Checking out the portrait mode on the Apple iPhone 7 Plus – tips and tricks

With the release of iOS 10.1, along came portrait mode beta for everyone to use and take great photos. 

https://flic.kr/p/NHuubz

However, as amazing as the photos are it is worth paying attention to a few aspects of your scene when you take the photo. 

If you want to see any of these photos full size, remember you can click on them, select full size or original and pixel peep to your hearts content. 

With the roses, if you look closely enough around the edges you will see some of the blurring is uneven. 

https://flic.kr/p/NHuuF2

Looking at the tree trunk the edges when zoomed in reveal the same issues. Portrait mode works better when there is a defined edge and not bits of hair. 

https://flic.kr/p/NfZXi9

If you look at the crosses the portrait effect works quite well. The shot that worked better out of the two cross shots had less strong light interfering with the scene. The sun was the culprit. 

https://flic.kr/p/NfZXD9

I really like the shot above and the first shot with the roses. 

https://flic.kr/p/NHuuzF

When you look at the shot above and below, having a defined edge helps improve the final result. 

https://flic.kr/p/NzH9BT

You will also see that there is good lighting. It was ultra bright but just decent daylight. Once it gets too dim, portrait mode will struggle. 

Ultimately the portrait mode allows for some super bokeh photos to simulate a DSLR camera!

2 thoughts on “Checking out the portrait mode on the Apple iPhone 7 Plus – tips and tricks

  1. nice review of the portrait mode. Am I correct is saying the portrait mode is limited to the 7+ with dual cameras?

    If so I would be nice if Apple allow for a dual shot mode for single camera iphones whereby the first shot is set to the subject focus, followed quickly by an shot set to infinite. Fancy image processing algorithms then can differentiate foreground and background and apply defocusing “bokeh” accordingly.

    Like

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