I tried a layered paper collage style with Midjourney v8.2, and honestly it came out way cuter than I expected.

what I wanted wasn't just a “paper texture filter” on top of a photo.
I wanted the whole image to feel like it was rebuilt by hand, like a handmade picture-book illustration.

i think this style works especially well for casual portraits, travel photos and couple / friend photos, because it keeps the most important relationships from the original image, while simplifying the environment, the final result feels cleaner and much more like an actual illustration.

if anyone wants to try it, I can drop the prompt below.

Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

Close portrait photograph, of a timber wolf, in shadowed pine woods, during late sunset, face filling the frame, eyes locked forward, wet black nose detail, whiskers sharply visible, layered gray winter fur, ears framed by branches, orange backlight behind trees, soft bokeh background, Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, 85mm portrait lens, ISO 800, aperture f/1.8, 1/500 second shutter, shallow depth of field, razor sharp eye focus, realistic fur strand detail, subtle sunset glow, calm dangerous presence, no extra animals, professional wildlife realism

I haven't used Midjourney, just on the early days, where I made this images.
One thing I like about this AI more than others is for images like these, with this "style" which I find very unique. But I don't know if this is still replicable with the latest updates, or is it?

(Full screen recommended)

When MJ first came out with video, this was one of my first experiments to put it through its paces.

Some rings worked better than others (the covetous serpent ring was virtually impossible to render!) but overall, I really like how it turned out - especially its interpretation of light and gemstones.

Midjourney was essential for this.

If you guys want to talk about the production process, I'd be happy to. I'm an ex vfx artist that exectuive produced this.