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Take portraits with your iPhone camera

You can apply a depth-of-field effect that keeps your subject—people, pets, or objects—sharp while creating a beautifully blurred foreground and background. You can also apply and adjust different lighting effects to your portraits.

Take a portrait

The Camera screen in Portrait mode; in the viewfinder, the subject is sharp and the background is blurred. The dial to select Portrait Lighting is open in the bottom of the frame and Studio Light is selected.

  1. Open Camera on your iPhone.

  2. Do any of the following:

  3. Drag the Portrait Lighting control to choose a lighting effect:

    • Natural Light: Sharp focus with a blurred background

    • Studio Light: Bright, clean lighting

    • Contour Light: Dramatic shadows with highlights and lowlights

    • Stage Light: Spotlight effect against a black background

    • Stage Light Mono: Stage Light effect in black and white

    • High-Key Light Mono: Grayscale subject on a white background

  4. Tap the Shutter button or click the Camera Control on (supported models) to take the portrait.

After you take the portrait, you can remove the effect if you want to see the image without it. In the Photos app, open the photo, tap the Edit button, then tap Portrait to turn the effect on or off.

Your iPhone captures depth information when the Depth button appears while taking photos in Photo mode, so you can apply the portrait effect later even if you didn’t use it when taking the original photo. See Apply portrait effects to photos taken in Photo mode.

On supported models, Night mode turns on when you take portraits in low-light situations with the wide (1x) lens. To learn more about Night mode, see Take Night mode photos.

Adjust the background blur

Use the Depth Control slider to adjust the level of background blur in your portraits.

  1. Open Camera on your iPhone.

  2. Swipe left to select Portrait mode or stay in Photo mode and tap the Depth Off button on (supported models).

  3. Tap the Camera Controls button or swipe up from Portrait mode at the bottom of the screen.

  4. Tap Aperture, then drag the slider below the frame right or left to adjust the effect.

  5. Tap the Camera Control Status button to close the Depth Control slider.

On supported models, you can also adjust the depth control using the Camera Control. See Select and adjust the Camera Control settings.

After you capture a portrait, you can use the Depth Control slider in the Photos app to further adjust the background blur effect. See Edit Portrait mode photos.

Adjust the Portrait Lighting

Virtually adjust the position and intensity of the Portrait Lighting to sharpen eyes or brighten and smooth facial features.

  1. Open Camera on your iPhone.

  2. Swipe left to select Portrait mode or stay in Photo mode and tap the Depth Off button on (supported models).

  3. Drag the Portrait Lighting control to choose a lighting effect.

  4. Tap the Camera Controls button or swipe up from Portrait mode at the bottom of the screen.

  5. Tap Intensity, then drag the slider below the frame right or left to adjust the effect.

  6. Tap the Dismiss Portrait Effect Intensity Control button to close the Portrait Lighting slider.

After you capture a portrait, you can edit the Portrait Lighting levels in the Photos app. See Edit Portrait mode photos.

See alsoEdit Portrait mode photos on iPhoneTake Night mode photos with your iPhone cameraTake macro photos and videos with your iPhone camera
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