaxed, visible buttons, subtle fabric wrinkles and folds throughout. Sleeves rolled to approximately the forearm, with realistic bunching and uneven creasing. Preserve the exact stripe spacing, fabric texture, collar shape, sleeve position, wrinkles, stitching, buttons, and drape.

ACCESSORY:
Analog wristwatch with a dark/black strap and round dark watch face, worn naturally on the wrist visible across the folded arms. Preserve its approximate size, metallic case reflections, strap texture, dial appearance, and position.

LIGHTING:
Warm late-afternoon/golden-hour direct sunlight falling strongly across the subject from the front/right side of the frame. Distinct warm sunlight creates bright highlights on the face, cheek, nose, neck, shirt, forearms, and hair while producing natural directional shadows beneath the hair, jawline, chin, arms, and clothing folds. Preserve realistic hard-edged sunlight transitions mixed with softer reflected ambient light. Warm golden highlights contrasted against the darker shaded café background. No studio lighting.

SKIN & MATERIAL REALISM:
Authentic human skin with visible natural pores, subtle fine texture, tiny tonal variations, realistic peach/brown warmth from sunlight, natural subsurface light response, and physically believable highlights. Preserve realistic skin roughness and micro-detail without artificial HDR skin or plastic smoothing. Clothing must retain believable cotton/linen weave, wrinkles, compression folds, and natural shadowing.

ENVIRONMENT:
Recreate the exact outdoor café/restaurant setting. Behind the subject is a dark-framed glass storefront with large reflective window panels and a warm amber-lit interior. Visible café elements include indoor shelving/interior décor, posters and colorful objects behind the glass, a partially visible person inside wearing a dark cap, plants and foliage along the left side, a white cylindrical lampshade, a circular woven/fan-like decorative object, dark metal window/railing structures, a stainless-steel service/counter structure, multiple transparent water bottles, a turquoise/teal object or chair in the background, and a stone-patterned lower wall/counter section.

On the right side, preserve the dark gray exterior wall with partially visible handwritten-style yellow/orange neon/chalk-like café lettering. Keep the lettering as naturally blurred/partially cropped environmental detail rather than creating clean artificial typography. Preserve all visible reflections in the glass, window frames, interior lights, objects, plants, bottles, and architectural details.

BACKGROUND & DEPTH:
Moderately shallow natural depth of field. Subject’s face, hair, shirt, arms, and watch are sharply resolved while background details gradually soften with realistic optical falloff. Background remains recognizable rather than heavily blurred. Natural separation between foreground subject and café environment. Preserve realistic reflections and slight glass softness.

COLOR & GRADING:
Warm cinematic golden-hour color palette with amber sunlight, muted blue-and-white shirt tones, dark charcoal/black architectural elements, earthy skin tones, deep natural shadows, and subdued café colors. High dynamic range but restrained and photographic. Preserve warm highlights, rich shadow detail, realistic contrast, slightly subdued saturation, subtle filmic tonal roll-off, and authentic DSLR color science. No exaggerated teal-orange grading.

CAMERA & OPTICAL CHARACTER:
Professional full-frame DSLR/mirrorless photograph, approximately 50–55mm portrait lens, realistic perspective, natural facial proportions, moderate optical compression, wide-aperture look around f/2.8–f/4, realistic depth of field, crisp subject detail, naturally softened background, subtle lens character, authentic highlight roll-off, realistic reflections, very mild natural vignetting, extremely subtle photographic grain, and physically accurate exposure. No artificial sharpening. No excessive bokeh. No CGI appearance.

IMAGE QUALITY:
8K UHD, extremely high-resolution photorealism, DSLR-quality detail, realistic skin microtexture, individual hair strands, fabric fibers, watch details, glass reflections, bottle transparency, metal surfaces, architectural textures, natural shadow gradients, physically accurate lighting, realistic dynamic range, clean but organic photographic detail. The final image must look like an authentic candid professional photograph captured with a real high-end camera during golden hour—not AI-generated, digitally painted, or stylized.

STRICT RECREATION RULE:
Preserve the reference image’s exact subject scale, pose, facial orientation, expression, clothing, accessories, lighting direction, shadows, environment, architectural elements, reflections, color palette, framing, perspective, crop, depth of field, and photographic character. Change NOTHING creatively except replacing the subject’s face with [MY FACE] when an identity reference is supplied.

Negative prompt:
AI-generated look, CGI, 3D render, illustration, painting, anime, stylized face, beauty filter, face morphing, facial reconstruction, altered identity, different face, generic face, beautification, symmetry correction, skin smoothing, plastic skin, excessive HDR, over-sharpening, artificial skin texture, changed age, changed ethnicity, altered jawline, altered nose, altered eyes, altered lips, altered hairline, different hairstyle, smile, exaggerated expression, wrong gaze direction, wrong head angle, wrong pose, uncrossed arms, incorrect hands, extra fingers, missing fingers, deformed hands, malformed wrists, incorrect watch, different shirt, wrong stripe pattern, altered clothing folds, studio lighting, flash lighting, cool lighting, excessive orange/teal grading, oversaturation, crushed blacks, blown highlights, fake bokeh, excessive background blur, distorted perspective, fisheye distortion, wide-angle face distortion, motion blur, excessive chromatic aberration, artificial glow, excessive bloom, fake reflections, duplicate objects, warped architecture, invented text, clean typography, missing café details, low resolution, pixelation, JPEG artifacts, noise reduction artifacts, unnatural sharpening, waxy skin, cartoon texture, fantasy elements.