Mushroom-Minded Surreal Portrait

A lone adult male head is the sole subject, tightly framed in a vertical 2:3 portrait crop and centered in the frame, floating a few inches above an invisible plane; scale is close-up to reveal facial pores and micro-gesture. The expression is explosive and highly readable—wide eyes, raised brows, a breath-caught half-open mouth—capturing the precise instant of a mind-blowing epiphany. The scalp gives rise to a contained atomic mushroom cloud that replaces hair, a dramatic visual metaphor rather than gore; the neck separation is clean and intentionally non-graphic, softened by luminous smoke and rim glow so no blood or exposed tissue is visible. Surface qualities are hyper-real: skin pores, subtle stubble, tiny sweat beads at the temple, faint skin creases and natural oil sheen, hair ends gently singed into smoke. The mushroom cloud is rendered with layered smoke, ash specks, and granular sparks, its texture shifting from dense vapor to incandescent particulate; micro-detail includes faint heat ripples and soft embers that catch on individual hairs at the hairline. Map the palette deliberately: deep charcoal background (#0f1113) forms the void, warm skin tones (#d7b392) anchor the face, the explosion's core is bright orange (#ff6a00) with hot yellow highlights (#ffd44d) on the cloud crests, and a cool teal rim (#00b3c6) sculpts the silhouette and adds surreal contrast. Lighting is cinematic and directional: a warm key from slightly above and in front sculpts facial volume while a cooler teal rim light from lower-left outlines the floating head and accentuates the smoke; add subtle volumetric beams and bloom around the explosion, delicate airborne ash catching tiny glints, and a controlled specular highlight on the tear ducts and lower lip. Environment is a minimal studio void with suspended particulates and faint smoke; include at most two secondary props as visual echoes—a few drifting embers and fine ash motes. Composition uses eye-level camera placement with an 85mm-equivalent portrait lens for flattering compression and a shallow depth of field (approx f/1.8) so the face is tack-sharp while the explosion's far edges and background fall into soft bokeh; leave negative space above the head to emphasize the rising cloud, with subtle foreground smoke to create depth and separate planes. Render as a high-end advertisement photograph with photoreal composite treatment: capture natural skin texture and pore-level detail, then integrate digitally sculpted volumetric smoke and lighting for the mushroom cloud, avoiding painterly brushwork. The final image should feel cinematic and uncanny, evoking stunned revelation and creative awe.