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While your smartphone camera’s normal mode can help you capture amazing photos, you can’t control its depth of field. So, pictures of people and objects might not look exactly as you’d like. Luckily, if you have Portrait Mode on your phone, you can elevate your smartphone images.
What Is Portrait Mode?
Portrait Mode is a separate mode in your Camera app that’s primarily meant for taking photos of people and animals, but has more versatility than you might think. I sometimes use this mode to capture images of inanimate objects, for example. Portrait Mode effectively enhances your subject by focusing on it and blurring the background.
You can use Portrait Mode totake smartphone photos in multiple aesthetics, though you’ll need to edit them later to get the desired effect. To use Portrait Mode, you’ll need at least an iPhone 7 Plus or Galaxy S21.
Besides adjusting the brightness like you’re able to on your camera’s normal setting, Portrait Mode allows you to tweak the aperture and also lets you change the studio lighting in your pictures. By default, my iPhone camera has natural light switched on, but I can also pick spotlight, contour lighting, and even some monochrome options.
How to Get Better Photos With Portrait Mode
Taking better photos in Portrait Mode requires some photography knowledge, and you must also know how and when to use each of its features. Based on personal experience, here are my top tips to capture better images with Portrait Mode.
1. Understand the Basics of Aperture
Knowing how to make your aperture wider and narrower is just one part of the puzzle. Understanding when to use different F-stops is also essential for maximizing Portrait Mode; you have an advantage if you’ve used a DSLR camera in the past, but it’s not impossible to learn from scratch.
Portrait Mode on my iPhone lets me adjust the depth between f/1.4 and f/16. The closer to f/1.4 your camera is, the less sharp your background will be; f/16 does the opposite. After taking the picture, you can change the aperture in the Photos app.
I almost never use Portrait Mode at f/16 because it can be quite distracting. One of thebiggest smartphone photography mistakesis thinking that a higher aperture means sharper photos, but this isn’t always the case.
I think that the best results often come fromunderstanding the rules about apertureand then breaking them when it makes sense. So, you shouldn’t be afraid to experiment.
2. Don’t Make Your Background Too Blurry
Another beginner mistake is thinking that you need the widest aperture possible toachieve a bokeh or blurry background effect. This can definitely help in some situations, especially if you don’t have many subjects in the background. However, I’ve noticed that Portrait Mode can start blurring some of your main subjects if you widen the aperture too much.
When you widen the aperture too much, and the main subject becomes blurry, your picture will start to have an “AI-generated” look. The aperture at which this starts happening will depend on each individual photo, but knowing how to control this aspect willmake your smartphone pictures look like they were taken with a camera.
3. Keep a Small Distance Between Yourself and the Subject
You need to stand at least 2.5 meters away from your subject when taking photos in Portrait Mode, but in some cases, you might want to stand a bit farther away than that. Doing this will allow you to get more of your surroundings in the frame, which is ideal if the background tells an interesting story.
How far you should stand from your subject will also depend on what you’re taking photos of. For example, you might need to be a bit closer if you want to take a headshot. On the other hand, a full-body portrait will require you to create some more distance.
Think about how much space you have around you, too; keep in might that it might be harder to create distance in crowded areas. Still, you mightprefer shooting street photography on a smartphone instead of a DSLR—especially in Portrait Mode.
4. Include Other Interesting Elements in Your Photo
Some of my favorite photos include multiple elements beyond the subject that make the story more interesting. For example, when capturing an image with the rule of thirds, you could add part of the landscape behind your main subject.
You could also ask your main subject to use different props, such as an umbrella. If you’re going on a photoshoot, storyboarding in advance could help you get better results. I also suggest thinking about unique perspectives, which could help youget stunning smartphone photos without needing a high-quality camera.
5. Pick the Right Portrait Lighting
Since Portrait Mode lets you choose from multiple lighting options, knowing when to use each one is vital for maximizing the pictures you take. On my iPhone, Natural Light is the most versatile, but Contour Light is better when I want to add some contrast to my images. Studio Light, meanwhile, is better in low-light scenarios.
You’ve got a bit of room for maneuver here, and I suggest learning how to use each option in isolation. After a bit of experimenting, you’ll then know which lighting is the best to achieve the results you want. Moreover, you’ll learnhow to make harsh lighting work for your smartphone photos.
6. Adjust the Portrait Exposure
Although you’ve got access to some unique features in Portrait Mode, you should still consider using the others that are available in your camera’s ordinary mode. For example, you can adjust the exposure in addition to altering your portrait lighting.
Simply drag the slider up or down based on your preferences. You’ll get better results if youget a basic understanding of smartphone photography exposure.
While the normal mode of you phone’s camera is pretty versatile, Portrait Mode can help you take the next step in your photography. From understanding how the lighting works to being careful with your aperture, simple steps will go a long way to getting better and more creative shots.
