Iphone Portrait Mode

This is Tasti Tussock ( something to do with that cheese I think)  who lives on The Boss’s Wellington Desk.
She is always happy to help but a tad too large to take on outings (That’s MY job) 
She was photographed in IPhone Portrait (Stage Light) with strong light so looks a tad extreme just to get your attention...OK?
The first extra is the same shot in usual (non Portrait) mode 
The second extra is standard Portrait so note how the background and other non facial areas are blurry
The Third extra is the final (tighter cropped) portrait.

TTTT Iphone Portrait Mode.

On the iPhone 10 and other models with 2 cameras there is a great feature called “Portrait Mode” which will automatically make your iPhone behave like an SLR with an F2 lens and blur the background.

There are many different techniques involved in portraits such as environmental portraits where the  background will be telling you something about the subject ( say a professor surrounded by books) but iPhone portrait mode is just about the face. 
If you have selected “portrait” on the camera screen note  that that setting can be changed to 
Natural Light
Studio Light
Contour Light
Stage light 
Stage Light (mono) 
You need to have a play and understand the subtle changes each mode gives but first a couple of tips. The iPhone will nag If you are too close or far away. 
Portraits in full sun can be very harsh and not a great idea.
Be aware of the background and try not to have it distracting from your subject or brighter than your subject. Your subject should be the first thing you see.
Try to have your subject well in front of whatever is behind to get the proper blurred background look of an expensive lens.

Portrait Mode can be edited after and completely reset to anything or a different F number to control the background blur. AFTERWARDS. iPhone 11 - for the F stop thingie.


You really need to play to understand the power of this feature as it also works on stuff other than people’s faces like flowers and tomorrow’s blip (weather permitting) I will try to have some examples of this.