Cloud Elephant, made with GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst
Example made with GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst

Text to imageAnimals

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst surreal photo promptCloud Elephant

The exact text-to-image prompt behind this picture, made with GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst.

Prompt

Wide 16:9 landscape frame. Towering volumetric sunset clouds naturally forming the shape of a giant elephant walking over a golden savanna, a small herd of real elephants and acacia trees silhouetted below, warm pink and gold light, hyper-real epic landscape photography, no text.

Prompts are kept in their original English to help reproduce the example. Copy one as it is, or adapt it for your project.

Opens GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst with this prompt and the settings below filled in.

135 tested GPT Image prompts →

Settings

Mode
Text to image
Aspect ratio
16:9
Quality
high
Price
From 2 credits

The exact price shows before you generate.

Make your own version

  1. For a different mood, rewrite only the light: warm pink and gold light.
  2. hyper-real epic landscape photography sets the whole feel of the shot. Swap it for another camera style to change the vibe.
  3. The prompt ends with no text. Leave that in, or the model may add random lettering.

Where this idea comes from

Inspired by an idea from ÀBDŪLLÂH, collected in YouMind-OpenLab/awesome-nano-banana-pro-prompts under CC BY 4.0. PopNow wrote this prompt and made the example above.

Scene prompt guide

How the scene is composed

A colossal cloud shaped like an elephant strides across a burning dusk sky while tiny real elephants graze peacefully on the African plains below. GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst excels here because it balances vaporous soft-body physics with grounded terrain silhouettes, keeping the illusion natural rather than cartoonish. The prompt works by establishing an extreme contrast in scale between atmospheric weather and the ground reality.

  1. composition and frame setupWide 16:9 landscape frame.

    This establishes a panoramic view that gives the massive cloud formation enough horizontal breathing room across the sky. Removing it can produce squarer frames where the cloud feels clipped or overcrowded.

  2. core surreal subjectTowering volumetric sunset clouds naturally forming the shape of a giant elephant walking over a golden savanna,

    The word naturally ensures the elephant appears sculpted by real air currents and sunlight instead of looking like a solid creature pasted onto the sky. Removing it risks turning the cloud into a literal flesh-and-blood animal floating midair.

  3. grounded scale referencea small herd of real elephants and acacia trees silhouetted below,

    This anchors the scene in reality and gives viewers an instant reference point to gauge the gigantic size of the cloud formation. Cutting this phrase leaves the sky without context and diminishes the sense of awe.

  4. lighting and rendering stylewarm pink and gold light, hyper-real epic landscape photography, no text.

    These words lock in the golden-hour palette that illuminates the edges of the cloud while keeping the render photographic rather than digital fantasy art. The final instruction ensures the empty horizon stays free of unwanted watermarks.

Camera and light

The magic of this scene relies on precise lighting diffusion and an immense sense of scale that separates atmospheric cloud geometry from ground silhouettes.

Scale
The scene requires a multi-tier scale where the cloud elephant towers hundreds of feet high, dwarfing the tiny silhouettes of the savanna herd below to evoke pareidolia.
Light
Low-angle sunset backlighting cuts through the cloud edges with warm pink and gold rims, casting the savanna ground into deep silhouette.
Camera
An eye-level wide-angle lens keeps the horizon low in the frame, devoting roughly seventy percent of the vertical area to the open sky.
Mood
The atmosphere blends majestic wild serenity with subtle surrealism, demanding soft atmospheric haze rather than razor-sharp fantasy rendering.

Variations on the scene

Dawn mist blue

Swaps burning sunset hues for serene dawn tones to create a calmer, more meditative morning mood.

Prompt

Wide 16:9 landscape frame. Towering volumetric dawn clouds naturally forming the shape of a giant elephant walking over misty plains, a small herd of real elephants and acacia trees silhouetted below, soft cool blue and pale amber morning light, hyper-real epic landscape photography, no text.

Low angle ridge

Changes the viewpoint to an extreme low angle to make the cloud beast loom even more powerfully over the land.

Prompt

Extreme low-angle wide 16:9 landscape frame looking up from a dry riverbed. Massive volumetric storm clouds naturally forming the silhouette of a giant elephant over an African ridge, lone acacia tree silhouetted against dramatic violet and orange twilight, hyper-real epic landscape photography, no text.

Cloud whale ocean

Replaces the savanna and elephant with an ocean setting and a whale cloud for a marine pareidolia scene.

Prompt

Wide 16:9 landscape frame. Towering volumetric sunset clouds naturally forming the shape of a giant breaching humpback whale over a calm ocean, a small pod of real whales silhouetted in the glittering water below, warm pink and gold light, hyper-real epic landscape photography, no text.

Model and settings

Keep the aspect ratio set to 16:9, as panoramic width is critical to fit both the marching cloud formation and the wide savanna horizon. Quality should remain on high to ensure GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst renders complex volumetric cloud density and fine rim-lighting details without muddy artifacts. If you need a wallpaper for mobile devices, adjust the ratio to 9:16 and place the horizon along the bottom quarter.

  • FLUX.2 ProChoose FLUX.2 Pro when you want exacting control over warm hex color palettes and exceptionally realistic landscape textures.
  • Nano Banana 2.1Pick Nano Banana 2.1 if you plan to export razor-sharp 4K landscape prints with pristine atmospheric definition.

When the scene falls apart

The cloud elephant looks like a solid 3D render floating in the sky rather than real vapor.
Replace 'giant elephant' with 'wispy, diffuse storm clouds vaguely suggesting an elephant shape with semi-transparent edges'.
The real elephants on the ground appear too large, ruining the illusion of massive scale.
Change the prompt to specify 'tiny, distant herd of real elephants miniaturized on the far horizon'.
Unwanted typography or travel poster titles appear in the sky.
Keep 'no text' and add 'clean sky, uncaptioned photo' to the end of the prompt.

Questions about this scene prompt

How do I stop the elephant cloud from looking like a cartoon character?

Make sure your prompt uses phrases like 'volumetric sunset clouds' and 'naturally forming'. Avoid words like 'sculpture', 'character', or 'illustration', which force the model to render defined cartoon outlines instead of wispy cumulus textures.

Can I replace the elephant with another animal using this prompt?

Yes, simply swap 'giant elephant' and 'herd of real elephants' with another recognizable species, such as a lion, eagle, or whale. Ensure the real ground animals match the sky shape so the thematic contrast remains intact.

Why is a 16:9 ratio necessary for this specific image?

A 16:9 ratio matches the natural field of view in landscape photography, allowing room for both the trailing trunk and body of the cloud across the sky without cutting off the wide savanna floor.